Will Groupon customers and business switch to competitors such as Customer Advantage?
Featured News Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
Right now up and coming competitors to Groupon such as Customer Advantage must be salivating as the uproar the Groupon commercial caused after Sunday’s Super Bowl game between the packers and Steelers.
This was the first time the mega coupon giant decided to go all out and put their brand out there on the biggest stage there is for big companies, the super bowl. Time slots for super bowl commercials runs into the millions per 60 second spot and with Groupon expecting to take in a billion plus dollars this year it was a way to create brand presence in front of a massive audience.
According to Groupon “The gist of the concept is this: When groups of people act together to do something, it’s usually to help a cause. With Groupon, people act together to help themselves by getting great deals. So what if we did a parody of a celebrity-narrated, PSA-style commercial that you think is about some noble cause (such as “Save the Whales”), but then it’s revealed to actually be a passionate call to action to help yourself (as in “Save the Money”)?
Since we grew out of a collective action and philanthropy site (ThePoint.com) and ended up selling coupons, we loved the idea of poking fun at ourselves by talking about discounts as a noble cause. So we bought the spots, hired mockumentary expert Christopher Guest to direct them, enlisted some celebrity faux-philanthropists, and plopped down three Groupon ads before, during, and after the biggest American football game in the world.”
The intent was of Groupon poking fun of themselves while also raising funds for causes such as the Tibet Fund, BuildOn and the Rainforest Action Network. Unfortunately for them they never mention that in their ad and the ads thus incited far more negative reactions then positive ones.
The Groupon commercial is starting to pop up all over Youtube including ones that promote competing deal saving sites in an effort to sway some of those who might have been offended by the commercial to take a look at Groupon alternatives such as Customer Advantage. The Customer Advantage is similar to Groupon, but instead shares the income generated with its members.
In the end the Groupon super bowl commercial might hurt them a little and some people may even take a look at companies like Customer Advantage as a result. But ultimately like most things that upset people it will eventually be forgotten. And while companies like Customer Advantage may make a few gains as a result, Groupon will still continue to plod along thanks to a lot of new publicity.
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Posted by scdayton
on Feb 9 2011. Filed under Featured News.
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