On February 18th, 10,000+ people will run, walk, and roll along Wellington’s harbour as part of the annual Round the Bays run. Last year was my first time and I had an absolute blast. If you haven’t done it before and are contemplating it… JUST DO IT! As a bonus geekiness, this year everyone gets issued with transponders so you’ll get an accurate time for the race too!
On the most part I’ve been fairly impressed with the marketing effort. This morning I received an email from the organisers mentioning the run [good] and the need to get registered soon [very good] and even let me know that there were multiple ways to register [very good]. However there is one major thing wrong with their email. Can you spot it? Here is the text from the email verbatim:
Hi there,
The Vector Wellington Round the Bays is now only 11 days away!
We’ve been receiving an enormous number of registrations which means we have had to make a few changes to the registration process.
Registration Number Cap of 12,000 Entries
With registrations coming in thick and fast we are on track to break the magical 10,000 registrations number. However, this has highlighted a possible logistical problem and we need to put a cap of 12,000 entries for this year’s event. To ensure you secure an entry into the event, register online this week as entries may close at 12,000 next week. Don’t forget to pass on the message to your friends and family so they don’t miss out.Extension of Online Registrations
The online registration dates have been extended to ensure you can secure a place.Family Online Entries have been extended to Monday 12th February 1pm.
Individual Online Entries have been extended to Friday 16th February Midnight.See you on the 18th February 2007!
Regards
Michael Bennington
General Manager
Vector Wellington Round the Bays another iconic Sport Wellington Event
What do you think?
Comments
There are 7 responses to There is something wrong with this
Thursday, 8th February 2007 10:37 pm
Hope you are going to tell us the answer…
Friday, 9th February 2007 12:09 pm
lol
sweet irony
Saturday, 10th February 2007 1:07 pm
Ok, the suspense is killing me!! Maybe is it that the guy in the illustration is naked!? Haha : )
Monday, 12th February 2007 10:11 am
Well, they have MANY conflicting messages…
First of all they say “The online registration dates have been extended to ensure you can secure a place.”
But they also say “Registration Number Cap of 12,000 Entries”.
They confuse it even more by saying “Register online this week as entries may close at 12,000 next week”.
They then also go on to say “Family Online Entries have been extended to Monday 12th February 1pm. Individual Online Entries have been extended to Friday 16th February Midnight.”
So 4 different messages they’re giving users here:
[1] You’ll be guaranteed a place if you register online (not true if they reach 12,000, unless they immediately cut off the registration form once it reaches 12,000).
[2] Registrations are capped at 12,000 – we’ll close them off as soon as they reach 12,000 (probably true).
[3] You’ll be guaranteed a place if you register this week (not true if they reach 12,000 this week).
[4] Entries are open until 12th/16th Feb (not true if they reach 12,000 before then).
So, some people might assume they’ll be guaranteed a place if they register online, or anytime up until the ‘extended deadline’ dates!
What they should have said…
“Registrations are capped at 12,000 – with less than 2000 spots left we recommend you register online this week to help your chances of securing a place. Subject to availability family passes will be available until 12th Feb and individual passes until 16th Feb…”
Am I right or am I over-analysing?
Monday, 12th February 2007 2:56 pm
You are definitely on the right track Zef – although I usually forgive people even if they do their best to confuse me.
The problem that first hit me was that even after they’d sent me all this confusing info on online registrations… there was NO link anywhere in the email to click through and complete a registration!!!
Why? I don’t really know… Because I really wanted to get my registration in, I ended having to:
1. Open browser
2. Type in ‘www.google.co.nz’
3. Guess what the best search term would be (maybe “vector wellington round the bays”)
4. Click on first link.
5. Realise wrong page, go back, click on second link.
6. Find right website, try to find online registration link.
7. Etc, etc, etc…
OR, they could’ve included a link in which case it would be:
1. Click on link in email, start completing online registration form.
Monday, 12th February 2007 3:17 pm
P.S. Ingrid, unless your alter-ego is a male, it should be “La Gringa”
Tuesday, 13th February 2007 8:18 am
Hah – I should’ve spotted that one! All in all it was a badly written and executed piece of marketing.