dearest burrpers,
it’s been some time now since i’ve reached out to talk to you all, but i felt the circumtances justified the occasion. let’s get right down to it.
many of you are effing pissed off about the citibank mailer that we recently sent out to you. it had absolutely nothing to do with food, nightlife, events, movies, or anything local for that matter. in fact, it was a pure money-making move on our part. i understand your frustration and anger. how can a site that’s been all about the users all of a sudden stoop to this level? has anything changed? could it be that those ‘eighteen’ guys are now in charge?
all valid questions. let me start about by simply saying sorry for cluttering your inbox with that crap. yes, we made a call about that mailer, and at that point in time, we decided that the money citibank was paying us was worth it. i don’t necessarily take back the decision, but i do take full responsibility for it. obviously, the decision making processes of managing a p&l are much more complex than the ethical dilemma something like this puts you in. there are many facets to consider while taking such a decision: our user experience, revenue pressures, parent company expectations, and our own departmental debates to name a few.
having all this said, let me assure you of a few things: we did not, nor will we ever rent out, or sell our burrper database to anyone. citibank came to us, they provided us with the creative, and we simply sent it out. your personal information will always be regarded with the highest and utmost respect and security. secondly, we are approached multiple times every day from local business owners that are willing to pay us a pretty penny for a biased editorial review, which would paint their business in a favourable light. we turn 100% of such opportunities down on a regular basis. in my mind, this is where i can clearly draw the line. the value of a platform such as burrp is its unbiased user generated content. people come to the site to not only find basic information about local businesses, but also to read and understand what the community at large thinks about such businesses. eroding this core would not only be a terrible mistake; it would be suicide for us.
a delicate balance must now be maintained for the life of our company. we must not only continue to provide an amazing user experience; but we must now also generate revenues at a regular clip for the parent company. this is something we cannot escape. whether that balance is being maintained or skewed in either direction will always be something up for debate, and i am happy to have that debate with you all on a regular basis. for now, i can assure you that we are trying to do our very best to maintain this balance while not upsetting the harmony of the passionate community we have empowered all across the country.
again, i apologize for the citibank mailer since its dissemination was questionable. please feel free to voice your concern freely. internally, we will be reevaluating our opt-in/opt-out flows for users at the time of signing up to make ourselves more transparent about the communication we send out. and remember; think about this as a relationship. at times, we may do things to piss you off, and certainly the opposite is also true. but the only way to get past it is to have an open dialogue. after that, we can kiss and make up.
onwards and upwards…
Must admit I was a bit surprised seeing that ad in my inbox.
My suggestion would be that if in future you would like to do such e-mail campaigns it should be for products / services that are very closely aligned to burrp or deals that are exclusive for burrp users. That said, no harm in having pure money making ads etc on the website itself, as long as you don’t mail it to me.
Left by mk on November 8th, 2009