What's the big deal?

Before it was cool to bash Facebook's profitability, Groupon was the hip tech company everyone loved to hate, given its questionable revenue base and easily replicated business model.

Groupon's stock is less than half what it was worth when it made its IPO in November, and despite a recent rally, its prospects remain shaky in this amateur anaylst's opinion. I need look no further than my own inbox, which is daily filled with no less than five deal-of-the-day emails of one variety or another, including Groupon. Recently I used a Groupon to buy a membership to Angie's List, which triggered a subscription to Angie's List own daily deal emails. Among Groupon's other competitors in my inbox: Amazon (offering local deals), Living Social, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's version.

I've purchased deals from Groupon and Living Social, and my experience with one was not substantially different from the other. And therein lies the rub: My satisfaction as a consumer with a daily deal depends almost entirely on the business for which I am purchasing the deal. For example if I buy a Groupon for a restaurant, my experience is determined by the restaurant, just as it would be if I had decided to eat there on a whim. My wife and I had a fantastic experience after using a Groupon to book a room at the Omni Bedford Springs Resort. Our reaction was "We can't wait to come back here and stay again" not "We can't wait to buy another Groupon."

In other words, from what I've gathered, there is no real brand experience offered by any of the major daily deal players, which means that there is no reason for me to choose one over another -- save for the sole variable, which business being promoted in that day's deal. That would seem to be an incentive for companies like Groupon and Living Social to try to strike exclusive arrangements with the businesses that have offered the most popular deals. And that is an incentive for Groupon and the like to steward the businesses that participate, offering them best-practice advice on how to get deal redeemers to repeat as customers.

The challenge for Groupon, and Living Social for that matter, is that they are known only for one thing -- offering daily deals. If they can't differentiate they service they offer from their competitors, than the default reputations of those competitors -- Amazon, Angie's List, your local newspaper -- may just be what sways consumers to purchase those deals instead.

The Spin Cycle, 5/21

A round-up of recent happenings in the world of PR, marketing, and other things I find interesting.

I apologize to those of you looking for The Spin Cycle yesterday. I've decided to run it on Mondays from now on. Without further adieu...

Guinness QR code: Guiness finds an innovative way to use QR codes (though the promotion appears to have expired, since the code took me to an unused domain) but the question remains: Are QR codes worth the effort? And how many people, by the time they've downed two or three pints, are going to care where the code on the side of the glass takes them?

App Power: New research shows that a substantial number of smartphone users who download a retailer-branded app visit the store more often or buy more products from it. Good news for retailers looking to stand up to Amazon. I'm a frequent Amazon customer who nonetheless is underwhelmed by its mobile app. Maybe instead of whining about Amazon's "unfair" business practices, retailers can figure how to exploit this weakness.

Is Social Media Killing the News Industry? Yes, many people get their news from social media, though often that news originates with a traditional news outlet. Of course, social media and news media need not be mutually exclusive. The traditional media failed to adequately adapt its business model to the web when it was first developed. Will they make the same mistake when it comes to social media? And speaking of business model, the real question is whether social media, which also relies on advertising for its revenues, will leech dwindling ad dollars away from traditional media.