isn't it like
― ( •ิ.•ั) (gr8080), Friday, 5 August 2011 19:53 (twelve years ago) link
There are many groupon horror stories, which are a drop in the bucket of businesses that end up happy w groupon. Theyve made stats about it public and the vast majority of places have positive results
I do find the copy annoying, groupons are obviously worthwhile sometimes
― Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he? (D-40), Friday, 5 August 2011 19:54 (twelve years ago) link
Fwiw re: hiring "real copywriters" - thats... Exactly what they've done. They've also got a ful editorial team that comes out of like textbook publishing. And apparently, based on market research, this kind of copy works rlly well w their target demo so
― Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he? (D-40), Friday, 5 August 2011 19:56 (twelve years ago) link
Not defending it I think the companies aesthetic is corny but they employ gajillions of writers with salaried positions so kudos to them
― Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he? (D-40), Friday, 5 August 2011 19:58 (twelve years ago) link
haha i think that makes me even more angry about it
xpost re: this annoying style working well w/ their target audience
― ( •ิ.•ั) (gr8080), Friday, 5 August 2011 19:58 (twelve years ago) link
they kind of stole the house style of woot.com
― mh, Friday, 5 August 2011 20:00 (twelve years ago) link
They've also got a ful editorial team that comes out of like textbook publishing.
One of my coworkers left here (you know where I work) to take a job as a copy editor at Groupon. Paid substantially better.
― jaymc, Friday, 5 August 2011 20:04 (twelve years ago) link
its it like 70% of restaurants close down in their first year? i get so sad when i see a new restaurant closing, wether i ever ate there or not-- cause i know it means someone's hopes and dreams and hard work have been smashed to pieces, and its probably all their own fault
And then I see the CANCUN CYBER CAFE setting its grand opening off of the main drag through the blue-collar part of town and smdh.
― ≝ (Pleasant Plains), Friday, 5 August 2011 20:06 (twelve years ago) link
Dry, but another reason it's going to be interesting to see whether they boom or bust:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-04/groupon-s-strikeouts-reveal-an-unspoken-truth-jonathan-weil.html― saint dominic's p4k review (Eazy), Friday, August 5, 2011 9:35 AM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-04/groupon-s-strikeouts-reveal-an-unspoken-truth-jonathan-weil.html
― saint dominic's p4k review (Eazy), Friday, August 5, 2011 9:35 AM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark
wow, even with their accounting practices they're prioritizing retarded meaningless cutsey bullshit!!!
― ( •ิ.•ั) (gr8080), Friday, 5 August 2011 20:18 (twelve years ago) link
Well thats because they have a product anyone can sell, so branding is everything
― Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he? (D-40), Friday, 5 August 2011 20:21 (twelve years ago) link
If their target demo is idiots, then I understand the approach. I only figured they weren't professional copywriters because of some NY Times article ... it talked about Groupon hiring poets, musicians, and journalists to write these things. They read like the creations of some brain-damaged inmate on the cusp of becoming an outsider-art curiosity.
― Spectrum, Friday, 5 August 2011 20:21 (twelve years ago) link
they read like a theater kid's blog posts
― ( •ิ.•ั) (gr8080), Friday, 5 August 2011 20:22 (twelve years ago) link
I think they sound like underpaid, low-experience copywriters trying to sound cutesy.
It'd be pretty great if they had actual mentally-unbalanced people
― mh, Friday, 5 August 2011 20:22 (twelve years ago) link
gr80 otm actually
― mh, Friday, 5 August 2011 20:23 (twelve years ago) link
Well they hire lots of those too but the writing style is a v strict house style. I should backpedal slightly here - they don't want pro ad copywriters or something, just ppl who can nail the aesthetic
Lol grady they employ and the style was created by chicago improv kids
― Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he? (D-40), Friday, 5 August 2011 20:24 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, theater kids is probably closer. I just like the idea that the whole Groupon creative campaign is the brainchild of a lone man in a padded cell drooling all over himself. Or really any campaign for that matter. "Make this ad about baloney!!" "But we're selling photo albums." "Trust me!"
― Spectrum, Friday, 5 August 2011 22:03 (twelve years ago) link
huh, thought i posted something on this thread. it probably ended up in the Blink 182 thread or something.
i just think it's insane that there's no limit to the coupons. like, how are businesses supposed to plan for that?
― Dark Noises from the Eurozone (Tracer Hand), Friday, 5 August 2011 22:05 (twelve years ago) link
haha i JUST NOW got the pun in this stupid company's name...!? wtf @ me.
― Dark Noises from the Eurozone (Tracer Hand), Friday, 5 August 2011 22:06 (twelve years ago) link
― Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he? (D-40), Friday, August 5, 2011 10:24 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark
haha knew it.
― ( •ิ.•ั) (gr8080), Friday, 5 August 2011 22:08 (twelve years ago) link
I basically just think the meme about them fucking over businesses is basically untrue. Its like an ebay store w a 98% positive rating and a really large number of sales. They are impish for having a v v responsive customer service dept; the one time I thought I got fucked over by a coupon they did a full refund immediately
― Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he? (D-40), Friday, 5 August 2011 22:26 (twelve years ago) link
Lol they are impish!! They are KNOWN
― Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he? (D-40), Friday, 5 August 2011 22:27 (twelve years ago) link
lol i was going to spend at least 5 minutes trying to figure out what you meant there
― call all destroyer, Friday, 5 August 2011 22:29 (twelve years ago) link
autocorrect the news
― Dark Noises from the Eurozone (Tracer Hand), Friday, 5 August 2011 23:01 (twelve years ago) link
do we have a thread dedicated to deej's phone fucking up his posts yet
― ( •ิ.•ั) (gr8080), Friday, 5 August 2011 23:18 (twelve years ago) link
i was about to go on a rant about groupon/social buying with lots of fun supporting articles but then i remembered this thread is about copy.
their copy is lame.
― tehresa, Saturday, 6 August 2011 04:59 (twelve years ago) link
i give you permission to turn this into the all-purpose groupon thread
― ( •ิ.•ั) (gr8080), Saturday, 6 August 2011 13:30 (twelve years ago) link
in the fine tradition of people that yelp are scumbags
― call all destroyer, Saturday, 6 August 2011 14:12 (twelve years ago) link
I have such guilt using groupons. I end up overtipping anyway.
― Yerac, Saturday, 6 August 2011 15:29 (twelve years ago) link
Someone in the restaurant industry in Chicago compared Groupon to a cash advance on a credit card, and that analogy makes some sense. If your business runs a Groupon, you get a big payout all at once. It just means that for the next six months, you may be giving out completely complimentary services daily.
― saint dominic's p4k review (Eazy), Saturday, 6 August 2011 15:32 (twelve years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/4Re3j.png
― (gr8080), Tuesday, 16 August 2011 18:50 (twelve years ago) link
I like to torment myself by reading the groupon posts for services like laser hair removal and colonics.
"Can I use this groupon (laser hair removal) to remove a tattoo?"
― Yerac, Tuesday, 16 August 2011 23:27 (twelve years ago) link
mmmm AMOEBA groupon
― Pizzataco Five (admrl), Wednesday, 7 September 2011 21:48 (twelve years ago) link
Ooh
― reggae night staple center (Eazy), Wednesday, 7 September 2011 21:52 (twelve years ago) link
"Groupon halves revenue forecast, COO hastily exits."
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Friday, 23 September 2011 23:47 (twelve years ago) link
citation needed
― Takeshi Kitteno (admrl), Friday, 23 September 2011 23:53 (twelve years ago) link
Groupon Operating Chief Leaves as Company Restates RevenueSeptember 23, 2011, 7:54 PM EDTBy Douglas MacMillan
Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Groupon Inc., the largest daily- deal site, announced the departure of its second chief operating officer in six months and restated revenue figures, cutting sales to a fraction of their previous levels.
Margo Georgiadis, head of operations, is leaving to rejoin her former employer, Google Inc., the Chicago-based company said today in a filing. In restating sales, Groupon cited “an error in its presentation of revenue.”
Groupon has lost executives and had to delay its initial public offering amid a volatile stock market. Brad Williams, the former head of communications, and Rob Solomon, Georgiadis’s predecessor as operating chief, left the company earlier this year. It’s also drawn flak for the way it accounted for income, which critics said was masking its true costs.
The company restated 2010 sales to $312.9 million, down from a previous level of $713.4 million. In its earlier accounting, Groupon counted the total amount of its daily-deal sales as revenue, including fees paid to merchants. The company makes money by selling discounts -- known as Groupons -- from businesses such as restaurants and nail salons. It then splits the revenue with the businesses.
“The company restated its reporting of revenues from Groupons to be net of the amounts related to merchant fees,” Groupon said in the filing. “Historically, the company has reported the gross amounts billed to its subscribers as revenue.”
First Half
Revenue in the first half of 2011 is now $688.1 million, compared with an earlier figure of $1.52 billion.
The company also said JPMorgan Chase & Co. is no longer a lead underwriter on its planned $750 million IPO. Groupon made the change after people with knowledge of the matter said online-coupon competitor LivingSocial hired the bank to raise more than $200 million in a round of private funding.
Wells Fargo & Co. joined the list of underwriters on Groupon’s offering, the filing showed.
Georgiadis will become Google’s president for the Americas region. Before going to Groupon in April, she was Google’s vice president of global sales. Her Groupon contract gave her a $500,000 salary and 300,000 fully vested stock options. Based on the $25 billion valuation Groupon was said to have been contemplating in March, those options would be worth $25.2 million dollars in an IPO.
‘Hard Decision’
“Groupon is a great company and I feel privileged to have worked there even for a short time,” she said today in a statement published by Groupon. “It was a hard decision to leave as the company is on a terrific path. I have complete confidence in the team’s ability to realize its mission.”
The executive will have an expanded role in her new position at Google, said Nikesh Arora, senior vice president and chief business officer of Mountain View, California-based Google.
“I called a great colleague from the past and asked her if she’d like to come back,” Arora said. “I could not ask for a better person to come back and work with us.”
Her earlier experience included a stint as chief marketing officer at Discover Financial Services.
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Saturday, 24 September 2011 00:01 (twelve years ago) link
steve shasta said it
xp dammit steve
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 24 September 2011 00:02 (twelve years ago) link
Groupon is the Ponzi scheme that Perry should be bitching about.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 24 September 2011 01:02 (twelve years ago) link
Sure Drudge will connect it to other dubious Chicago finances soon enough.
― Corn Maze to the Dark Side (Eazy), Saturday, 24 September 2011 01:12 (twelve years ago) link
I still have my TWO amoeba groupons
― Takeshi Kitteno (admrl), Saturday, 24 September 2011 01:46 (twelve years ago) link
srsly, fuck these assholes who write copy for groupon
― rebels against newton (Z S), Saturday, 24 September 2011 01:48 (twelve years ago) link
lol @ theater nerds not getting basic math
― (gr8080), Thursday, 29 September 2011 16:07 (twelve years ago) link
Groupon Shares Spike 40% at Open 3 minutes ago
smh
― ice cr?m, Friday, 4 November 2011 15:02 (twelve years ago) link
tbf there was a groupon coupon for groupon shares
― iatee, Friday, 4 November 2011 15:06 (twelve years ago) link
The supply of dumb money and money that thinks it can find dumber money never abates.
― pass the duchy pon the left hand side (musical duke) (Hurting 2), Friday, 4 November 2011 15:08 (twelve years ago) link
lol iatee
― pass the duchy pon the left hand side (musical duke) (Hurting 2), Friday, 4 November 2011 15:09 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/fashion/many-consumers-find-it-hard-to-step-away-from-daily-deal-sites.html
has there ever been another billion dollar business that was 100% dependent on millions of people setting themselves up to be mad or disappointed?
― iatee, Saturday, 10 March 2012 21:13 (twelve years ago) link
facebook, zynga, (is fender a $1bn company?), sony lately.
― Philip Nunez, Saturday, 10 March 2012 21:19 (twelve years ago) link
― iatee, Saturday, March 10, 2012 3:13 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
how do you mean? i've used them before & been happy w/ it ...
― D-40, Sunday, 11 March 2012 00:03 (twelve years ago) link
or do you mean the restaurants?
― D-40, Sunday, 11 March 2012 00:04 (twelve years ago) link