Last week I had lunch with a friend at Celadon House in Oakville. When the owner came by with the bill, he gave me a coupon for 250 CIBC airmiles that I could acquire by returning to the restaurant within the next 45 days.
Awesome! 250 airmiles and all I have to do is show up and pay for a meal at a restaurant that I love to go to. I doubt I would have been back there in 45 days so the restaurant benefits as well. OK, they are Aeroplan miles and my be devalued any second now but still, it will bring me back to the restaurant before I would normally return.
More importantly, it gave me a good feeling when I left the restaurant.
On the flip side, I flew down to Texas last week using United airlines. Wow, United not only breaks guitars, they don’t serve food either. Not even peanuts! And….no TV! The lack of food was one thing but no TV on a 2 1/2-3 hour flight; unheard in a civilized country like Canada. We flew out of Buffalo for the first time so we didn’t know the policy of no TV for internal US flights under 3 hrs. I will plan my flight better the next time and check out the airplane amenities on Seat Guru.
The Great, The Good and The Ugly Marketing Tactics
Viral Marketing – How about the viral marketing produced by the, “United Breaks Guitars Video”. A campaign any seo company would be proud of.
Celadon Restaurant – Little things mean a lot, especially if they are the last thing a client remembers about your encounter.
United Airlines – Even if you are running a cut rate service, clients still expect a minimum of civility.