As the Official Furniture Store of the Boston Red Sox, Jordan's Furniture is currently running a marketing campaign "Jordan's Monster Deal"- if Red Sox win the 2007 Major League Baseball World Series, every sofa, sectional, dining table, bed, mattress purchased from Jordan's store between March 7 and April 16 will be FREE.
This campaign seems very attractive to consumers, especially Red Sox funs. When I went to Jordan's store in Framingham this weekend, I did see some people in Red Sox jackets wandering there. However, I am not sure if this is a good way to build brand equity. I do not doubt that this campaign can generate buzz. A lot of people will talk about it, even though many of them are not Red Sox funs. The WOM will bring more traffic to Jordan's store locations, significantly improving Jordan's brand awareness and opportunities to sell. But when we think about the emotional feeling of Red Sox funs, this campaign seems more risky than rewarding.
If Red Sox lose (just if), funs will be very upset, and losing the chance to get rebate for their furniture purchase could make them even more upset. Many of them may blame the team's loss on Jordan's. Bad WOM spreads even faster than good ones.
If Red Sox win (most of us hope so), it seems a win-win. Both Jordan's and funs will be happy with the result. But when customers receive the rebate check form Jordan's, whom will they be grateful to, Jordan's or Red Sox? I think most people will give their thanks to the latter. So what can Jordan's get from this? Hopefully, the funs will buy furniture from Jordan's again in the future.
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3 comments:
I really think this is whole Promo is crap. I see a broken connection between Jordan's marketing campaign and the hopes of the Red Sox organization. Basically, Jordan's is banking on the fact that it is very probably that the Red Sox will NOT win the World Series and will enhance sales. They spin this to the public that "We will all be happy" if they win and they will pay out, but they are really pitting people from the New England area against tbe Red Sox by placing false hope in their minds, which could backlash if the Red Sox do not win it all, and possibly damage customer perceptions with the Jordan's brand. I think this is a clever psychological campaign, but somewhat dirty and people can see through the clutter.
Ok,
I realize I'm a bit behind the power curve on this issue, but I've talked to 3 different individuals who were able to take advantage of this promo and all have a 180 degree opinion from both Patricia and Weimin. Perhaps they are just being optimistic and going in blind on the whole matter, but after presenting these customers with the negatives I was pleasantly surprised to see the opposite affect. To a person, they all said they were planning on purchasing this new furniture at some point anyway and this was the extra shove they needed to go through with it. Unfortunately I do not have the numbers in front of me, but I would argue that Jordan's was having a lower than expected quarter and this promo was exactly the boost in sales that they were looking for. After all they probably already paid for the insurance to make this a reality anyway. I like it!
I think this promo is absolutely a win-win for Jordan's and their customers. Given the history of the Red Sox, I don't believe any fan in New England would put a lot of stock on them winning the World Series. I think it is a fun promotion designed to encourage people who were considering purchasing furniture in the near future to do it sooner rather than later and potentially get a pleasant surprise in October if the Red Sox win. We all know that's a big if.
I think this promotion is designed to make Jordan's more a part of the local fabric if you will. By "supporting the home team" in this way, they come across as your friends and neighbors. I think they are also doing a good job of creating buzz for the promotion that likely drove traffic to the stores. I don't think anyone would have negative feelings for Jordan's if the Red Sox didn't win, and some might not remember the promotion at all!
Overall, I believe Jordan's is building their brand equity through this promotion. I think it feeds off the "Jordan's Furniture is an experience, not a store" mantra and gives people something else to talk about at a very low risk to them. Go Sox!
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