I wouldn't base my career on it. At La Senza, there also has been discussion of how to use the data generated by contests. People are saying that we should really zero down through the data to understand our customers, but we're really too much of a mass merchandiser for that. I don't think we need that information enough to put a budget to it. Ken Wong, professor of marketing strategy at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., says people who enter contests should be aware of what they are getting themselves into.
Nothing is free.
Anybody signing onto a site lured by on-line contests should know they have to disclose their identity and some information about their behaviour. On the whole, though, he says most commercial sites won't abuse personal data. For 99 per cent of companies, there won't be a problem. They are playing for the long term. It is much like the direct-mail business.