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...