Here's a couple of real world examples of targeted marketing and their effects, at least on me.

USAirways offered a 4,000 mile first time online booking bonus. Problem was it excluded those of us first on the online bandwagon. I was somewhat upset, but the flip side was that I received a special 5,000 mile first time bonus for being Preferred and I knew the whole first time online bonus thing was an industry wide practice.

I also had another opportunity to get upset with USAirways where the terms and conditions of a bonus were not clear and it could be interpreted to either give or not give me the bonus. I had my line of succession if USAirways pissed me off ready: Continental, American, Delta, TWA, Amtrak, Greyhound, Car, United (<g> to kokonutz and geo1004).

USAirways never answered my question, but instead just gave me the bonus That keeps me loyal...

Another bonus is the whole Marriott debacle. Anyone monitoring the whole thing could see I was upset that I wasn't receiving the 'mega' megabonus of 40k. I seriously considered moving my bonus to Hilton and even comped myself to Gold there. I finally got offered that bonus so I'm still faithful for now..

The moral of the story? I find myself more tied to USAirways because on a day to day basis I get more benefits; I always travel in first and they always answer the phone in less than 30 seconds. I also find myself the target of small benefits such as a christmas card with a little memento.

With Marriott, other than the points and bonuses, I get very little since currently I normally stay at Courtyard's during the week and Marriott's during the weekend, so my Platinum membership means little. Maybe that'll change when they revamp their program.

So overall I think targeted promotions are a double edged sword and companies should try to show a rhyme and reason behind it; the Marriott bonus seems to be based on prior activity. Fair. The bonuses that at least seem random are the ones to encourage the most fury.