LG and Nokia had this event where the LG Optimus One P500 and the Nokia C6 can be bought for only Php6,490 each. The catch? It will only happen for a limited time (2PM to 3PM for LG and 1PM to 3PM for Nokia) in one day only. It created a lot of buzz after popular tech sites, publications and radio spread the word about the promo a few days before the event and thousands of people eventually got excited.
That sale date was today and the result? Lots of unhappy, disgruntled and disappointed people. I wasn’t there but I’ve read a lot of comments from Facebook and it’s not uncommon to see the words “œboycott” and “œepic fail”. Was it really LG and Nokia’s fault or did people just expect too much? The buzz was there but the execution was a mess making the campaign do more harm than good on the brand’s name. I heard that there’s only an average of 50 units per store that was sold compared to the thousands of people who lined up.
Whatever the reason for how the two phone manufacturers handled the event, it’s time to move on and learn. Maybe customers should learn as well.
One-hour sale events are bound to fail if:
- There’s not enough preparation and manpower. LG and Nokia should’ve informed mall security and their staff on how lines should be handled. I heard that even before the mall opened, there were already people who were able to line up. I think they weren’t ready at all.
- The shop is small and there’s not enough cashiers. This sale is not like those shirts and shoes sale where transactions can go fast. People being served would want to test their phone purchase and that would take a lot of time. Some stores have one cashier and guess what that means? 1 transaction per 5 minutes?
- There’s no way for people to know how many stocks are left. This doesn’t apply to all the stores but I’ve read that some people asked the staff if they have enough stock but they were told that the information can’t be disclosed. What??! So do they just want to make people line up some more and hope for nothing? If there are not enough units left, people would understand and they won’t have to waste their time waiting.
- There’s no proper communication between customers and staff. I’ve read that some lines went as far as four floors. Don’t they have a cut-off number? Can’t they say that they can only serve this many people so those who are farther down the line can decide whether to chance it or just move on?
The discount price on the LG P500 and the Nokia C6 is really low and I’m wondering if both LG and Nokia were ready to sell hundreds of units per store. I’m guessing not but they can’t or won’t let people know that. If they insist that they did not expect the amount of people who turned up, I’m not buying it. Do they want to give away these phones or is this just a marketing ploy to raise awareness on the phones?
For those who weren’t able to buy one, would you still consider getting the LG Optimus One P500 and the Nokia C6?
I also heard that Cherry Mobile (CM Eclipse) and HTC (HTC Smart) joined in the discount fun as well. Wished they did it with the Cherry Mobile Nova and the HTC Wildfire instead. Hehehe.
So who’s the winner in this sale? Well aside from the few hundreds who were able to buy the discounted phones, the real winner are the malls.
Photos and account of the mayhem in SM Megamall can be found at DaddyJoey.com.