The Science Gallery
At the end of April I was part of the team AmazEd that participated in the Irish finals of the Imagine Cup competition. The Imagine Cup this year was hosted by the Science Gallery in Trinity college. In order for us to get internet access on the day we had to register on the Science Gallery website.
There are very few places in Ireland that provide free Internet access and I believe it was smart of them to ask for some details in exchange for this service. A few weeks ago I found out that the details I provided are worth more. This is when I received a Membership Card that would not only give me free WiFi in the Science Gallery building but also reduced ticket prices for selected events, special invitations to hush-hush happenings and advance notice of all that is up and coming. And all of this with a welcoming note that put a smile on my face.
At first I only wanted to have access to the Internet during a competition and in the end I got a lot more. I really believe this is a great example of marketing and service design that every business should follow.
Let me know what you think. What are your thoughts and ideas on this?
July 7th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Hi Cristina,
I personally think it’s a great idea and nicely packaged also.
BUT – also potentially illegal under the data protection laws of Ireland if the original form you completed did not state that your details could be used to contact you for promotional purposes in the future.
Of course, this may have been flagged on the form that you completed and I’m not suggesting that The Science gallery have done anything wrong but it is something that any organization collecting people’s information should be aware of as I have seen 2 cases where a complaint to the Data Protection commissioners has led to organizations needing to delete their contact lists completely.
July 11th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Thank you for the comment Jimmy. I think you are right but unfortunately I do not remember if I ticked the box or not.
I guess their marketing campaign can be seen differently by different persons. For me, it put a smile to my face and it felt good to be acknowledged, while for someone else it could look like spam.
I am curious now so I would like to ask another question:
How do you see this type of service design and marketing campaign? Do you consider it spam or would you feel good to be acknowledged?