Lincoln Zephyr Breaks Online Clutter With Bribery

I received an email from American Airlines today letting me know that I could receive up to 25,000 AAdvantage miles for considering the all new Lincoln Zephyr. A unique proposition for sure. So I went to their link and watched a 30 second ad for the car. For my time, I was rewarded with 250 miles. If I test drive the car I get another 2,500 miles. If I buy one I get another 25,000 miles which is enough for a round-trip ticket in the U.S. Needless to say, this caught my attention.

When I visit Edmunds.com, I see ads for cars all the time. I talk about cars and trucks in their forums and look forward to new models to review. But I have never clicked on an ad for a car on the site. Rather I go to the comparison shopper or the forums to learn about the car.

I see car ads all the time on consumer sites which invite visitors to click through to learn more. But just like millions of visitors, I ignore them when searching for car information on the web. Why? I don’t know, it just seems that I have an aversion to banner ads. Click on Google Ads placed in the right column or below the content? Never. And I suspect that I am not alone in ignoring these online ads.

That’s why Lincoln’s strategy worked with me. The small reward for my time, coming from a company where I am in their loyalty program broke through the clutter.

Bribery marketing works, plain and simple.

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