triOS College & 241 Pizza - the Strategic Partnership?

Generally speaking, a strategic partnership links two or more brands together to form a mutually beneficial campaign. We've seen many of these over time and they can add great value to both marketers and consumers.

Then there's this one: triOS college, a Private Career College with 8 campuses in Ontario has recently teamed up with 241 Pizza to offer a free $500 bursary to any of their 20 programs just by picking up a 241 Pizza flyer (which is also being sent to over 3,000,000 homes in Ontario via direct mail).

You don't have to order any pizza to "win" - triOS is effectively offering a $500 off coupoon through a 241 direct mail piece. I learned about this promotion by watching a quick spot on Omni TV where annoying host Lucy Zilio told me to visit trios.com/241 . The link, by the way, has nothing to do with the promotion.

To summarize:

• triOS, which appeals to only a portion of education seekers is offering anyone $500 off tuition on one of their programs in "partnership" with 241 Pizza
• Neither party seems to be promoting this campaign on their websites outside of a generic link at 241's site to their "new flyer"
  
• You don't have to enter to win, buy pizza, etc. so it seems there's nothing in it for 241
  

This is less of a strategic partnership and more of triOS trying to embellish an ad buy on 241's flyer.

I'd love to know what redemption rates are on this poorly panned and horribly executed campaign... I'm just glad triOS doesn't offer a diploma in Marketing.

Too little too late?

There's something to be said about the timeliness of an ad campaign. In this month's Maxim Magazine, I noticed this ad for the "New Schick Hydro 3", which promises to be "a better shave than the Mach 3".

This makes me wonder...

- Why would Schick introduce a new 3-blade razor when the competition has been pushing their 5-blade Fusion series for well over a year?

- Why would they compare it to a competitive product that has more or less become obsolete?

I have to admit, I still shave with a Mach 3 blade. It meets my needs and I have never felt the urge to upgrade to a Fusion series.

That said, I really can't see why I would make a 'lateral' shift from a Mach 3 to a Hydro 3 when the next logical purchase would be the more advanced 5-blade razor.

Sooner or later, both Schick and Gillette will stop offering replacement blades in an effort to upgrade those of us stubborn 3-bladers. It is beyond me why Schick would invest into a market that is beyond mature.

I would love to see some market-share numbers on this category or get some insight from anyone who has some industry knowledge.

Still, I believe this product and campaign are too little too late...

Is Ronald on death row?

It's been a while since my last post... partly due to being busy and partly because I really don't think that there's been anything exciting to write about these last several weeks.

This morning something caught my eye that is very blog-worthy. Boston-based Corporate Accountability International, the lobby group that shut down "Joe Camel" back in the late 90s is at it again and this time, their target is the ubiquitous Ronald McDonald.

CAI believes that Ronald, as an attractive mascot for kids, has helped carve the McDonald's message into their young minds, contributing to the overwhelming childhood obesity, diabetes, etc. seen in kids today.

An initial survey showed that while the majority - 65% - said they had favourable impressions of Ronald (largely in part to the charity work that McDonald's does), 46% did agree that it was time to retire the 47 year old spokes-clown.

While CAI still has a long way to go on this battle, some analysts believe that it might make sense for McDonald's to concede since kid's meals are not the biggest share of their revenue and the corporation is still focused on growth in overseas markets.

CAI has won some important victories over the last 30+ years... I'm curious to see how this one pans out.

The iPad is here... but do you care?

The iPad is here! The new, sexy device from Apple has now been out for about 2 weeks and after months of geeky anxiety, does anyone really care?

The iPad, which is essentially an oversized iPod with some extra functionality, was the topic of choice for geeks for several months with loads of speculation, true (and false) leaks and multiple rumoured names.

More functional than an mp3 player but not as functional as a laptop, the iPad does have many great uses. It will rock as an e-reader with rich multimedia content built-in to certain publications. It could be a great medical device. It also acts as a personal entertainment device that's friendlier for viewing than an iPod and still pretty portable.

The price is still in question, since it does come in a 3G version that will require a hefty data contract over and above the purchase price, which starts at $499 USD. Some analysts expect the total cost of the iPad to reach $2,000 USD in the first two years if you factor in a data plan. This also doesn't consider the siginificant price differences between US and Canadian carrier rates.

Electronics power-site RETREVO did some research pre-and-post iPad launch to see what people thought of it. The results aren't looking that hot:

While the number of people who said they would like to buy one did jump from 3 to 9%, almost half of those who were aware of the iPad pre-launch (and were not interested in buying one) jumped from 26% to 52% that were not interested in buying post-launch.

I personally don't see a need for an iPad, as I already have an iPod and a MacBook, but I'm excited to see where Apple takes their new device.

I think most people will wait-and-see what the iPad can offer them. There's been a lot of hype for this device to revolutionize portable computing and the PC makers are already launching copy-cats.

I don't expect the iPad to have the same impact as the iPod, but Apple has been known to change consumer thinking and time will certainly tell.

LCBO's "Gay" radio ad

The LCBO has recently launched a radio ad in which a man comes home and calls out: "Honey? Babe? Mark?". Mark then replies and the two men have a comedic exchange about building a rooftop bar.

While not overtly "gay", I think it's a bold and fantastic move for the LCBO to produce an ad that includes "alternative lifestyles".

This isn't exactly the first ad of its kind, however I don't think any other government-run operation has ever made a move of this kind.

The ad is cute/funny without being offensive or politically charged... much unlike the Mr. Sub ad that I wrote about a while back, the inclusion of gay men in the ad is perfectly natural and reads the way it would had it been a male/female couple.

Good for the LCBO for recognizing all lifestyles equally and for putting out this ad. I wish that I had a link to share, but despite scouring Google, I haven't been able to find one... so keep your ears open!

Technology and Cause Marketing

Short text codes are pretty common these days where marketers invite you to text a message to a short number in exchange for offers, updates, etc.

While many of us are reluctant to invite marketers to reachus on our mobile phones, the short code does make certain things quick, easy and impulsive.

In wake of the Haitian crisis, the American Red Cross initiated an emergency relief campaign in which people were asked to donate $10 to Red Cross International Relief simply by texting "Haiti" to the short code 90999.

As of Friday, January 15, approximately 520,000 Americans had used the text campaign to donate $5.2 million for Haitian relief efforts with more coming in!

I can't help but believe that a good chunk of this success is the direct result of the simplicity of the donation process and fully commend the American Red Cross for this great campaign.

Let's keep those donations coming - those $10 add up really quick when we all work together towards the goal of helping those in need.

Listening to the customer... a great practice!

I've never liked Domino's pizza. It tastes completely manufactured with nothing fresh or real-tasting about it. Apparently I'm not alone.

Domino's recently launched a new ad campaign and website called PizzaTurnaround.com. The whole premise is that they asked consumers to provide candid feedback on their pizza and that the results weren't good.

Committed to change, Domino's has apparently changed their recipes to offer customers a better, fresher tasting pizza that addresses their concerns - and they want everyone to know it.

The entire campaign basically focuses on one key message: You spoke. We listened. Give us a try.

This campaign is enough for me to want to give Domino's a second chance, if for no other reason to see if there's been any improvement. I'm pretty certain that many people will do the same out of curiosity.

Kudos to Domino's for engaging their consumers and adapting their product to be more desirable. Too often do marketers try to convince consumers that their product is great rather than accepting criticism.

I think that this move will help Domino's regain some lost share and even pick up some new customers along the way.