Cycliq Newsletter goes Off the Rails

[AUbicycles]

I have been a long term supporter of Cycliq - it is an Australian business and they had a good product (not perfect but good). Though they essentially stopped their communication with BNA since going on the stock market... I have remained interested and have continued to approach them regarding updates / new product (no response).


But something is happening with Cycliq... their latest newsletter was titled "••••• Now We Have Your Attention 20% Off"


Are they upset that their newsletter open rates are in decline (because they are sending too many emails... and it is getting boring)? It is a pretty cheap-shot and immediately reflects on the quality and professionalism of the business.

I don't want this rubbish in my emails .... if I am among colleagues with my email application open, it is not a good look. In my view, it is NOT an issue of being 'too conservative'... rather it is about expecting /wanting to receive this type of content from a business selling an electronic cycling product. Other cycling brands are clever enough stick to innuendo or keep it subtle.

A followup came four hours later... an apology from

KEEP IDIOTS OFF THE... EMAIL.

A quick note to our community that we accidentally and mistakenly sent out our weekly email with an unfortunate subject line.
We apologise for any offence that we may have caused.
We’ll get back to keeping idiots off the road (and from writing our email subject lines!).

It has been acknowledged... but was it a genuine error? Someone typed the subject line and thought it was a good idea at the time. The content of the original email made further references. My assumption is that first when they realised it was not a smart move they went into damage-control.

What do you think, is this type of thing a one-off mistake or does it reflect a larger issues?

[10speedsemiracer]

Aggressive, clickbait style marketing is usually enough for me to lose interest in a brand, and I'd be unsubscribing or cancelling my account in that example.

I think the initial instance and subsequent 'apology' are both deliberate strategies to both shock and then further engage with their audience.

[P!N20]

So what's the issue here? That they used 'spammer' in the subject line?

I just looked at my inbox and there are plenty of 'X% off' subject lines, most of them remain unopened.

I don't think I would have batted an eyelid if I had received the Cycliq e-mail in question.

[AUbicycles]

The word censor blocked it... forgot.

It was common word for male genitals beginning with P.

Agree, it is clickbait and encouraged me to unsubscribe.

[P!N20]

The word censor blocked it... forgot.

It was common word for male genitals beginning with P.

Agree, it is clickbait and encouraged me to unsubscribe.

Ah right, I get it now. Yeah that's a bit off.

[queequeg]

The word censor blocked it... forgot.

It was common word for male genitals beginning with P.

Agree, it is clickbait and encouraged me to unsubscribe.

I just went and checked and sure enough, I had both emails in my cycling newsletters folder. I pretty much filter my email aggressively as I get so much of it. The important stuff goes into folders for important stuff, the other stuff I might takes weeks to read, if at all. Cycliq is one of those that gets put in the “probably never read” pile.