Trek Bikes: Interesting Community Initiative, Poorly Executed

Posted by Kathryn Lagden...

A few weeks ago a cycling friend sent me a link to the Trek website with a note saying 'You should do this!'. Intrigued I clicked on the link. As you can see in the screenshot below, I had one option.

I selected my country (Canada) and was then prompted to select a language (English). Looks like they're tailoring the content to me...Nice.

The offer was laid out on a simple, easy to read page.  Trek was going to select 5 women to share their riding experiences. In exchange they'd receive Trek bikes and gear.

From the website "If you're chosen as a winner, you'll be asked to share your riding experiences through online diary entries, videos and photos. You'll need to keep a daily log and provide weekly web updates".

As an avid cyclist, amateur photographer, regular blogger, and occasional video creator I was VERY interested in this offer.

You can imagine how disappointed I was to read point 5 in the requirements.

Must be a resident of the US? But I just told you I was Canadian and spoke English. Argh.

Trek scored big points with me for reaching out to the cycling community. Too bad it was executed so poorly on the website. Oh well, the weather is warming up and my Specialized bike is back from its Spring tune-up. It's time to hit the road.

Comments

[William Tully]

It drives me nuts when companies spend the dollars they do and pull stuff like that. If you're going to ask me some specifics for one part of your site, could you not add in a couple lines to exclude that which doesn't apply?

Then again, it's probably even more of an annoyance for people in Quebec. Sure, once they weed through the ones that allow Canadians, they then ALSO have to find the ones that don't exclude the Province Of Quebec too.

Yes, companies are allowed to have restrictions, however, it's the lazy coding that drives us crazy. Or is it the blanket marketing... ? ;)

[Donna Papacosta]

Great post, Kathryn. This happens ALL the time. I am sorely tempted to use my former Zip code in the U.S. of A. Grrrrr.

[Kathryn Lagden]

@ William - Good point about those in Quebec. Lazy coding and blanket marketing - not a good combination!

First thing I check on contest/promotion sites is the 'terms' or 'rules and regs'. Knowing if I can even enter is the first piece of the puzzle.

[bathmateus]

Thank you for posting.
it is really useful for us.

Bathmate