Bend in the Weather (Entries tagged as society)

When customer profiling and targeted advertising goes wrong

mbottrell@gmail.com (Matt) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 10:10:00 +1000

Don't get me wrong... I love a bargain as much as the next guy or girl.

What I don't like however is when a computer system is implemented with little regard and isn't actively checked by a human.
It's one way to make your company look like a jack-ass.

Sorry Woolworths - you've landed yourself in such a category.

Most Australian supermarket shoppers are aware of the fuel discounts offered by Coles and Woolworths, which can slice anything from $0.03 - $0.20 per litre of the cost of your fuel. Something that's always welcome by motorists.

It's the only reason I have an everyday rewards card. Fuel discounts add up over time, even more so for myself, as I drive with LPG the majority of the time, so $0.20 off per litre on LPG is quite substantial.

During the months of April and May Woolies decided that for 8 weeks straight I would like to buy wine. I'm not talking 1 bottle either. Most 'deals' require a purchase of 6 or more bottles in a given purchase.

A sample of the Email contents is included below:

To be honest, I love a good drop of red. Probably more so than the average punter. (We normally have a few dozen on hand in the house). At the end of March I had let our stocks go down over a period of time so had restocked. This seems to have triggered their rewards system to pester me for the next 8 weeks straight. No fuel offers (which was the main selling point of the card), nor any other offer... just grog.

At 6 bottles minimum per Email over 8 weeks, anyone reading my Email from Woolworths, would think I'm an alcoholic!

The crazy thing... It backfired.
I didn't buy any wine during that period. (As I had just restocked my levels.) This form of marketing happens 'after the fact', and as such it fails. If I have already made a bulk purchase, why would I wish to repeat it shortly after, and every week for a period of 8 weeks?

Woolworths reward system needs looking at. (As does Coles for that matter). It would be more beneficial to flag such bulk purchases of your customers, then look at sending it out 'specials' say every 3,6 or 12 months... you're likely to have a bigger uptake. I can't see my car dealership sending out a "buy a brand new car" Emails if I had just taken delivery of a new vehicle.

Certainly for everyday staples, it would be nice to have these filter through regularly. However don't see these, like 25% off either Meat, Fruit or Vegies for a week. It seems to be items like Coca-Cola, Alcohol and other non-essentials. I'm not surprised though... the supermarkets know we need staples.. and are trying to increase our trolley sizes by teasing us into buying these non-basic item.

Certainly I do hope that Woolworths and Coles both learn that their average shopper has the intelligence above that of a broken trolley wheel, as the current marketing strategies to date are quite insulting.

tzdata changelog

mbottrell@gmail.com (Matt) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:40:00 +1100

Often changelogs have important information on why a package was updated. Other times, they are just humorous:

tzdata (2009n-0ubuntu0.9.04.1) jaunty-proposed; urgency=low

* Add argentinas-dst-2009.diff: Disable DST switch for Argentina tomorrow,
as the Argentina government decided yesterday. Careful planning is boring.
Thanks to Margarita Manterola for the patch! (LP: #453165)

-- Martin Pitt Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:22:39 +0200

Perspective

mbottrell@gmail.com (Matt) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:48:00 +1000

MX is a free commuter magazine published in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

A regular feature, they ask commuters a question.

Given their time again, I think John and Claire would answer differently.

Source: PhotoBasement

Presenting Pr0n.

mbottrell@gmail.com (Matt) — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:49:00 +1000

I read Jacinta's post and have to agree with the statements she made.
I'm a red blooded male with crazy hormones running around my body like the next person, yet I know there is a time and a place for such things.

Let's put it in clear context. "Pr0n has no place in a technical conference presentation."

One wouldn't show pr0n related images to their own grandmother or a stranger in the street.
Use this 'stranger in the street' or 'my own grandmother' as a general guide if you are unsure.

If you feel the need to resort to showing such images, you need to ask why.
Is your presentation that dull you need to distract your audience?
Are your presentation skills that poor you need to resort to cheap stunts to keep your audience interested?
Is your knowledge on the given topic limited and needs attention to be misdirected away from the main discussion point?
Are you sure all your audience is of legal age? Being a technical conference doesn't mean there aren't minors present. Keep this in mind.
As a parent, I would be outraged if my teenage child attended such a conference to be subjected to pornographic images.

Playing the 'pr0n card' in a presentation shows a lack of maturity and disregard for your audiences intelligence.
It really isn't 'witty' at all and quite offensive.

Feel free to use humour in your presentation to liven it up, but keep it on a neutral topic and not one that is controversial.
Remember - your presentation is supposed to educate people to your point of view. You won't do this if it polarises your audience!

You would expect a backlash to your presentation if it contained anti-semitic or a white supremacist suggestions... expect the same with anything controversial.

If in doubt, why not run your presentation prior to the conference via the organisers. It's much easier cleaning up the slides prior to the presentation rather than the egg you'll have on your face.

Seen your stimulus package?

mbottrell@gmail.com (Matt) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:14:00 +1000

The Australian Federal government announced the $12.2 billion Household Stimulus Package in the wake of the Worldwide Financial Downturn.

Payments are to have commenced during March, and the Tax Bonus for Working Australians in April. As yet I don't know anyone who has received them?

These payments are made up of:

A Tax Bonus for Working Australians of up to $900 for eligible taxpayers, depending on income thresholds.
A Single-Income Family Bonus of $900 to provide additional assistance for families that have one main income earner and may otherwise receive less assistance from the package than dual income families with similar household income.
A Farmer's Hardship Bonus of $950 which will be paid to farmers and others receiving Exceptional Circumstances related income support.
A Training and Learning Bonus of $950 to assist students, those returning to study or training, and some income support recipients.
A Back to School Bonus of $950 per child to assist low- and middle-income families eligible for Family Tax Benefit A with school-age children.

Whether you are for or against them... they are coming.

Has anyone out there received their 'Bonus'?
From all reports they are to be staggered out... yet I don't know an individual yet that has received them.

Would be happy to hear from someone that has got that 'cheque in the mail' so to speak.

Government Morning Milk & Afternoon Naps

mbottrell@gmail.com (Matt) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:29:00 +1100

You may laugh at the subject, but after the Federal government introduces mandatory Internet blocking whilst the Victorian Police and State Government are introducing a 'timeout corner' I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the introduction of compulsory milk and after noon naps in the work place. Remember in Victoria this comes directly after the 2am lockout on hotels and clubs is reversed after being a failure.

Seriously, does anyone else feel like they are being treated like a child?

Enough of all the bullshit legislation and start making people accountable. This generational problem of 'it's not my fault' has grown tired.
Time for legal adults to start acting like adults. If you want the privilege of driving a motor vehicle and consuming alcohol these all come with responsibilities. Don't want the responsibility, then don't take on the privilege. It's that simple.

The current government mentality of mollycoddling irresponsible members of society shows the contempt it holds the general population in.

Parents control what your own children get up to. This includes out in public and on the Internet. You alone are responsible for your child, not your parents, not your neighbour, not your child's school/teacher and certainly not the government. This is your responsibility and privilege of raising a child.

You wouldn't sit your children them down in front of a TV with an open bookcase of adult movies in plain sight (well we hope you wouldn't), so why do you allow your children to sit unsupervised on the Internet?
These are the same parents who boldly claim they wouldn't let their child walk aimlessly through a multi-level shopping centre for fear of predators, yet are happy to let them run unaccompanied with a keyboard and mouse on the biggest shopping-centre there is.

To those who enjoy a drink, do so. But do so responsibly. The whole violence on the streets/in clubs on a Friday and Saturday night is appalling.
I see no 'fun' in binge drinking and then waking up in an emergency room (if lucky), or never waking and lying in a morgue.
Don't think it's that serious? Take a read through the emergency reports from the inner city hospitals after every weekend.

No-one is saying don't drink. However if your behaviour effects others maybe you shouldn't.

To the governments and police forces in this land. Grow some balls and prosecute those that behave in anti-social behaviour. The rash of stupid legislation has to stop. America had one crack-pot who will soon leave office. Do we need to oust officials at all levels here before some sensible laws are passed? As public officials you are there to represent the people. Is creating laws that affect/restrict everyone of their civil liberties, to stop a select few (ineffectively I might add) representing the people? I think not.

Enough is enough, the violence and stupidity has to stop. It's unacceptable and it has to be stamped out. Laws need to uphold the values of society; they shouldn't be introduced to protect the stupidity of a select few. Those acting anti-socially, have given up their right to be part of society. Start arresting, fining or imposing jail terms on these individuals, but don't lock up society instead.