Yesterday morning, Wade wrote a story about the recent settlement agreement in a class-action lawsuit involving Connecticut-based Webloyalty, which runs various discount programs offered to consumers as they wrap up e-commerce transactions. The case involved allegations that Webloyalty violated state and federal laws by failing to disclose some details about its offerings, such as the monthly charges that showed up on credit card bills after customers agreed to the programs. In some cases, customers said they didn’t even know they had signed up for a program at all.
Now, it’s important to note that Webloyalty has not admitted any wrongdoing. It maintains, in fact, as Wade wrote (I’m quoting Wade here, not Webloyalty): “that the details about its charges have always been clear in the fine print and in the follow-up e-mails it sends to subscribers…”
Wade’s story has more details on the case and settlement. But I’d like to flag one point that has to do with changes Webloyalty has made in the way it markets its programs. The company was very helpful to us in our reporting and provided a fascinating graphic detailing those changes. I found the graphic extremely instructive about how marketing programs work and the way words and placements might influence outcomes and perceptions. I think you will, too.
You can find it here, or just click on the thumbnail image accompanying this story.
Author: Robert Buderi
Bob is Xconomy's founder and chairman. He is one of the country's foremost journalists covering business and technology. As a noted author and magazine editor, he is a sought-after commentator on innovation and global competitiveness. Before taking his most recent position as a research fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies, Bob served as Editor in Chief of MIT's Technology Review, then a 10-times-a-year publication with a circulation of 315,000. Bob led the magazine to numerous editorial and design awards and oversaw its expansion into three foreign editions, electronic newsletters, and highly successful conferences. As BusinessWeek's technology editor, he shared in the 1992 National Magazine Award for The Quality Imperative.
Bob is the author of four books about technology and innovation. Naval Innovation for the 21st Century (2013) is a post-Cold War account of the Office of Naval Research. Guanxi (2006) focuses on Microsoft's Beijing research lab as a metaphor for global competitiveness. Engines of Tomorrow (2000) describes the evolution of corporate research. The Invention That Changed the World (1996) covered a secret lab at MIT during WWII. Bob served on the Council on Competitiveness-sponsored National Innovation Initiative and is an advisor to the Draper Prize Nominating Committee. He has been a regular guest of CNBC's Strategy Session and has spoken about innovation at many venues, including the Business Council, Amazon, eBay, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.
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