FREE SATELLITE RADIO!
By Brandon Matthews
With the economy now (seemingly) showing signs of improvement, Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) has begun an aggressive marketing campaign. The latest part of this campaign has been revealed in an aggressive marketing campaign to former Satellite Radio subscribers. In fact, right now all deactivated Sirius and XM radios have been reactivated FREE. With over 10 million deactivated satellite radios on the market, Sirius XM is well positioned to capitalize on recapturing an audience with little cost associated with it. This could especially boost cash for clunkers conversions in the current quarter.
Taking a page from successful cable television promotions of free movie weekends, Sirius XM Radio is running this free promotion from November 17 until November 30, 2009. The free trial period includes 60 channels and is dubbed the 60 channel challenge.
Following this promotion, Sirius XM Radio is offering former subscribers five months of the complete Sirius or XM programming lineup at a deeply discounted cost of only $20.00. With little to no costs involved with the already subsidized radio hardware, this is as good for the company as it is for subscribers.
There can be no doubt that high unemployment has led to many people giving up their satellite radio subscriptions during the course of 2009. This promotion can bridge the gap created and result in an influx of former subscribers which canceled their subscriptions due to economic hardships. A five month window allows those affected by the severe job losses of the last year to enjoy Satellite Radio again as the economy continues to improve and new jobs are created well into 2010.
There are many who have lost much. Sirius XM Radio has found a way to help people regain their dignity in these tumultuous times, by offering them the great escape that Satellite Radio offers.
Position: Long SIRI
Brandon,
Yes, fans can listen for free for 2 weeks and begin to understand how great it is to be a Sirius XM Radio listener and all its LIVE content.
Good luck on your Radio show tonight with your guest Patrick Byrne on November 18th, 2009 at 9pm on satwaves radio blog.
Richard Keane
And “regain their dignity” too.
Give me a firggin break.
Assume the position, the pump sunshine up the ass position that is.
Sirius XM providing this promo is great. Many people are unaware of the great content that SXM provides. Once you experience the selection as opposed to listening to the same old FM, you will be hooked. Your commute will not be the same.
I don’t know what to say? Sirius Xm is turning on the idle radios!!! Brandon I would have to think there are 15 million idle radios w/ after market units in the mix. The great thing about this promo is the price tag, there won’t be one. Because the whole promo said and done will make the company money and bring in future revenue after this promo is finished. Then in a couple more years you do it all over again. Your saying to the customer, come back and hear what you’re missing. But what you have to keep in mind you are also reaching people that have bought a vehicle with a Sat Rad but never was a sub and wasn’t sure what that thing in the dashboard could really do. This is marketing 101 and I mean that in a very positive way. These little disciples of Sat Radio just got their voices back to educate & spread the word. Mel has raised them from the dead. I just hope they get the word out because it’s the 18th and I never heard about it.
When I mentioned that people who bought a vehicle but never were a sub, I was talking about people buying a used vehicle w/ a Sat Rad already installed.
Brandon, it’s not April 1st so it’s not April fools day. I looked thru the internet and see nothing on this promo. How are they marketing this aggressive marketing campaign???
For the record Neal, you just heard about it here. We have quite a large reach…already sites all over the country are linking to the story….message boards are buzzing…people are talking.
As with everything else this is another screw up. If this is your idea of a major advertising canpaign you must be living in a cardboard box under an interstate highway somewhere.
One way people are being notified is thru email. Sirius XM keeps everyones email address on file even if you have cancelled. I got the email because i forgot to update my CC info after my previous CC was closed due to fraud activity. They are doing huge email blasts. Hopefully some ads come on TV telling people to fire up the radio in their car if they have never been a subscriber. Company is doing some smart things!
This promo sounds great, but with no promotion, what is the point? Did they mail out the info or call x-subscribers? No offense to your site, but unless you are an investor or subscriber, you have never heard of satwaves or any other site talking about satelite radio. It is not even on XM’s website. I assume this article is legit, but I can’t believe SIRIUS XM would do this and depend on satwaves or message boards to promote…Not even a press release???doesn’t make sense
I got a letter in the mail with the offer on Nov 16th.
SWEET !!
This is a great idea but there is no question that the key to its success will be effective marketing and getting the word out. I am concerned that they are late on this and hope that there will be an immediate surge in advertisig to let people know of this great promotion.
Sirius XM began the promotion by targeting the data base mailing list of in active radio owners. They mailed out notices that informed owners of vehicles. I don’t blame them for not making public knowledge because everyone would be looking for that kind of deal including new car owners. The deal is not for everyone.
People just don’t get the fact that Sirius XM have reached a point where there is no looking back. As an investor I have never felt more sure of my investment. The possibilities are endless and 18 million plus subs and growing is a large community that can sustain the company providing it a solid footing that is only growing. At least 5 million vehicles a year are strapped with the ultimate entertainment that is truly a necessity for those that are up to date with current trends and technologies. Sirius XM will soon be untouchable by these lame attempts to knock the company down. There will be no remorse on the haters and there nightmares will become reality. The right moves at the right times will prove to be the simple equations to massive profits.
You haven’t worked in 18 months, but hey, don’t let it get you down. You just got satellite radio. How ’bout that. Dignity regained.
What?
I have been harping on the activation of radios in the used car market for 2 years. Finally! Thank you Mel. Even if they only get subscriptions from 25% that would be HUGE!!!!
BM, didn’t Sirius a few months back go to the auto insurance companies for records? My guess is that direct mail pieces went to those on the Sirius list of inactives AND those identified to have used vehicles with inactive satrad. Just a thought. Keep up the good work!
25% is a Wildly optomistic for a take rate , especially considering these customers cancelled or simply did not activate after the free trial period. As a long term investor in siri , I would be thrilled with a 10% take rate. That percentage could result in over a million new subs. 1,000,000 x 14 = 14,000,000 per month of increased revinue for siri with very little SAC.
10% might even be a bit high. My bet would be closer to 5%. But even then thats not a bad number. You must also consider that not all of the idle radios owners will know about the plan or even care for that matter. Either way its a nice little chunk of positive subs.
I looked through the 60 channels. Maybe I am just unsophisticated, but one of the best things about SIRIUSXM is the ability to hear uncensored programming. This list does not include any XL channels. I think that is a bad decision.
Rob, keep in mind that millions of these vehicles are in the hands of the second owner. Which means that these people never may have had a free 3 month sub or not aware of what Sat Rad is all about. We take too much for granted on thinking this is a well known product. People may be aware the names of Sirius & Xm, but unaware of what it really has to offer (it’s a complex misunderstood product). So this is a win win for everyone that is involved w/ Sirius Xm. I again just hope they can get the word out to the person I just described? Are these used vehicles in the Sirius Xm data bank so they can be notified, I bet not. Gotta market to these people or this promo does not have the strenght that it should.
Why don’t all you ‘BASHERS’ join Cramer. Or is he already paying you? You certainly are creative in making any kind of positive into a negative. Mel states that he isn’t interested in leaving Sirius/XM and the ‘FOOL’ headlines are just the opposite. I am sure they had some weird reasoning in the body of the article. I quit reading them long ago. Why the Google stock quotes use their articles is beyond me. They are rarely close to accurate.
Brandon, Dumb question here but don’t even factory installed radios require a separate antenna wire to be run external to the vehicle? If so how are these non-active radios getting signal? Thanks
its cant hurt for sure but how do they email to turned off radio if the owner sold that car?
What would work really well is to have radio ad spots on various FM/AM stations saying “if you have a sirius/xm radio but not sub, flip the switch on your radio and test out our free programming….” OF COURSE I imagine that is impossible as the FM/AM stations would not air such a competitors commercial. But hey….why not try this on TV commercials.
Hey Geronimo, lol!!!
I esentially lost most of what I had over the course of this economic collapse. To not lose my house, I rented it out, but I didn’t have anywhere to go! At one point this year, I was down to my Ford F-150, my two hounds, clothes packed up in the bed of my truck, my laptop w/ a UBS external port, and you guessed it, my Satellite radio (paid in full). I lived in my truck for 4 months. I joined the gym to shower, and pursued work as best I could (got some but not enough to reverse things fast enough at the time). I’d sold a Ducati, my watches, my camera and equipment, my construction tools…everything to try to survive this period. It’s going to sound like an ad pitch, but waking up every morning in that truck with my dogs still asleep (shotgun and the backseat), wondering if I was ever going to come out of the nightmare I was slipping into, turning on the satellite radio every morning and trading the little money I’d put into a trading account through my laptop, and being able to listen to the pulse of the market climate each morning helped me get through every day, helped make me feel still connected to the world in some way. I listened to probably a dozen stations that covered just about whatever state I was in over the course of any given day. I kept my satellite radio…I know it sounds silly, but as long as I had it, I wasn’t totally disconnected from the world as hard as it was to be in the truck. Thanks.