Comments on: why the thresher’s meme went viral

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 01:22:48 +0000

Dennis - you may (or may not) be surprised by this then http://www.stormhoek.com/stormhoekcoupon2.pdf

By: Dennis Howlett

Dennis Howlett — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:10:58 +0000

Aaah — but the question now is this: what does Threshers do about the experience? What does it learn? What does it takeaway it can use to differentiate itself? I wonder what interesting things the company captured as information it can share?
One ting’s for certain. It can’t pull this one again too easily.

By: Paul Fabretti

Paul Fabretti — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 05:20:03 +0000

Exclusivity works — just look at Google Mail Beta.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 02:05:12 +0000

Is this comic available in high res?
It is just too brilliant.
Josh

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 18:48:37 +0000

Why yes, you are slow on the uptake, William
No major retailer in the UK would have been able to raise prices “outrageously” in the last 10 years and still stay in business. Look at the pricing trends in the wine market, and there’s just one word to describe it: DOWNWARDS.
Cheap wine in the norm in the UK now…
Secondly, if this deal wasn’t legit, this weekend there would probably have been riots in the stores. I am not joking. Instead, people generally went away pretty happy.
None of the naysayers [especially in the media] have factored that in. Strange.

By: william

william — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 18:26:44 +0000

Am I slow on the uptake, but didn’t he Thresher 33% off offer coincided with Thresher raising their prices outrageously in the first place, and lots of people going in to the shop to buy one bottle of wine suddenly coming out with three?

By: James Thomson

James Thomson — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 15:57:05 +0000

the 40% improvement on the usual 33% had five clear advantages in my book — although there are many others.
1. Simple. I have done the buy 3 for the price of 2 a few times (did it with 3 x stormhoek) but its a pain as you only get the least expensive bottle free. This is simpler.
2 & 3. It was web exclusive and so was a ‘discovery’ offer ie not pimped rather loudly all about the stores. This is a wonderful combination that appeals to people who like to do clever things (ie save in an intelligent way) while at the same time combining cheapness with exclusivity. That’s quite rare.
4. timing; holiday booze needs are well understood. Everyone needs to stock up so this was enough incentive to get this both talked about and used and, in the spirit of the holidays, you also don’t have to give a bottle you just tell your mates how to save by passing this news around — a kind of self help voucher for others to be told about. A virus that runs on the shoulders of giving advice — perfect.
5. sounds better than it is. Many don’t know about the ‘up to 33%’ that runs all year. 40% off sounds amazing at first inspection while 10% — which is what it is roughly — is much less interesting. People read the first thing they see “hey 40% off!” and act on that before they look any further. Time and eye ball pressure has made online reading almost devoid of attention to detail at times.
James