Will Women “Ante Up” for J&J’s Online Stress Management Program?
Johnson & Johnson is about to embark on a daring move of which the end result could change the way some companies do business online.
Later this month, a subscription-based online stress management program for women will go live at Upliv.com. Subscribers will be charged $99.95 for the first month and $39.95 per month after that. In return they will get an online stress analysis to determine whether finances, men, jobs or some other thorny issue is causing undue stress in their lives. The analysis will be followed by advice specific to alleviate that particular stressor and other information as time goes by.
Some of the advice is common knowledge, like sipping a cup of herbal tea or taking a stroll under a leafy canopy of maple trees. However, some subscribers may need to soak in a hot tub for a while to overcome learning that upon sign up they will also be charged $8.72 for shipments of toiletries, with soothing names like Canopy of Tranquility, that will arrive every 90 days. Informercials will begin airing later this month to promote Upliv.com.
J&J is hoping to capitalize on the vast and powerful movement of moms and other women who have mobilized online in enormous numbers to participate in communities and chat rooms and rummaged around retail sites looking for bargains. They have shown the Web as the latest go-to place for research, advice, companionship and counsel on everything from gripes about diaper quality to whether to roast a chicken at 350 or 400 degrees to where to find the most energy efficient dishwasher.
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