Ah, Globe. For some reason, the marketing promos of Globe just tick me off.
Case in point: The New Globe 128 xl Power Postpaid Sim. Under this promo, all Globe postpaid subscribers have been issued an upgraded postpaid sim with more storage capacity for free. This better storage allows the subscriber to save more contacts and messages.
Here's what I think of the promo:
1. The rate by which Filipinos upgrade their cellphones is as fast as the rate by which John Mayer changes girlfriends. To Filipinos, a cellphone is a status symbol, and it is not surprising for Filipinos (across income classes) to be upgrading their phones annually or every other year. With phone upgrades come better storage capacities for contacts, messages, programs, multimedia files, etc. So what do you need an upgraded sim for?
2. A cardinal rule in promotion is simplicity and ease of mechanics. If it's too difficult, customers can't be bothered to join the promo. This offer is just far too difficult. First, you have to copy all the contacts of your old sim unto your phone. Next, you have to call Globe to request the new sim to be activated. Then you wait for your old sim to be deactivated. Sorry, but reading the instructions from the mailer from Globe got me bored... blah blah blah. There's just too many things being asked of me, and frankly, I just can't be bothered.
3. In its mailer, Globe wrote: "... it (the new sim) will also allow you to save more messages that you need to retrieve". But Globe didn't give instructions on how subscribers will be able to transfer messages already stored in their old sim to the new one. If subscribers lose their existing messages, doesn't that negate the purpose of the new sim?
4. Activation of the new sim is not even instantaneous, hence, you have to wait. Some people even get the wrong idea that the old sim will be deactivated automatically. Subscribers are confused.
5. As an incentive, Globe is offering subscribers who upgrade free one-day unlimited calls and texts to Globe subscribers. For all the hassle, the "sweetener" is just not sweet enough for me. From what I gathered, even the supposed higher storage capacity is not high enough. Compared to a 64k sim, the new sim only allows for an additional of 250 contacts and 20 messages.
6. I think this promo is a little too self-serving. Although I know that promos must be financially gainful for the company, promos must still strive to make it appear that it is the consumers that benefit the most from the offer, not the other way around. Unfortunately, for this promo, the offer does not appear to be RELEVANT enough for the target consumers. Globe, meanwhile, stands to gain because I understand that the new sim automatically activates G-Live services, that annoying SPAM SMS service of Globe that is quite tricky to deactivate (for non techie people like me). Who knows if other Globe services are automatically activated too?
7. I think this is an awful waste of money for Globe. I would imagine that the cost of the mailers and the new sim cards that have mailed for free to subscribers is substantial. Assuming a courier rate of P7 per subscriber, the cost of mailing alone for Globe's 700,000+ postpaid subscribers is already about P5M. You still have to compute the cost of the mailer itself, envelope, the sim card, and the additional staffing needed for this promo. I would like to think that Globe has beefed up hotline agents or customer service representatives who can accommodate the calls of those who want to upgrade. As it is right now, it is quite a pain to wait for an agent to attend to your needs while dialing 211. Imagine the number of irked customers kept on hold if Globe didn't increase its manpower support? Then you have to factor in the cost of the free one day unlimited calls and text. All in all, I would not be surprised if this promo cost a minimum of P20M.
8. If Globe has this much money to spend on a promo for its postpaid subscribers, wouldn't it have been a wiser decision to just channel the budget to their loyalty program? Instead of offering a 128 XL Powered postpaid sim, they should have offered free phones to their best subscribers (as a reward) and to those who are likely to defect (as a retention program). If a free phone is too expensive, an across the board rebate of say P50 sounds good. That kind of promo has more impact to subscribers. The more impact, the more positive associated feelings towards the company, the more likely the subscriber is going to increase, broaden or lengthen its subscription with Globe.
In a nutshell, I think this promo is lame. It is irrelevant, too difficult, and poorly communicated. So who needs an upgraded sim? Definitely not me.
