Question

Topic: Just for Fun

Free Dr Pepper Promotion: Pass Or Fail?

Posted by babbsela on 11/23/2008 at 7:28 PM ET 100 Points
Earlier this year, Dr. Pepper promised a free soda to everyone if Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" came out this year. It went on sale today, and Dr. Pepper, instead of having a printable online coupon, required people to register for an account, and then login to give their mailing address to receive their coupon in 4-6 weeks. So much for immediacy.

From my unscientific survey of the people I know who tried to get their freebie during this 24-hour promotion, the majority of those heading to www.drpepper.com got a server error.

My opinion is that:
A: Dr. Pepper should have anticipated the demand and secured adequate server resources before the promotion hit = Fail
B: By requiring people to sign up for an account, and then login, and then wait 4-6 weeks for a coupon, the immediacy and excitement is lost = Fail

Did you get your coupon today? What do you think of this promotion? Pass or Fail?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 11/24/2008 at 7:51 AM Member
    It depends on the promise Dr. Pepper made. According to their press release (https://drpeppersnapple.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=76) you have to register to get the coupon and wait 4-6 weeks to get it. Most other references to this offer didn't state the delay, only the 24 hour coupon availability.

    From Dr. Pepper's side, this is a huge success - since they get physical addresses (and perhaps email as well) for their target demographic.
  • Posted by Frank Hurtte on 11/24/2008 at 11:16 PM Member
    sounds like you are ranting on Dr Pepper...

    All in all, in my opinion, these programs work...
  • Posted by babbsela on 11/25/2008 at 4:24 PM Author
    Thanks everyone for your participation. This wasn't a rant, as one person suggested, just my observation on how I think this promotion failed. I'm not a Dr. Pepper fan, so I didn't want to get a coupon for myself. I went to the site off and on throughout the day to see how it was working, and if they were fixing the problem. My interest was sparked by a bunch of messages on the net about how "no one" could get their coupon.

    Due to inadequate server resources, very few people were able to sign up during the promotion, so the goal of accumulating a nice database of users w/their info didn't happen, and a long list of happy customers didn't materialize due to poor planning and execution of a simple promotion.

    Overall, however, I've changed my opinion to "Pass" because the story went viral, and Dr. Pepper got a lot of free press.
  • Posted by matthewmnex on 11/26/2008 at 7:23 PM Member
    You closed this question too fast again before those of us half way around the world could join :)

    It is an interesting discussion and would have loved to get into it :)

    Please keep discussions open at least 3 days so that everyone wanting to join can :)))
  • Posted by babbsela on 11/26/2008 at 11:31 PM Author
    Sorry about that! Feel free to comment now. No points, but it is all for fun, anyway :)
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