How Do You Run Out of Digital Content - Mountain Zu - Mountain Dew Promotion

[Greyhawk]

Because someone is running the show while wearing a clown outfit and calling it an appropriate thing to wear while making decisions.

[Kuponutz]

FOMO only really works if you know something is limited. If you think you can do it any time there is none. For that to be a reason to limit they would have had to have told us it was limited to begin with then yes, we'd all jump on the FOMO train.

It's scummy and I really hope SE address this. I'm sitting on 7,100 points because I was aiming for a shirt and now no shirt or mount, or ANYTHING to show for it aside from a little diabetes, cavities, and a slight nervous tick.

[Canadane]

The promotion was always supposed to end today.
But running out a day early was interesting.

[Maxilor]

The promotion was always supposed to end today.
But running out a day early was interesting.

[AnimaAnimus]

How is it bigger profits when people are now going to stop buying the product since they can no longer get the mount? They didn't even tell it was limited.

Because when something isn't limited it's not necessarily going to sell as well. You can have a pile of 50 items laying around and ppl will pass right by them or wait to see if they go on sale. You could possibly sit on these products forever. But the moment you add that "limited time" or "limited amount" aspect to something, ppl feel like its now or never so they buy it even if they are not sure if they want it or will use it, which is also why they can sell them at higher prices. And when you add something like limiting the access being Moutain Dew to the mix, that causes ppl who normally wouldn't buy a dew to go out and buy them even if they do not want to drink them, bringing in more profit for Mtn Dew.

Then once a precedent is set, ppl will now see future promotions like this and know from the get go that its limited, they will rush it even harder. Which makes it more lucrative for both Mtn Dew and SE. It's really basic economics. Create artifical scarcity and you will reap higher profits.

[Avoidy]

The funny thing is I recall this happening the last few times they did a digital code event like this. For some reason they just never generate enough so they run into this problem every time. Or at least, that's been the official narrative. I do think an element of fomo does exist early on. They can instill urgency in people by saying "get it now, while [virtual, endless] supplies last!" and people will hurry out and buy some toxic mountain slop before the codes run out again. But once they're gone and people learn this, I'd imagine any incentive to participate in the event would dry up. So I don't think lying about availability is a viable long term strat. It makes me believe that they really are just incompetent and never know how many codes they'll actually need.

[CuteBucket]

This has happened with every single promotion I've seen SE do since I've been playing this game, and it's ridiculous. I managed to get the mount this time, but my partner did not. I also tried to do the Butterfinger and Grubhub promotion, and it "sold out" both of those times, too. I don't get why there are such a limited amount of codes. They already create artificial scarcity by making it a limited time event. That's the marketer's precious scarcity and FOMO needs fulfilled right there! You can only get thing X between Y and Z dates. Why artificially limit it even further? That just makes people angry and makes people buying the product sooner once they know they have to chance of getting the item they wanted.

[Packetdancer]

because being it's DLC I didn't think for one second you would run out... WTF guys?

While I can't say this is the case for SQEX, I can say that I know in some cases you are required to provide an optional "or equivalent cash value" for promotions. When that's the case, companies actually need to assign a financial "value" to the digital goods. This means they'll often want to set a maximum limit on how many digital goods they'll give out, specifically because if you DON'T, you (hypothetically) run the risk of a bunch of people doing the promotion and saying "I want the equivalent cash value" and then your 'promotion' turns into a financial loss.

Like I said, I can't say this is the case for SQEX in general -- or this promotion in particular -- but it is one reason that companies sometimes put a limit on the number of digital goods available in a promotion, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was a reason here.

[AnimaAnimus]

Why artificially limit it even further? That just makes people angry and makes people buying the product sooner once they know they have to chance of getting the item they wanted.

That's just it, its metrics. They want those huge peaks where ppl rush out to buy things. Not only do high peaks look better to investors and boards but by "running out" they are going to have even higher peaks since ppl know not only is there a limited time, but also a limited amount, so they want to be sure to be one of the few who get one, which means they buy more and quickly. If everyone is guaranteed to get one, you would see less peaks and money bros don't like steady flows. They see it as failure.

You could tell these finance guys that they could make $20m over the next 5 years or $5m right now and almost every money guy would take the $5m now. Much like gamers who want to put in the least amount of effort to get the quick reward even if its not as satisfying as putting in a small amount of work over time for a bigger, more satisfying reward. You want that hit of dopamine, or in this case cash, right now.

[Jojoya]

PepsiCo Promotions didn't request enough codes from SE.

People forget that the game companies are rarely sponsoring or running these promotions. Sometimes they reach out to product/retail companies to offer items those companies can use in promotions. Sometimes the companies reach out to the game companies asking for items. In the case of digital keys, a number is set in advance for the game company to provide. In the case of physical items, third party companies are given a temporary license to produce items with trademarked game assets.

If the promotion runs out, it runs out. That's why almost every promotion gets the "while supplies last" message tacked on. Companies either don't know if they're requested enough items in advance or they've intentionally requested fewer than they'll think they need. Either way, they win when their products are purchased or stores are used to make purchases.

Promotions like this can be pretty predatory and consumers fall for them every time because consumers can be very dumb about how they spend their money. They spend money on items they don't really want just for the sake of getting something "free". Was it really worth it to spend $12+ so you might be able to get a recolored Zu mount?

Is it going to be worth it when you spend another $10-$30 dollars on the next special promotion released just to try tp get some other "limited edition" item?