So last week, Stu, our VP of marketing, catches me in our 12th floor breakroom.
He blurts out — “Hey, what do you think about doing a competitive upgrade offer on CounterSpy at $14.95?”.
Not thinking very much, I counter with “Hell, I don’t care, do it at $9.95”. After all, it was a strategy an old boss of mine (and one of my heroes), Philippe Kahn of Borland, had used with great success. (Well, he did ultimately lose his job, but that was due to other reasons…)
I quickly return to my office and forget about the conversation, until later that day, I see our marketing department launch the campaign in one of our newsletters, CounterSpy News.
Uh… wasn’t there supposed to be a meeting, or something? A bit surprised, I put up a brief blog post.
Well, it went more than a bit well. Now, it’s gone official: Get CounterSpy for $9.95 if you own a competitor (including SpyBot, Adaware, Windows Defender, etc.).
You get the idea: Pretty much anyone will qualify.
Full corporate propaganda release here. And Neil Rubenking of PC Mag just blogged it at Appscout.
We will see this as either an incredibly stupid idea or a brilliant one. Whatever the case, this is a very, very good deal. Full upgrades and updates for a year, full toll-free support, the works. Our reasons should be obvious: We want to win over marketshare.
I just want you to know one thing: When the board fires me for gross negligence, I will still be blogging.
Somewhere where there’s no breakrooms.
Alex Eckelberry