e-liz

A few weeks ago Nick and I had the pleasure of watching the Bulls get ruthlessly humiliated at the United Center. One of the tertiary pleasures of any major sporting event is the chance to win free stuff from sponsors. You get a prize booklet at the door, and depending on who wins these little time-out competitions throughout the game, you might get a coupon for a free taco, or a Big Mac, or some coffee.

I only won one of the prizes from my booklet that night. It was a free gallon of water from Hinckley Springs. Upon closer inspection, though, I realized that the prize was really a free gallon of water with the purchase of a gallon of water. That's right: I won the privilege of going out to the store, purchasing two half-priced gallons of water, and carrying them home.

Err... thanks?

I thought about that experience again earlier this week, when some colleagues were passing around a story about AmEx's blogger outreach strategy for their new Zync card. Blogger Peter Rojas outed the PR firm who contacted him, and reposted the full text of their email offering him an "exclusive relationship" with the Zync card.

At first glance, nothing looks off about their message. It's well-targeted (Rojas is in their demo and has worked with the company before), it's transparent (the rep identifies herself and does not disguise her request), and the communication is perfectly appropriate in clarity, tone and approach. As a colleague noted, it doesn't look all that different from some of the eminent campaigns we've done ourselves. So what was the big problem?

The offering. AmEx wanted Rojas to do a lot: read about Zync, take the time to offer ongoing feedback through an online community, and host an event for 25-50 people to introduce them to the card. And what was in it for him? That's not really clear. In fact, it seems like the marketing team was counting on Rojas to consider his involvement to be a reward unto itself:

With this relationship, you would be able to be part of the “Special Committee” in which you really get to provide feedback to the product development team on ideas for iPhone applications, the next packs and much more

I can only imagine that his reaction was akin to mine upon learning of Hinckley Springs' generous prize: "Thanks?"

Let's not lose touch with reality when it comes to "advocates," "ambassadors" and "relationships." What are we really giving people? Can we turn a skeptical eye toward our own campaigns, and admit it if what we're offering fans is nothing more than half-priced water?