Microsoft’s Live Search is the talk of the day on TechMeme, not because of its search, but because of its cash back program. The basic idea is that you can get cash back for purchases you make when finding things via Live Search. There are about 200 partners in the program.
Cash back or rebate programs are nothing new. The auto industry uses them to drive sales all the time. And paying end users has been done before on the web, with less than stellar results. I guess it doesn’t matter how well the program goes for Microsoft though, as long as people chat it up. Consider it advertising.
The problem as I see it is that Microsoft looks more dot-com desperate here than 21st century cool and collected.
I don’t think most companies really want to promote super-price sensitivity anyway. Instead, they’d probably rather focus on “features.”
A subtle twist on their idea I think would make it much, much better. For instance, I wouldn’t do a Detroit-style cash back program, instead I’d join up with UPS and FedEx and provide free shipping for everyone, or free shipping upgrades, if the company already provides free shipping. This is a lot easier to communicate I think than a nebulous price-oriented cash back program. I think it sounds a lot more benevolant too.
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