December 03 2007

File under viral

Thresher has launched a repeat of the 40% discount offer that it ran in November last year, and if it wasn’t an intended viral campaign last year, it certainly is this year.

IR likes a drink or two, and at Christmas that can increase to three or four, so, last year when Thresher e-mailed us a 40% off voucher for our “customer and staff gifts” so we headed straight for Thresher, unfortunately the email was then circulated to practically everyone on the Internet and the shop was empty by the time we reached it. However last years cock-up is now this years marketing strategy, as Thresher have just launched 2007's 40% off e-mail voucher.

The intention for Threshers e-mail voucher by e-mail to all its business customers, with the intention of grabbing the corporate giving market, however someone then passed the voucher on and it soon got out into the general market. The result was Threshers' website page impressions increased to eight times their normal level. At the time, the retailer jumped from 103 to 37 in Hitwise's ranking of visits to grocery and alcohol web sites.

Last year, it was reported that Thresher had only intended the discount voucher to be available to suppliers and their friends but many cynics thought the discount offer had been a clever marketing tool by the high street chain. Here at IR we prefer to think of it as a cock-up with a silver lining, and we’re surprised that nobody else is emulating it this year.

Thresher have decide to repeat the voucher offer this year and it will be interesting to see if it works quite so well, particularly as it won’t have the huge media blitz that it had last year. It will also be interesting to see if they have decided to go for something that gives them a little more feedback, and perhaps helps them continue their relationship with the customers into the New Year.

Here at IR we’ve already printed off our voucher and by the time you read this we will be cracking open a few bottles while we decorate the IR tree.

by Marcus Austin (Web Editor)