Two days ago, the EB Games Marketing team teased that something big was coming and with credit to the marketing division, many people were intrigued, myself included. Last night, EB revealed EB World Plus, a Subscription-based rewards program that was immediately panned on social media, with almost 1000 negative comments across the reveal and banner image update.
So, what is EB World Plus?
EB World Plus is a subscription-based rewards program that offers some “perks” at the expense of $49. People who sign up can buy 10 TCG boosters and get 1 free, same with Pop Vinyls, and also socks. It’s worth noting that these purchases don’t all have to be made in one transaction, and since there’s no disclaimer about median value, one could in theory purchase cheaper packets and use the free purchase to get a more expensive item for free. There’s 5% off Digital Currencies and 5% extra trade value, which means the subscription will only show a return on investment on $1000 spent or traded. You get double carrots, a currency only used to level up your EB World level and offers no real value, and for people that sign up, they get a free gift which is *check notes* one free bowl?
So why the outrage? There are 2 main reasons here at play. Firstly, the most obvious reason is that we are at the height of a cost-of-living crisis, with many people struggling to afford any luxuries. Now, I know the old adage “If you don’t want it, don’t buy it” right? Well, that leads to the second point which is the double carrots will eventually see existing Level 5 customers knocked out of the top spot as it’s only reserved for the top 10,000 highest carrot counts. Making the loyalty program, seemingly “pay to win.”
Overall, EB World Plus is a prime example of a company completely out of touch with its customers, no doubt spurred on by corporate “yes men” high-fiving each other after cooking up this half-baked idea with zero market research to squeeze the consumer for more money during the height of a cost of living crisis. While the target audience may seem like they are in the crosshairs, the real victims here are the staff who will be forced by middle management to push this as a KPI and the clueless parents just looking to pick up V-bucks for little Johnny.
With such interest in the marketing campaign and lead-up to reveal, this could have been a great opportunity to revamp the levels, making customers feel valued, and enticing them to spend more. Instead, it makes people feel like EB Games is flogging overstocked merchandise, and charging the consumer for doing so. Has the launch of EB World Plus done some damage? It’s too early to tell, but here’s hoping the vocal community will make EB Games reassess the program, and bring it back in line to provide value for consumers and promote the very thing it set out to do; loyalty.
