Read the following tweet this morning [RT @[xyz] @[abc] Suggest that you give away a free Flip to every prospect/resident that creates a [management company] Experience Video, Beats free rent] – it really got me thinking.
I have read both sides of this issue and have taken the position that if you disclose that you are paying for and or giving something away in exchange for an endorsement then frankly it’s okay. It really comes down to what is in the eye of the beholder. And, I think, at the end of the day, if a person really wants a product/experience they will go and get it/have it despite the persons of influence in their lives. They may read and listen but if they want it – they want it, period.
My real point here is that the above tweet implies that it’s okay to give away a Flip in exchange for an endorsement. Moreover it specifically states that it’s better than giving away free rent. On that point I ask: What’s the difference? – give away free rent or buy 20 Flips to give away – either way you hit the bottom line. Sure buying the Flip is cheaper and brings along a novelty that escaped the free rent give away long ago but it’s still an expense. It’s just a different form of currency. Marry it with a “you get the Flip free “if” you give me an endorsement and you have really marred the picture but I will leave that for future conversation.
For now – I really wonder what the community thinks – Is the Flip, used in this sense, a form of currency that could be construed as purchasing feedback? If so, is that okay? Would it pass a Yelp sniff test? Do you think the masses really care? Would you give equal stage to people who would speak conversely about your brand experience? Is it better than free rent? If so, why?
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I think it beats free rent because once rent is gone, we can never recover it from the budget, whereas with an item giveaway, that's often put under our marketing or promotional budget, still hitting the bottom line, but less so. Also, I have to say, I'm all for giving the flip away and encouraging a resident to post a video review, but I don't like the idea of “exchanging” it for one. Then, it's not a review, it's an ad.
Andy Sernovitz says that once you pay for it, it's not pure anymore. WOM is great, but you can't mar it with looking like you arranged it.
Mike, Good Morning,
I am a little confused by your post, or maybe what position you are taking or maybe if the post is just a question to the community. I think the tweets you refer to were from me to Allison at Bell Partners. A couple comments, which may or may not relate to your point, you can bulk purchase (6) at a time Flip Video Recorders for $89 each. It seems that provides a higher value than Free Rent, which I despise doing. Free Rent is typically at a minimum a half to a full months rent and is forgotten five seconds after the offer. We can buy ten times that amount of Flips, which have our Urbane Logo on them for the life of the product, and get some marketing material to boot, ie the videos produced. Seems like a way to compound your marketing return to me, and not a bottom line burden.
Not sure i understand your position on paid endorsements, as the program we ran at Urbane was not censored, the Resident posted the video themselves and for that they got a Flip Video. The Video was not about Urbane, but about their apartment life. Similarly, the successful program that JC Hart ran also offered prizes for participation as did the stuff the For Rent has done.
Regarding your Does It Pass the Yelp Smell Test is a Good Point. We actually have two Elite Yelpers that blog for us at the UrbaneBlog.com, and they take this stuff pretty seriously about what is OK and what is not, and we frequently ask their opinion and insight about how promotions are or should be presented.
E, thanks for the comment. Hope your night is well.
The post is intended to pose questions to the community and the tweet was just a catalyst for them.
It's the exchange, implied here, that got me thinking. One could read this as you paid someone $89 to create content about their experience living at an Urbane community. And, the fact that you gave something of value would by default give the content a positive bent. Have you paid for an endorsement but rationalized it by suggesting that the Flip is different than paying money/concessions to someone for the same result? I mean in some ways you could suggest that the offer be an $89 concession if the person uses their own camera for the content creation. And, in this case you play into people's innate need to feel like a celebrity – a form of currency I believe to be more powerful than Flips or money. The point is that you exchange anything of value for feedback/content creation then you've purchased it. It's not authentic and in my opinion it would not pass the Yelp test. Is that fair to say?
Sidebar on Yelp – I agree with Mark's comment – the masses don't care about Yelp. I, like him, am on the internet an inordinate amount of time and never use Yelp for anything. That being said, I think it is crazy amazing for juicing your PageRank – especially when you use it like you do.
I do agree with your points on aggregation and negatives being opportunities.
M