Fox Broadcasting wants ME… or do they?
November 25th, 2008 by Simon HeseltineThe other day, I received, amongst the usual spam, an email from Fox Broadcasting inviting me to join their brand-new social network for fans of FOX shows. I wasn’t quite sure how I qualified since I don’t recall the last time I actually watched a FOX show.
But still, I’d been specially selected, and they promised me lots of special features once I signed up for their private social network. Heck, maybe I’d find something redeemable on their schedule to watch, or maybe get them to bring back one of their older shows that they canceled ahead of its time…
Project FOX
Excitedly I clicked on the link, I would be a voice of influence on their network. That sounded good. It took me to a page with one question on it. The question regarded my occupation. I know I could have lied. But, that’s not me…I answered truthfully. After all, I’d been selected to join this community. They probably just wanted this information for demographic purposes. Then, the next screen came up.
Fox Broadcasting says Thanks but No Thanks
But… but… I was specially selected… I was going to influence your programming… you asked me to join. Now, I’ll go back to not caring about the former home of Firefly and Futurama.
Lessons to be learned from this:
- If you’re going to have pre-qualification criteria, it’s probably a good idea to mention it somewhere – rather than promise the moon and then snatch it back. I’ve no idea where they got my email address from, but I can say that I had a slightly better opinion of FOX when I was blissfully unaware of this network than now.
- More and more companies are creating branded private social networks to use as their own internal ‘captive’ focus groups. By rewarding participants with special features for their participation, they’re not only getting the benefit of instant feedback, but they’re also creating and fostering a dedicated group of ambassadors.
- Companies such as FOX Broadcasting are using tools such as email to seed their social network. They’re not just taking the ‘build it and they will come’ attitude, they’re using the other marketing tools at their disposal.
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