CardMarketing 2.0

UK off-licence (liquor store) chain, Thresher, learned about the ‘power of the web’ the hard way in December. As a gift to suppliers and their friends, the company had created a downloadable voucher that gave the lucky recipients 40% off all wine and champagne.

However, the voucher fell into the wrong hands and quickly went viral via blogs, email and chatrooms, and before Thresher knew it had been downloaded 800,000 times on one website alone. “It was never intended to get this big,” said a company spokesperson, who continued that the blunder “could end up hitting our profit margins”.

But maybe it was meant to get that big. One UK-based blogger, Steve Bowbrick, claims the voucher was in fact a “highly viral, slightly naughty (“hey, did you hear about that Threshers coupon?”) ‘accidental’ campaign”. Whatever your view, as an exercise in branding, the company hit the jackpot.