Huh.
Apparently WOWIO got sold again and the new company has made vague statements about the year and change overdue payments due the artists who had/have their work up.
The new owner is something called Perks.com who have the catchphase 'The Science of Motivation'.
And then there's this on WOWIO news:
Perks.com, an industry-leading provider of corporate incentive and motivation programs, has added WOWIO to its list of premier product suppliers, joining world-class companies including Apple, Canon, Carnival Cruises, Coach, Dell, FootLocker and many others. Perks solutions enable organizations to maximize the value of the audiences vital to their success, providing motivational Sales Incentive, Corporate Incentives and Promotions, Employee Performance and Customer Loyalty programs.
In the initial release, starting August 3, WOWIO will provide nearly $1000 in promotional cards in $5, $10 and $15 increments. Perks program members will be able to redeem incentive/loyalty points for promo cards, which will then be used to pay for downloads of eBooks at WOWIO. Publishing partners will benefit by the exposure to, and purchases from a new audience of eBook buyers. Both companies anticipate an increase in revenues for WOWIO through this program.
Stay tuned!
So...
WOWIO, which once seemed like an incredible model that merely needed some tweaking for digital comics and digital books is now some kind of bonus imprint to a company that sells...motivation to executive types?
You could get travel points for a free airplane ticket, new sneakers or... a digital comic? I'm probably not understanding PERKS well at all though. I don't do well with doublespeak, be it corporate, political or racist. It's all 'wah wah wah bullshit, wah, wah' bull to me.
Seriously. Here is a c/p of Perks.com own 'Perks Facts'.
Having maintained a growth rate of 100-200% per annum over the past 5 years, Perks and our clients are seeing the fruits of the investment placed in developing the most scalable and dynamic technological infrastructure together with a second to none US and international catalogue – all backed and supported by years of expertise and our “Science of Motivation” platform.
Unlike most companies that started in this industry by "giving stuff away" – Perks started with a blank sheet of paper and the knowledge of the methodologies and science that drive human beings within business environments to perform. We have continuously integrated new knowledge and techniques gained by our “living laboratories” into the DNA of our technology solution – adapting to specific industry, client, geographic and cultural realities – while also keeping abreast of the newest technologies that can better serve those needs. Most other companies having had legacy systems to deal with - cannot deliver the integrated and individualized services that we provide.
At the most practical level our executive staff come both from the buy-side and sell-side of the industry so that we have a broad knowledge of the needs of companies of all sizes and industries. Perks serves a slew of clients ranging from one who uses our services to incentivize over 20,000 call center sales and service reps across 4 continents to a product manufacturer needing sales and training incentives for salespeople in 3500 Big Box retailers. From Banks to Telecoms – we have experience driving performance for the "Who’s who" of the worlds companies.
Overall we incentivize over 200,000 people worldwide to perform better, sell more and know their products better. With ROI of 300-1500% on our programs – is there any wonder why we are growing so rapidly?
Inventivize, people. Oh the words North America USA has introduced into the English language. And yes, I did check dictionaries. It's an Americanism.
Anyway, WOWIO, the company seems to be getting further and further away from the business of promoting reading and digital media. The site itself, however, is still there looking like a portal site for webcomics and web literature.
Oh yeah. And it's possibly now some kind of 'living laboratory'.
Yeah...
Use of Personal Information
WOWIO collects and uses your personal information primarily for the purpose of subsidizing the price of ebooks available on the WOWIO site. Sponsors pay for the opportunity to present their products and services to you, and in return you get free books. Your personal information is shared with sponsors and other clients and partners of WOWIO in aggregate only. No personal identifying information is available to clients or partners.
Though I'm not sure if that's the Platinum model Privacy Terms or the new PERKS term. Somehow, living laboratory doesn't make me think 'aggregate only' applies.
