Talk:Hoover free flights promotion/Archives/2013

Temp page was created
I didn't create it, but I found it so I thought I should note -- a temp page was created on October 6 at Hoover free flights promotion/Temp. Mamawrites 10:39, 8 October 2005 (UTC)
 * The temp page has now been moved here, to replace the previous apparent copyvio content, and the redirect above removed. -- The Anome 09:51, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

Suggested merge from Marketing blunders
The content of marketing blunders is all about the Hoover promotion, and does not discuss other marketing blunders at all. I suggest moving any non-redundant material here. Mamawrit es    & listens  23:52, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Here Ya Go, Mama

The Hoover free flights promotion that started in 1992 must rank among the top marketing blunders of the 1990s. The Hoover Company offered two free flight tickets, first to a number of destinations in Europe. Then on the back of this promotion, started another one to the USA. Customers had to purchase a product over £100. The Hoover appliances flew out the stores, and shelves were left empty.

The local newspapers classified ads brimmed with Hoovers, all for sale at knocked-down prices. This in turn had a knock-on effect for future Hoover appliance sales.

The BBC Watchdog team sent undercover reporter Hilary J Bell in to Hoover's travel agent, where she uncovered how Hoover's agent was dissuading applicants. Next, a group of aggrieved customers lead by Harry Cichy and Sandy Jack formed a pressure group to fight Hoover. The pressure group went to Hoover's owners Maytag in Newton, Iowa. Buying some shares in Maytag, they attended the Annual General Meeting in Newton. The presence of the group made headline news on ABC TV News and the front cover of the Des Moines Register. Sandy Jack spoke at the AGM expressing his concerns to a bemused CEO of Maytag, Len Hadley.

Jack was the first person to take Hoover to court in the UK. The court cases went on until 1998. The promotion had cost Hoover £48 million and Maytag an undisclosed fund against liabilty of the Free Flight Fiasco. Reporters where calling it "Hoovergate". Maytag sold Hoover in 1995 to Candy Group, some would say as a direct result of the Free Flight Fiasco.

In 2004 a BBC documentary was made on the anniversary of Cichy and Jack's visit to Newton in 1994. Part of the Trouble At The Top series, "Hoover Flights Fiasco" &mdash; produced by Angela Chan &mdash; on its first showing had a record 1.7 million viewers. Flight promotions will come and go. Many blue chip companies like British Telecom use free flight promotions to increase sales, many are very successful and do increase sales and give genuine flight tickets. However, the Hoover flight promotion may stand as the greatest free flight marketing blunder by a corporation. Industry insiders and marketing and public relations gurus now use the Hoover flight promotion as a benchmark on how not to treat disgruntled customers.


 * 1998 SEC fillings: Maytag CorporationThe Corporate Library-CEO Contract Study-MYG Source: www.thecorporatelibrary.com/companies/m/myg/myg_def_19990401.htm

Suggested merge from Hoover Holiday Pressure Group
This page is almost identical to Hoover Holiday Pressure Group. -Bogsat 15:26, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I merged the pages today Bogsat 00:12, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Hoover's plan
One thing the article really needs to address - what was Hoover's plan? The BBC's article mentions a lot of small print, but the offer seems too simple to be true. How did Hoover expect to limit take-up of the offer? Did potential customers have to do something, or sign up for something, beyond simply buying a new hoover? Usually with a marketing scheme like this there's a catch. 194.176.105.139 (talk) 13:11, 13 August 2012 (UTC)