Bad Marketing

FlFishOn · #1 05-07-2005, 10:35 PM

I know I'm 1.5 SDs off the mean here age-wise and that gives me a bigger window for lookback but I know of only a few things that seem like worse marketing plans than Empire's latest move.

Number one worst marketing move ever: New Coke. WTF were they thinking? 100 year old product, whose name IS the standard for 'a soft drink' and we need to change the formula?

High on the list, Betamax. Clearly the superior video tape format yet they missed the rental market and failed to reach critical mass.

This Empire move has got me shaking my head. They have created ill will on purpose. Lord knows they do plenty of that already with their customer service, but no, they went and generated themselves a huge steaming sh+tpile of ill will with a brainless policy.

Was this the best solution? Clearly not. I can think of several outs that cost/gain them the same $$$ and reduce the piss off quotent to a fraction of what they have done. They tried that account specific BS $10 bonus. That's on the right track. All accounts are not equal, why should all bonii be equal? Nobody beefs about Stars but nobody is likely to go -MGR there either. Almost the same at UB.

I'm just miffed and both my accounts remain open.

Lastly, I had the ill fortune to need to pull out my Hindi - English / English - Hindi dictionary in order to straighten out a minor mess at Planet Luck today. I'd like to hear some suggestions for the mission statement that would fit IGM customer service. Here's mine: "Incompetent OR unintelligible but only rarely both!"

IggyWH · #2 05-07-2005, 10:41 PM

As much as some here would like to believe, 2+2 is not the poker world. We are just a small piece of pepperoni on a meat lovers pizza.

Apparently, some people here are pissed at Empire from their actions but does Empire care if it pissed off spme 2+2 members? Not at all... so to say that this was a bad marketing plan because it made you upset is foolish.

Bremen · #3 05-07-2005, 10:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Number one worst marketing move ever: New Coke. WTF were they thinking? 100 year old product, whose name IS the standard for 'a soft drink' and we need to change the formula?

[/ QUOTE ]
They were losing market share quite quickly at that time. It is still believed today that if they had done nothing they would have lost the crown to pepsi. From a logic perspective it really dosn't make sense. People who weren't buying coke before the switch all the sudden decided to buy it after they switched back.

Freudian · #4 05-07-2005, 11:04 PM

[ QUOTE ]

This Empire move has got me shaking my head. They have created ill will on purpose. Lord knows they do plenty of that already with their customer service, but no, they went and generated themselves a huge steaming sh+tpile of ill will with a brainless policy.

[/ QUOTE ]

They have created ill will among a group of players that has and was going continue to cost them money. I guarantee that no one over at Empire is going to lose any sleep over this.

While this is a hot issue in the zoo and at bonuswhores the rest of the world goes "Meh?".

TStoneMBD · #5 05-07-2005, 11:12 PM

i think coke's marketing plan is doing wonders for them. i think its absolutely reviving their business and is one of the leading marketing strategies of the current decade.

empire had to close down these whores. they were losing money to them. its not complicated.

IggyWH · #6 05-07-2005, 11:15 PM

Let me also add that these actions from Empire strengthen my belief in their poker site and makes me want to continue supporting them even more.

For them to be able to find a leak in their finances and be willing to take the steps to plug those leaks shows me they have good people running the company. It makes me feel safe to know they are willing to make a decision that might not be that well-liked to make their company stronger.

...and you knew this was going to happen soon. The gravy train only lasts so long.

FlFishOn · #7 05-07-2005, 11:17 PM

"They have created ill will among a group of players that has and was going continue to cost them money. I guarantee that no one over at Empire is going to lose any sleep over this. "

Win / Win. That's the key. Empire was unable to find a route through this where they cut off the whores and converted a few of them at the same time while not pissing off too many people. They failed miserably. I know I could do better. I also know that your average committee can easily do a lot worse than a savy individual.

Jim Kuhn · #8 05-07-2005, 11:19 PM

They have made ill will with a lot larger group than those costing them money. I can assure you they have made thousands off of me and I withdrew all of my money from their site. I doubt that I will go back. There are too many sites that treat their customers right. One example would be TruePoker. Although I don't play there much anymore.

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4u
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

FlFishOn · #9 05-07-2005, 11:20 PM

"For them to be able to find a leak in their finances and be willing to take the steps to plug those leaks shows me they have good people running the company."

You really want to travel down that road? Next leak will be those blood suckers that multi-table and bust out the fish.

Jim Kuhn · #10 05-07-2005, 11:24 PM

Those are moronic statements. Hopefully you do not mean them. If you feel better about the Empire Customer Support and your money being safe I have a couple of bridges to sell you.

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4u
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]