I can't see anything bad about this. I'd say Nintendo hit a home run.

It all has to do with the integrity of the blogger and the explicit disclaimer which lent immediate credibility.

On the other hand, if Nintendo a) had paid her and/or b) she failed to disclaim that fact, then a stain would be on the whole thing and Nintendo would be wiping egg off their face.

It's happened before and we all know the results of such unscrupulous marketing tactics.

This was done the way it ought to be and everyone comes out a winner.

Mack,

Good for the brand (Return on Involvement) but only sales data that measures how many of those 42,000 purchased the Nintendo products will we know whether or not it was good for ROI (Return on Investment). I suspect it will produce good returns in both areas.

I am of the opinion that Nintendo made a good move using Dooce (Heather A.) as a marketing vehicle. According to my partner, Dooce is an honest blogger that is known to speak her mind openly on a variety of topics regardless of comfort / taboo or other peoples opinions. So having her praise the product and connect with Nintendo to do this is a valuable move for them. Her audience knows her review will be honest and who knows what kind of viral word of mouth effect this will have with people recommending the Wii or purchasing it for others.

At the end of the day a $1000.00 investment for Nintendo is probably a rounding error in their overall marketing budget in a given year.

Hard to imagine getting that kind of grassroots exposure any other way. Very savvy marketing move. As long as it's clean and above board, with full and honest disclosure...I'd call it brilliant use of advocacy marketing.

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"Good for the brand (Return on Involvement) but only sales data that measures how many of those 42,000 purchased the Nintendo products will we know whether or not it was good for ROI (Return on Investment). I suspect it will produce good returns in both areas."

Lewis I added some calculations on this post today on my blog:

http://moblogsmoproblems.blogspot.com/2008/07/case-study-dooces-nintendo-wii-giveaway.html

The gist is, the linked site above claims that Nintendo makes $90.00 off each Wii set it sells. Since the cost to Nintendo for the 5 Wiis/Wii Fits is approximately $1,000.00, then Nintendo has to sell 11 Wiis from this promotion, to break even.

If just 1% of those 42,232 comments results in a sold Wii, then Nintendo's ROI for this promotion is 3,700%.

As you said, it sounds like this promotion will be a big winner for Nintendo.

I agree that this is shaping up well for Nintendo, but the ROI is, as you obviously realize, difficult to calculate.

This is likely but one of many exposures a person has to a Wii promotion or positive WOM about it. Would it have been successful but for all the others?

Or, if a person is persuaded to think positively about the Wii because of this but waits to buy, does this particular promotion get some weight in the final purchase decision when he goes out to buy a Wii for Christmas after seeing a commercial?

It should, but it's a lot more work to measure that way.

"This is likely but one of many exposures a person has to a Wii promotion or positive WOM about it. Would it have been successful but for all the others?

Or, if a person is persuaded to think positively about the Wii because of this but waits to buy, does this particular promotion get some weight in the final purchase decision when he goes out to buy a Wii for Christmas after seeing a commercial?

It should, but it's a lot more work to measure that way."

One other thing, IMO perhaps the most important thing, to consider.

Are moms that read Dooce going to be more likely to want to buy a Wii, because they see that Dooce loves the product?

I think the answer to that is pretty obvious. THAT is the real home run from this, the positive endorsement that Nintendo got from argubly the most popular mommy blogger on the planet.

Hey Cam, I have not seen you 'round this neighborhood in a while. Welcome back. Or maybe I just have not seen your posts lately.

Bad, bad move for Nintendo.

They should just go back to mass interruption ads like everyone else. They’re totally ruining it for everyone by trying to start a conversation. Who do they think they are?

[A fake comment by Xbox and PlayStation marketers :)]

Having 42,000 people lining up outside your door hoping for "free stuff" isn't what I'd call a home run. It's what happens when a high ticket priced item aimed at teens is offered by a sweepstakes site "for free."

What percent of this group reads Dooce? Probably few. How many are going to convert if they're not one of the 5-in-42000 chosen -- that wouldn't convert anyway? I don't know, but I wouldn't hang my hat on a sizable number.

This feels like the "if we can get just one person out of a hundred in China to buy a Coke every day..." mentality.

"Free stuff available online" doesn't collect quality leads and doesn't qualify as much involvement.

But Dooce talking up a product in a genuine, authentic and not-for-profit way, on the other hand, is good.

I have some comments about the story:
Mack calculation about a potential return are amazing, but there sill be no prove that those sales come from this activity. On the other side 1.000 usd investment is worth anyway just because of the publicity it delivered. Another potential issue is about the method of the selection of the winners. Don't you believe that between the 42.000 responders there will be some discontent and some suspect about the winners? Maybe yes.
Even this is a good move, it seems to me not complete. I would have added a 10% off on the Wii price to all the people that may prove to have commented on the blog or provide them with a coupon with the same discount or for a free trial in a store chain via mail, after having collected their data. This may have added additional metrics to the operation.

Gianandrea: how about giving the 42K people the opportunity to host parties of their own, if they can deliver a certain number of people and then pick the top 100 -- or have competing "parties" networked to play and compete against each other?

Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful that Dooce loved the product and she isn't under and obligation to "package" the party -- as a matter of fact, that would begin to look a bit staged, wouldn't it? -- but Nintendo could create real dialog and engagement with this idea.

Not a criticism at all -- just another nudge along the path. That's what social networks do!

Mack, IMHO it was a smart move on Nintendo's part. For a very small investment, 42,000+ people engaged with their product. Let's not forget that those commenters hoping to win the Wii fit talked about it to their network too. And as evidenced by my comment the conversations are continuing to happen. :-)

And let's not forget that Wii availability is still limited. What good is that kind of traffic when you can't get the product readily?

A great move by Nintendo. To Denny, regarding the number who will buy it who otherwise might not - there's no way to know. But, I think it's reasonable to assume that some people who might have thought about buying a Wii but hadn't yet, entered the contest then, when they did not win, went out and bought one. Like a lottery, the whole concept of a contest gets users thinking about themselves winning and playing with the Wii. And, as any marketer can tell you, if the consumer associates themselves with your product, that is an important step in the buying process. Huge win at virtually no cost. Plus, we're commenting on it here, so even more positive publicity for Nintendo.