Lee Dunbar

Mar

20

bestbuy.gifBest Buy has joined other retailers in the US such as Future Shop, Circuit City and others who are reaching out to customers who purchased HD DVD players. They are offering a $50 gift certificate to people who purchased an HD DVD player from them before February 23, 2008 – and really, if you bought one after that date you should have known what you were getting into.

This is a good move. On the PR/reputation management side of the equation, it comes off as a feel good story. Brian J. Dunn, president and chief operating officer for Best Buy was quoted in a press release as saying, “At Best Buy, we understood and shared our customers’ frustrations as they were being asked to choose one format or the other. Now that the format war is over, we hope these gift cards will reassure our customers that we will help them make a smooth transition into the right technology for their needs…” … and I’ll add, “…and we are confident that with these $50 gift cards, they will be purchasing their new machine from us.” ;)

Best Buy states that this program will cost the company $10 million. That’s a lot of gift cards – and more importantly a lot of customers who have already adopted the technology (high definition players) that will be looking to replace the obsolete technology. And – maybe more importantly, the need to get in and sell as many of these players and titles as they can before they are replaced with newer emerging technologies. The customers who purchased HD DVD players are the low hanging fruit for Blu-Ray and PlayStation players so this action will certainly result in sales and there is a good chance that consumers will also see this as good will.

Tags: Advertising Stuff, Brand Experience Stuff, Business Stuff, Customer Service Stuff, Marketing Stuff, Retail Stuff, Technology Stuff

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