XBOX for the Mathematically Illiterate

Microsoft recently announced a new "subsidized" plan to sell the 4 GB Xbox 360 model with a Kinect sensor for $99 and a required 2-year subscription to Xbox Live for $15/month, which cunningly comes out to $360 in subscription fees.

Total cost for the "subsidized" system + 2 year subscription:  $459.

The big catch here is that you can get the same system for ~$290 and an Xbox Live subscription for ~$50/year.

Total cost of non-subsidized system: $390.

I'd go with the $70 cheaper non-subsidized system.


  

Costco's Flexible Pricing

The two images below show Costco's two different prices for the same product on the same day.  Sure, the packaging looks different, but after careful inspection of the ingredients, quantity, etc., it's the same product.  Of course, shortly after these pictures were taken, the $8.99 packaged version was discontinued.

I want to skewer the person who came up with this pricing trick!

Evil Marketing Trick #348: Bundling

One of the biggest difficulties for evil marketing is how to sell more product when the market is saturated.  If people are buying all of a product they need, how do you convince them to buy more?  Bundling is a well known strategy to push more product than people need.  I recently saw a bundle of watch batteries, a 2 pack for $6, which was a good deal over 1 for $4.  The problem is, I only have one watch that needed a battery.   Yes, some people will benefit from a 2 pack, so maybe the extra consumption isn't double, but even if 20% of the additional batteries are ones that would never have been purchased, that is still a 20% increase in sales for the vendor.

When you can combine bundling with fear-mongering, you  get something like this:

Vonage Marketing Bullshit

Below is the email I got from Vonage notifying me of a rate increase. You can't immediately see the rate increase because it is hidden by only posting the new rate of $19.99/mo. It was previously $17.99/mo. I had to look that up because I had no idea what my original rate was. The reason I didn't know was because I was more familiar with $26, which is the actual amount I pay after all the surcharges.

Hey Vonage, it's OK to sugar coat price hikes by announcing new features (additional minutes and message transcriptions), but just be upfront about the costs. Treat your customers with more respect.

Still, this is slightly better than what they did the last time they hiked rates.

-----------------------------------
Dear Customer, Modifications to your Vonage calling plan will appear on the first billing statement posted to your account on or after July 5, 2011.

Your plan will continue to provide a great value for home phone service, including an increase in outbound minutes to 750 from 500. Your account will reflect this change at $19.99/mo plus taxes and fees.

In addition to 50% more minutes for calls in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, your plan still provides the benefits you've come to expect: Unlimited incoming phone calls AND Vonage-to-Vonage calls. The same great low international rates on calls around the world. Messages transcribed into convenient texts and emails delivered by Vonage Visual Voicemail®. Unlimited 411, plus all of the other included features you've come to enjoy. Thank you for being a valued Vonage customer.

Off Target: Evil Marketing Trick #582

I was curious how much I would actually be saving when I saw this sale price:

When I lifted up the tag to see what was beneath it, would you believe that the answer was nothing?:

Uncool, Target.

Truth in Advertising?

One rule in marketing is to always inflate the value of free offers. I was surprised to see this offer for a free DVD download with a value of only $5.99. Either this is unusual marketing honesty or the download is really crappy.

Wouldn't you think they would make the value $6 instead of $5.99 when they are giving it to you for free? The only time you want to use the $x.99 trick is when you want the cost to appear to be less.

Evil Marketing Trick #672: Package Labelling

Can you guess what the first ingredient is in Log Cabin Original Syrup? Click here to find out.

Dr. Pepper Iron Man 2 Promotion - Worst EVER!

Can anybody spot a flaw in this Dr. Pepper promotion...





Edit 05/12: I just purchased another bottle of Dr. Pepper and thought I'd play again for fun..I got the same results. WTF Dr. Pepper? Did you get your doctorate in bullshit?

Here You Go, Have Some Free AIR With That...

I need to buy a new computer, (I'll rant about my old piece of crap computer another day), so I've been shopping around. One thing that really irritates me is how the computer vendors advertise included software as a product FEATURE. Take, for example, this actual clip from a Costco Dell Computer listing...

Additional Software:

• McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 30 day trial
  
• Adobe® Acrobat® Reader
• Roxio Creator Basic

Well, you can dowload a free 30 day trial of McAfee SecurityCenter from McAfee directly, so that's not a real feature. Adobe Acrobat Reader is also available free online. In fact, in both cases you are probably better off going straight to the web because the version offered there will be more up-to-date.

Roxio Creator Basic, is by far, the most nefarious of the offerings because it's not something you can get for free (as far as I can tell). It's just a crippled version meant to entice you to purchase the full version of the software.

That's just the stuff they advertise. I know that once I get the computer, I will have to remove a ton of additional bloatware. I do not need an icon to sign up for Vonage, thank you very much.

Please Consult Your Tax Advisor

I am completely sick of advertisements that say "please consult your tax advisor".

First of all, these companies are just making this disclaimer so they can say anything they want in their marketing campaign. "HOME EQUITY LOANS - FULLY DEDUCTIBLE" (to determine deduction eligibility, please consult your tax advisor)


Newsflash: We are normal people! We are not rich marketing executives. I do not have a team of advisors. The only advisor in my house advises me twice a week to take out the trash. I have never had a tax advisor. And if I did, he'd charge me an arm and a leg to find out that your scheme is not tax deductible because I am not blind and disabled. I don't even know anyone who has a tax advisor. (The guy at the mall who, once a year, charges you $150 to punch your W-2 into a computer does not count).

Search for "consult your tax advisor" on the web and you will get 694,000 hits. All of them are people trying to sell something to us that we are not smart enough to understand. I am going to start selling a set of car tires that are guaranteed to last for 300,000 miles. I will include a disclaimer that says "consult your hydrocarbon polymer engineer".