Creating Bad Will

In August of 2006, Starbucks sent out a promotional e-mail to their employees in a small region of the country inviting them to forward to their friends and family the coupon for a free iced coffee. Sounds like a great idea. Spread the word. Locally.

Unfortunately the word spread far wider than Starbucks anticipated. Remember this promotion was only valid in a specific geographic area. But soon the coupon spread to every area of the country thanks to the internet.

So what did Starbucks do when they realized that the coupon meant for a small geographic area was now being used all over the country?

They shut down the promotion. Yup, that’s right. Instead of creating good will among their already loyal customers by honoring the coupon, they instead pulled the coupon from everywhere.

What they were left with was a lot of unhappy customers who were once excited to try a new drink (and maybe become a loyal drinker) and a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit.

I had a similar experience in a local franchise pizza place. My family and I liked the pizza, the shop is right up the street and we were looking for a quick Friday night meal. And I had one of those coupons you receive in the mail. Sounds like a perfect answer to Friday night’s dinner!

But when I tried to use the coupon, even though it was within the expiration date, I was told that “corporate had pulled the coupon”. What did that mean to me? That I had to pay full price, even though I was holding an unexpired coupon.

I paid, took my pizza and never went back. I learned how to make my own pizza.

Bad will. People have long memories.

When something goes awry in a marketing campaign, figure out how to minimize your losses but keep good will uppermost in mind. It’s hard to repair once it’s been tarnished.