Then last week Three turned 3, if you follow me. And they decided to celebrate their birthday, in a corporate kind of way, by giving their customers presents.
Now, when I give a birthday present I rush in to the nearest store at the last minute and pick out something cheap. But that's me. Three is a multi-million dollar company with a marketing division and everything. Surely they could take the time to ensure that the majority of their customers would get a gift they liked.
No, it turns out that Three is just as rotten at gift-giving as you and me and Auntie Jean. Their free downloads consist of:
- A video track from ageing Australian band The Whitlams
- A 'selection' of video sport stories (whose selection? Grandma's?)
- Free daily news videos for a month
- A 'selected' Peter & Jaydee and The Chaser video clip
Now, I don't like sport, I've never heard of Peter & Jaydee, and I get my news off the Web, so none of those three thrilled me. As for The Whitlams, to me they're elevator music -- certainly not worth downloading into my precious phone space when I can fill it up for free with my stuff. So the psychological effect of Three's 'presents' on me -- and other customers in the same situation -- is to leave me thinking 'what skinflints! Other people got presents they wanted and I got left out!' And that shouldn't bother me, but it does. I'm going to be just that bit more cynical about Three and its promotions from now on.
How could Three have got all its customers on side for this promotion, not just the sport-loving Chaser fans who dig The Whitlams? To start with, they could have given a choice. The Whitlams or Bach? Sport or culture? Petey and Jaydee or a $5 discount? You choose, customers, and -- what do you know! -- we can learn something about you when you do. Second, they could take a realistic view of the value of video clips in today's online world. We're already drowning in free entertainment, guys: give us something we can use.
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