In The News: Free Product Promotion Gets Retailer Unpredictable Results

Saturday, July 31, 2010

When jewelry retailer JewelryByNET.com planned a TV commercial ad last May, they wanted to feature real satisfied customers throughout the ad with a repeating theme - "I Love JewelryByNET.com". In trying to retain the talent within a low budget, JewelryByNET.com decided to offer free jewelry in lieu of monetary compensation.

As a way of attracting existing and new customers to appear in the ad spot, JewelryByNET.com sent out an email blast to its customer base that had made a purchase in the last 6 months. JewelryByNET.com also created a promotional landing page with a signup form and release on their website which was promoted by highly visible promo banners touting "Get FREE Jewelry".

View The Promotion

People were told up-front they would be considered for getting free jewelry by submitting a picture of themselves wearing items purchased from JewelryByNET.com and showing a sign provided by the site, stating "I Love JewelryByNET.com". If selected, they could pick an item of their choice from a selection of fashion jewelry valued at over $20 each. They were also told their picture would be used in a JewelryByNET.com advertisement.

A couple of days after deploying the campaign, submissions started flooding JewelryByNET.com. "We didn't expect our free jewelry invitation would become such a viral marketing extravaganza." said Sam Meddy, President of JewelryByNET.com. By the end of the month JewelryByNET.com had received over 100,000 submissions and calls were flooding the Customer Service phone lines with more people asking how they could participate.

This unexpected but wave of interest along with the free jewelry response rate generated more than just free jewelry submissions. Because the promotion guidelines stated that participation was open only to those who submitted pictures of themselves wearing jewelry purchased from JewelryByNET.com, people wanting to participate began browsing the website and began purchasing items they wanted anyway. "Sales went through the roof with a 500% increase of sales, making it the most profitable month we've ever had." said George Alexandrakis, Executive Vice President.

With so many customers willing to "Show their love for JewelryByNET.com", Mr. Meddy said that new marketing campaigns are currently being developed to include magazine & print ads displaying real JewelryByNET.com customers happily showing off their bling. "Not only do we have way more submissions than originally needed, but now we have enough customer pictures to wallpaper all the walls of our offices as well."

The lesson to be learned by other retailers is to think outside normal practices and to be careful of what you wish for; you may just get it - with some unexpected results.

About JewelryByNET.com

JewelryByNET was founded in 2002 to meet the need for attractive, durable and affordable fine jewelry available to the masses with savings of up to 80% off typical retail prices delivered straight from the factory and eliminating the middlemen and their huge price markups. Based in New York City, JewelryByNET is the retail division of a jewelry manufacturing & wholesaler established in 1963. JewelryByNET creates and markets a range of both traditional and contemporary jewelry, presented on various styles of rings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants, charms and body jewelry, in platinum, gold, sterling silver and stainless steel.
Visit the website at http://www.jewelrybynet.com/

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