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Taking a leaf out of Groupon's book, O2 is asking its "Priority Moments" customers which firms it would like O2 to negotiate deals with, tapping the social networks to discover that most O2 users like Nandos regardless of their demographic.
Priority Moments is O2's group-buying effort, using the O2 brand to negotiate discounts from suppliers on the basis of bulk ordering. It may seem like a traditional loyalty scheme offering promotional discounts, but Priority Moments actually operates much more like social flavour-of-the-month Groupon, which is why the team is now asking customers which company they should approach next.
That's apparently in contrast to "O2 More", the opt-in service which sends out offers and tokens to customers based on their demographic and (occasionally) location. At a glace the two services look remarkably similar, but O2 assures us they are entirely different:
O2 More is an advertising solution where people can receive adverts for products, usually based on their behaviour or location... it could be an offer, a notification about a new product or something else...
But Priority Moments...
... is a service which lets people get discounts at lots of retailers, [eg] a discount for [a supermarket] where if I spend £60 I get £10 off.
So the difference is in the delivery mechanism: text for "O2 More", an app for "Priority Moments", but also in the way that offers are solicited - advertisers pay to place content in 'More, while 'Moments are negotiated with suppliers on the basis of bulk ordering in the same way that Groupon and its emulators work.
For O2 there's also a demographic difference – one only has to glance at the respective logos to see that O2 More won't be offering supermarket discounts any time soon:
Spot the target demographic with O2
But despite the obvious branding it seems 'Priority customers, those using social networks at least, are equally prepubescent, with calls for group discounts on Xbox live subs and, of course, Nandos.
But O2 won't care about that: this is all about spreading the brand, and its services, out of telephony with its increasingly-thin margins, and into anything else the company thinks it can turn a penny or two on. ®
COMMENTS
Improved service would be better than occasional discounts
If they want loyalty, better coverage would be first on my list - data stops almost the instant I cross the ring-road, and voice coverage fades in the Highlands way before other providers do.
Folk just want good, reliable, affordable service, not gimmicks.
Re: Improved service would be better than occasional discounts
Totally agree.
I've been with O2 for my company mobile phones since 2009. In the beginning, I seemed to get decent 3g coverage at my home and office.
I made sure I checked their coverage map before signing up and it gave a green for 3g coverage indoors and out at both locations.
I now struggle to even get a decent 2g signal at home and the map has changed to show no 3g available in this area.
I have a personalised 'account manager' from a third party (Azuzzi) who has single handedly managed to screw up just about every simple request I've made. This moron can't even call my - the primary number on the account - when I tell him what it is in email. He goes through the motions of calling the handsets in apparently ascending number order until he gets me.
Oh and that's usually about 72hours after I've tried to make contact via phone and/or email with a stock apology that he's been out of the office.
My superb, next-day, turnaround for faulty handsets for example is not done any more. But of course, I was never told this. My once good annual upgrade of all handsets now comes with the caveats that - (a) it's only for one handset on the primary number and (b) it's an automatic 12 month extension of the contract if you take it. Neither of which were explained outright - I had to go digging.
Anyone remember the problems with them releasing our private data last year? It was a "small problem" and one that was "technically difficult to achieve" and "only affected some test systems" - basically everything except even a simple apology.
I don't want gimmicks O2 - certainly not on an expensive business contract - I want a reliable signal and good service. I want to be able to pick up a phone and believe that my business is important to you - ok, in the grand scheme of things, £170pm on mobile contracts to a company your size isn't a lot but to a company my size it is and compared, I suspect, to the vast majority of non-commercial accounts it's a rather large sum
In fact, the longer I think about how O2 have managed to go from what was really a rather good company that looked after my needs and treated me with what was genuinely great customer service to the steaming pile of nondescript grimness they now are, the more I think it'd be a good idea to buy the contract out.
Nor have I even been a "high maintenance" customer - had a couple of handset failures in the early days, that was all, and I don't blame O2 for that.
And...breathe.
Sorry - didn't mean that to be such a moan.
May I speak to the owner of the business please?
Why?
This is O2, I'm calling regarding your mobile phone contract
And?
We'd like to save you money...
Get Lost! Click.
7 times this month. When will they get the message.
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