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May 04, 2005
Watch out, it's raining iPods
A few weeks ago, I noted with mild surprise that the Economist was using iPods as an online subscription promotion tool. Since then I've seen more free iPod giveaways, promotions and sweepstakes than I can count. Pretty soon you've get a whole matching set when you buy some Ginsu knives.
Here is a very cursory, random round-up of the promotions I found - the range of companies and offerings is striking:
- Of course, Apple gave them away at some point.
- Citibank has "Shuffle your songs, control your money," get a free iPod shuffle when you open online banking.
- Exact Target (an email marketing company), gives you a chance to win an iPod if you provide customer referrals.
- FrontZone, a helpdesk company for Act and Goldmine, will give you an iPod shuffle if you buy five licenses of their software.
- Eclispe, a plugin marketplace, will give you an iPod mini if you write a product review.
- There's a whole review of giveaways in the UK.
- Some mysterious company that wants your email is giving them away.
- Midcom, a seller of all kinds of retailer and other technology, gives you a chance to win a mini in return for promoting printer, barcode scanner and other discounts.
- Branch, a nightclub in NYC, is offering a chance to win a party with "10 iPod shuffles, 10 friends and 100 open bars"
- Pepsi did a promotion in Canada giving an iPod away every hour until Christmas (lucky Maple Leaves). And Pepsi may have done another one before. Keep an eye out.
- TripMania, an online travel marketplace, has a contest for subscribing to their Top 10 Travel Deals weekly newsletter with weekly giveaways including iTunes.
- Consumer Survey Group, has a giveaway offer for an iPod (in return for your email of course)
- Survey Networks has a similar sweepstakes (and of course lots of other chances to win cash too!!!! ;-)
- Consumer Incentive Promotions is offering a Photo iPods to "qualified consumers who participate in marketing promotions and surveys" (wonder what that means beyond having a pulse, credit card number and email address)
- On a nicer note, Action Medical Research, the UK's "most forward thinking charity" is offering a free Apple iPod to every runner who raises £3000 or more on our behalf in the Flora London Marathon 2005.
- Duke generated a bunch of controversy by giving every student an iPod, stopping the practice and then starting again.
- There's even a blog dedicated to iPod contests.
- Look on iPod Hacks for more as well.
- And to help you control all the companies using iPod promotions to create more spam, Proofpoint has a promotion to giveaway an iPod when you buy their email security appliance.
We'll really know that we've arrived when these guys start giving away copies of the Marketing Playbook (or maybe that will just mean there are a lot of surplus copies?)
Posted by johnza at May 4, 2005 10:51 AM
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