In the last year Groupon and SocialLiving have made a big splash in the business and social media world with a new type of marketing. Basically they offer a social way to take advantage of group discounts. As with all products there were followers who immediately started their own version of similar companies (with slight twists) in the hope of piggy backing on this trend all the way to the bank.
The difference between Groupon and SocialLiving can be seen not just in their market share but also in their marketing budgets. It is generally considered wise to spend a disproportionate amount on marketing when dealing with innovative products or services as the marketplace is Darwinian in style and you want to be one of the companies that survives. Groupon wanted to survive so much that they spent a whopping $180 million in the first quarter of last year on their way to a net loss on the year of $413.4 million.
There is a company called oo.com that is being born in the Bay Area that is following in the same path, but as I mentioned earlier, with a little twist. They are going to spend almost nothing on advertising and instead focus on personalization, viral marketing and a loyalty point system designed to enhance customer retention.
Lets see who comes out on top……David or Goliath…
Adrian G Stewart
