January 30, 2009 95 Comments

Very Sneaky-Clever Warner

Kat bought me the Batman: The Dark Knight, which came with a digital copy as part of its special features. With this, I got a digital copy of the movie via iTunes, which I can play on my laptop, my iPhone, or any other of my authorized devices. Nice touch. I’ve asked for this kind of feature in the past.

But this ad is sneaky, eh? I got this in email from iTunes. Look at what they say. “Hey, hope you’re liking that digital copy of the movie you redeemed. Want some more?”

Batman Ad

Clever? Rude? I’m leaning towards clever. What about you?

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  • Anonymous

    It makes perfect sense. At first, it seems annoying, but I think it’s in their best interest to do what they did.

  • http://thejosevilson.com/blog Jose

    It makes perfect sense. At first, it seems annoying, but I think it’s in their best interest to do what they did.

  • http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?id=681057049&ref=profile Suzen JueL

    Rudely Clever!

  • http://www.pabamedia.com Paul Baiguerra

    Clever. You’re already displaying a preference for viewing on the platform – why not offer you more? Anything that cuts down your search time is a good thing – no?
    Where they are dumb is the AppleTV interface – why can I not have a list of new movies since I last looked? Surely it would be simple to do. Currently you have to trawl through the genres and hope you spot the new ones.

  • http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?id=681057049&ref=profile Suzen JueL

    Rudely Clever!

  • http://www.pabamedia.com Paul Baiguerra

    Clever. You’re already displaying a preference for viewing on the platform – why not offer you more? Anything that cuts down your search time is a good thing – no?
    Where they are dumb is the AppleTV interface – why can I not have a list of new movies since I last looked? Surely it would be simple to do. Currently you have to trawl through the genres and hope you spot the new ones.

  • http://www.nathanmcgee.com Nathan

    Fantastically clever! It features what they have as well as gives you a sample of the quality and capability. It is also an excellent partnership with the studio and distribution!

    It isn’t anything more than the “previews” you see at the beginning of the movies or the “ads” you get attached to the DVD you buy.

    @nathanmcgee

  • beth

    wouldn’t they be kind of crazy to NOT use that data point for further marketing? :)

  • http://www.saranx.com Saravanan Sahadevan

    I wish I had the accessibility to buy such media online… Living in Asia :(

  • http://www.nathanmcgee.com Nathan

    Fantastically clever! It features what they have as well as gives you a sample of the quality and capability. It is also an excellent partnership with the studio and distribution!

    It isn’t anything more than the “previews” you see at the beginning of the movies or the “ads” you get attached to the DVD you buy.

    @nathanmcgee

  • beth

    wouldn’t they be kind of crazy to NOT use that data point for further marketing? :)

  • http://www.saranx.com Saravanan Sahadevan

    I wish I had the accessibility to buy such media online… Living in Asia :(

  • Anonymous

    Clever, I think. Get you to enjoy the digital copy, and then use it to interest you in further downloads…giving someone something for free is a good way to show them the value of your product…advertising AFTER is what is clever.

  • http://websinthe.org websinthe

    I say clever. Unobtrusive and generous. I like it, though I may be missing implications without further knowledge of the iTunes store.

  • http://blog.johnlacey.net John Lacey

    Its just a modern twist on the long held practices of warranty card registration (ie. finding out who ended up with your good anyway) and upselling.

    I think it’s clever. The biggest danger is that the upselling practice can be a little too strong/intense. For example I bought two books from Amazon UK, and ever since they send me emails about a once a week for books I “might be interested in.” And hell they’re close… most of the books they recommend I already know. But the frequency is annoying.

  • http://www.twitter.com/ScottHepburn Scott Hepburn

    I’m all for it! As long as your opted in with iTunes (which I think you have to be to use iTunes), then this makes great sense from an integrated marketing standpoint.

    Thanks for sharing!

  • http://www.davidniallwilson.com David Niall Wilson

    Clever, I think. Get you to enjoy the digital copy, and then use it to interest you in further downloads…giving someone something for free is a good way to show them the value of your product…advertising AFTER is what is clever.

  • http://websinthe.org websinthe

    I say clever. Unobtrusive and generous. I like it, though I may be missing implications without further knowledge of the iTunes store.

  • http://blog.johnlacey.net John Lacey

    Its just a modern twist on the long held practices of warranty card registration (ie. finding out who ended up with your good anyway) and upselling.

    I think it’s clever. The biggest danger is that the upselling practice can be a little too strong/intense. For example I bought two books from Amazon UK, and ever since they send me emails about a once a week for books I “might be interested in.” And hell they’re close… most of the books they recommend I already know. But the frequency is annoying.

  • http://www.twitter.com/ScottHepburn Scott Hepburn

    I’m all for it! As long as your opted in with iTunes (which I think you have to be to use iTunes), then this makes great sense from an integrated marketing standpoint.

    Thanks for sharing!

  • http://www.socialmedianz.wordpress.com siobhan bulfin

    a little cheeky, pretty clever

    Siobhan Bulfin
    Social media and interactive marketing, NZ

  • http://www.socialmedianz.wordpress.com siobhan bulfin

    a little cheeky, pretty clever

    Siobhan Bulfin
    Social media and interactive marketing, NZ

  • http://robynmcintyre.wordpress.com/ Robyn McIntyre

    I think it’s only to be expected.

  • http://robynmcintyre.wordpress.com/ Robyn McIntyre

    I think it’s only to be expected.

  • http://www.smartmarketmovie.com Eric Guerin

    This would be the email marketing equivalent of sending out your e-newsletter and then sending a follow up email to one of your subscribers saying “I see that on Friday 1/30 at 9:45pm you clicked on a link to read the Very Sneaky-Clever Warner article…” I’m sure some people have tried this technique and chances are they quickly received an unsubscribe from that e-newsletter reader. It may indeed be clever but to me it comes off sounding way too big brother-ish.

  • http://getgood.com/roadmaps Susan Getgood

    Clever. It’s not a hard hard sell, and you weren’t terribly surprised that an iTunes validation led to some response, right? We don’t tend to mind when the outreach is relevant.

    Rude is if you take no action to further the engagement and they continue to email you after this initial outreach.

  • http://www.rickwsmith.com Rick Smith

    I say clever. People may not know that you can get movies like that, and say “hey I can buy movies from itunes – cool!”

    Then they go there and spend lots of dollars in a year and have over 1000 podcasts on their itunes they haven’t listened to yet! – Oh wait that’s me!

    Rick
    twitter.com/Rick_Smith

  • http://www.smartmarketmovie.com Eric Guerin

    This would be the email marketing equivalent of sending out your e-newsletter and then sending a follow up email to one of your subscribers saying “I see that on Friday 1/30 at 9:45pm you clicked on a link to read the Very Sneaky-Clever Warner article…” I’m sure some people have tried this technique and chances are they quickly received an unsubscribe from that e-newsletter reader. It may indeed be clever but to me it comes off sounding way too big brother-ish.

  • http://getgood.com/roadmaps Susan Getgood

    Clever. It’s not a hard hard sell, and you weren’t terribly surprised that an iTunes validation led to some response, right? We don’t tend to mind when the outreach is relevant.

    Rude is if you take no action to further the engagement and they continue to email you after this initial outreach.

  • http://www.rickwsmith.com Rick Smith

    I say clever. People may not know that you can get movies like that, and say “hey I can buy movies from itunes – cool!”

    Then they go there and spend lots of dollars in a year and have over 1000 podcasts on their itunes they haven’t listened to yet! – Oh wait that’s me!

    Rick
    twitter.com/Rick_Smith

  • http://ViZualPoetry.com geo

    neither – any good salesman knows on parting you ask anything else – common sense – my take – but then i am an old style barter shoot em up cowboy from home home on the range where the deer and the antelop play and seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all days – the chorus please – thank you maybe huh

    g-oh

  • http://ViZualPoetry.com geo

    neither – any good salesman knows on parting you ask anything else – common sense – my take – but then i am an old style barter shoot em up cowboy from home home on the range where the deer and the antelop play and seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all days – the chorus please – thank you maybe huh

    g-oh

  • Suzanne

    Upselling. I think it’s fine. How would Warner know if you wanted more without asking?

  • Suzanne

    Upselling. I think it’s fine. How would Warner know if you wanted more without asking?

  • http://Twitter.com/Ed Ed

    @jose “…,but I think it’s in their best interest to do what they did.”

    Therein lies the rub.
    Now, some will buy, which means it’s not entirely bad.
    If those who ignore, or buy make up the vast majority,
    it’s good marketing.
    How many will be angered? If few or none, then it’s proof
    of good back end model projection.

  • http://twitter.com/Ed Ed

    @jose “…,but I think it’s in their best interest to do what they did.”

    Therein lies the rub.
    Now, some will buy, which means it’s not entirely bad.
    If those who ignore, or buy make up the vast majority,
    it’s good marketing.
    How many will be angered? If few or none, then it’s proof
    of good back end model projection.

  • http://Twitter.com/Ed Ed

    oops. I failed trying to Bold the word ‘their’ in the quote…

  • http://twitter.com/Ed Ed

    oops. I failed trying to Bold the word ‘their’ in the quote…

  • http://www.mymommymanual.com Ria

    Clever. You’ve already self-selected yourself as the perfect segment. Now it’s just a matter of which circle of the ven diagram you fall into: annoyed or well served.

    NIghty night!

  • http://www.mymommymanual.com Ria

    Clever. You’ve already self-selected yourself as the perfect segment. Now it’s just a matter of which circle of the ven diagram you fall into: annoyed or well served.

    NIghty night!

  • http://kabai33.com Yemoonyah

    For me this is absolutely okay. Getting to know i-Tunes is a real value for people that have never heard about it or just haven’t gotten around using it yet. And believe me there are millions out there. And it has value for the rest of us because new people discovering i-Tunes means more people that will also create content. So in the end we have more music, more podcasts and more videos :-)

  • http://kabai33.com Yemoonyah

    For me this is absolutely okay. Getting to know i-Tunes is a real value for people that have never heard about it or just haven’t gotten around using it yet. And believe me there are millions out there. And it has value for the rest of us because new people discovering i-Tunes means more people that will also create content. So in the end we have more music, more podcasts and more videos :-)

  • http://kabai33.com Yemoonyah

    For me this is absolutely okay. Getting to know i-Tunes is a real value for people that have never heard about it or just haven’t gotten around using it yet. And believe me there are millions out there. And it has value for the rest of us because new people discovering i-Tunes means more people that will also create content. So in the end we have more music, more podcasts and more videos :-)

  • Kevin

    Reminds me of a drug dealer…
    “Have a taste for free” then get you hooked. Best (and easiest if the product is good) marketing around.

  • Kevin

    Reminds me of a drug dealer…
    “Have a taste for free” then get you hooked. Best (and easiest if the product is good) marketing around.

  • Kevin

    Reminds me of a drug dealer…
    “Have a taste for free” then get you hooked. Best (and easiest if the product is good) marketing around.

  • http://coryobrien.com/ CoryOBrien

    It’s not clever; it’s perfect! You’re already watching the digital copy, so why not offer you more? If you liked it, you’re more likely to buy, and if you didn’t, then they’re not exactly going to loose you w/ another offer now, are they? Plus, it’s not a hard sell, so they’re making it feel more like an offer and less like a sales pitch.

  • http://coryobrien.com/ CoryOBrien

    It’s not clever; it’s perfect! You’re already watching the digital copy, so why not offer you more? If you liked it, you’re more likely to buy, and if you didn’t, then they’re not exactly going to loose you w/ another offer now, are they? Plus, it’s not a hard sell, so they’re making it feel more like an offer and less like a sales pitch.

  • http://coryobrien.com/ Cory O’Brien

    It’s not clever; it’s perfect! You’re already watching the digital copy, so why not offer you more? If you liked it, you’re more likely to buy, and if you didn’t, then they’re not exactly going to loose you w/ another offer now, are they? Plus, it’s not a hard sell, so they’re making it feel more like an offer and less like a sales pitch.

  • http://www.GoalRevolution.com/business_blog/ Bill Tamminga Goal Revolution

    I see it as a way for them to continue building a relationship with you. Call it graded levels of commitment (GLC), upselling, or a customer loyalty program. They are just trying to provide more of what they offer to the world. I don’t know of a successful business that doesn’t do it.

    iTunes tells Chris (a current customer) they have more to offer. Chris tells us (his non-paying readers) that he provides blog outreach programs – see his previous post. Both entities are making an attempt to inform potential clients about their offerings. Both are trying to strengthen their relationship with a captive audience.

    Is there a huge difference?

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