Is Afrihost in financial trouble?

[nfbs]

Last year November Afrihost launched a video promotion competition with R200K in prizes. They were still promoting it in January this year on facebook. The competition closing date was in April later this year.
Now this month nothing. All references, blog posts to the competition are gone and Afrihost have not released any statement why the competition was cancelled. I would have expected a article or at least a blog post from them regarding the cancellation but nothing.

 

[HavocXphere]

You should invent a jump to conclusions mat.

 

[nfbs]

You should invent a jump to conclusions mat.

If they said anything about closing the competition then I would not need to speculate.

R200K and 6 month competition being cancelled 3 months into it without confirming it has been cancelled or giving a reason why.Original competition page with terms and conditions gone.

 

[Dean]

You should invent a jump to conclusions mat.

If he isn't too busy solving the case of his stolen red stapler.

 

[Paul Hjul]

Who said that the competition is cancelled? They may have sufficient uptake to warrant declining to spend more money on advertising a project which is designed to advertise for the company.

I suspect Afrihost is always in "financial trouble" that is that they have a narrow margin within which to operate profitably, that their management and owners are gaining grey hair when they look at the books hoping that their most recent expansion or project has not broken the bank, that the income is sufficient to cover the contractual expenditures.

But I'd expect no more than an ISP to be in perpetual "financial trouble" because it is a competitive industry where innovation is always demanded. If an ISP is not facing a thin margin then chances are they are needing to build a buffer for the next project which puts them at risk or they are busy dying.

 

[nfbs]

Who said that the competition is cancelled?

All the facebook, twitter and blog posts previously promoting the competition are deleted. The original competition web page is 404 nuked. Since you need the competition web page to submit your entry I think we can safely assume the competition is cancelled.

 

[Paul Hjul]

No you can only make that assumption after emailing Afrihost to enquire whether the the competition is cancelled

 

[pgs]

Do REALLY think you will get a reply? Removing facebook page saving money? (I don't know how facebook works)

 

[jackshiels]

I was also busy with an entry, but can't find the page. They took it down about a month ago.

I emailed them but no reply They could at least tell us.

 

[Wackyza]

I wondered about the same thing

 

[AfriMan]

Last year November Afrihost launched a video promotion competition with R200K in prizes. They were still promoting it in January this year on facebook. The competition closing date was in April later this year.
Now this month nothing. All references, blog posts to the competition are gone and Afrihost have not released any statement why the competition was cancelled. I would have expected a article or at least a blog post from them regarding the cancellation but nothing.

Unfortunately the competition was withdrawn due to unforeseen circumstances, though I am pretty certain that none of it related to financial trouble (I would know, cos that's how I feed my family)

I don't know all the details, but I'm sure it was a considered decision, and all those who had entered were contacted.

We'll be spending plenty on promotions and competitions this year, as well as our planned network upgrades and developing new products. I can confidently say that Afrihost is continuing to expand at a massive rate, so we're not going anywhere - especially not to the poor house!

If anyone wants to know more about the competition, they're welcome to PM me and I can find out more info for them

 

[Sinbad]

Most likely a legal issue around a license number from the lottery control board because of the size of the prize, based on my experiences with such things in the past.

 

[ISP cash cow]

maybe it was cancelled because the competition was based in conjunction with their old ADSL provider (IS) and now they are on MTN it is no longer valid.

Just a thought

 

[kripstoe]

Competitions. Serious business.

 

[jackshiels]

I had such a cool animated advert in the making... shoot. I already put about 10 hours into it.

Oh well...

 

[HavocXphere]

If anyone wants to know more about the competition, they're welcome to PM me and I can find out more info for them

You'll have to post it here imo.

Despite OP jumping to conclusion on the financial troubles part, he's right about the competitions being withdrawn. Effectively the company scores a bunch of good PR but never pays for it. Not saying there is anything underhand happening here, but until AH makes an announcement it will certainly *look* like there is something dodgy going on. A public statement with a valid reason would be the best way to fix that.

 

[kripstoe]

I didn't think any of that.

 

[AfriMan]

I had such a cool animated advert in the making... shoot. I already put about 10 hours into it.

Oh well...

Drop me a PM if you had already started on something.

 

[AfriMan]

You'll have to post it here imo.

Despite OP jumping to conclusion on the financial troubles part, he's right about the competitions being withdrawn. Effectively the company scores a bunch of good PR but never pays for it. Not saying there is anything underhand happening here, but until AH makes an announcement it will certainly *look* like there is something dodgy going on. A public statement with a valid reason would be the best way to fix that.

You definitely make a valid point, but I'm sure many factors were considered in the decision to withdraw the comp. There was certainly no intent to get free PR and then not pay up. Whatever the reasons, I'm pretty sure the prize spend will still reach clients and not be used for any other purposes.

 

[nfbs]

If anyone wants to know more about the competition, they're welcome to PM me and I can find out more info for them

It's closed. You have confirmed it. What possible reason would someone want to know more about the competition that is closed except the reason which you are not making public for whatever reason?

You definitely make a valid point, but I'm sure many factors were considered in the decision to withdraw the comp. There was certainly no intent to get free PR and then not pay up. Whatever the reasons, I'm pretty sure the prize spend will still reach clients and not be used for any other purposes.

So if I am reading between the lines the budget has been moved to buy additional IPC since that takes priority. First get your network working reasonably rather than advertising when it is experiencing capacity problems.