I recently got an iPhone 3GS for my wife. Since she is prone to breaking things easily, I needed to find her an insurance that covers accidents. This is how I found out about SquareTrade. For $99, they have a pretty good warrantee service (if it breaks, there is a $40-50 deductible and they will either cover the rest to fix or provide a new phone).
Yesterday, I received a gift in the mail from them – a SquareTrade branded iPhone case. True to my cynical nature, my immediate thought was, “Ahh, they want to do whatever they can to make sure they never cover it,” as I did some quick calculations of how much it costs to make this rubber case and what a small amount this is compared to the $99 I paid – of course, this was all done in less than 10 seconds. I’m a little sad that my thoughts ran to the politics/business of this product. Was this a business decision? Most certainly. But, it also functions as a marketing tool (i.e. the big logo on the back) as well as provide the customer a usable product (to protect the phone) and service (to remind customer of who to call if/when device breaks).
This reminded me of a project I did while I was at frog design. It was a healthcare client desiring to engage with the ~90% of their customer base that is healthy. Many insurance companies have initiated well-being programs that desire to provide health coaches and tips to those who are not yet in the risky categories. How do you engage with an audience under such circumstances? In the healthcare industry, is sending a customer a bottle of vitamin C the equivalent of an iPhone protective case? That sounds absurd, but then providing call center services, health coaches, and financial incentives to promote health isn’t. Or in the auto industry – is providing maintenance check-ups for insurance holders the equivalent of an iPhone case? What other industries could benefit from such a “win-win warrantee” model?
I’m curious if my wife will use this case.