Case study in how not to do marketing

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So I've been toying with the idea of getting an electric bike. These are all the rage in China, which makes perfect sense. But it'd be great for me on the short trips to the grocery where the thought of getting up and down the hill with groceries puts me right into the car (yes, I'm pathetic that way).

But that's not the point of this article; instead, this is a case study in what happens when you haven't thought your marketing all the way through to the point of sale.

I say all this, by the way, as a Best Buy shareholder. Sigh. Anyway, here's the good, bad, and the ugly.

• The good: Articles about Best Buy carrying electric bikes surface in the blogosphere (see example article below). Good way to leverage social media to build awareness.
• Still good: My local store puts up a banner visible from US-101 proclaiming, "Electric bikes are here, come in for a test ride!". Again, good: a direct, clear call to action in a place where lots of people will see it, including thousands of people stuck in commute-time traffic. Perfect target market.
• Here's where it goes from bad to comically worse:
  
• Attempt 1 to test ride a bike: Two weeks after the banner went up, I walk into the store for a test ride. Some of the bikes they are supposed to carry are not even on the floor; two models are in boxes. No one in the store knows when they are coming out of the boxes or when the rest of the models are arriving. Test ride? Nope, not sure when you can do that either. FAIL.
• Attempt 2 to test ride a bike: Two weeks later, I call the store. They say, "nope, still not on out of the boxes -- should be good to go this weekend". Remember, at this point, the store has a freeway-visible banner up for at least a month with that precise call-to-action emblazoned on it. FAIL.
  
• Attempt 3 to test ride a bike: Two weeks after Attempt 2, I drop by the store. Sure enough, the bikes (and the Segway) are on the floor out of the boxes. After asking a half dozen blue shirts for a test ride, I'm finally directed to the Appliances team. The Appliance guy makes a call, and says, "yup, it's what I suspected. We only have one guy who can help with test rides, and he's in once a week on Fridays. Please come back then." FAIL.

Why generate the awareness and then the leads when you can't deliver on the call-to-action? Looks like the bike-enthusiast bloggers who were dismissive about Best Buy being in this business at all were right.

p.s. Digging this Zemanta add-on, which I blogged about earlier. Definitely saves a lot of back-and-forth with other browser windows.

Related articles by Zemanta

• In China, Bicycles Are Back - But Now They're Battery Powered (time.com)
• Best Buy to Sell Brammo Bikes (shoppingblog.com)
• Best Buy Will Start Selling Electric Bikes (keetsa.com)