When this happens, I'm ashamed to call myself a marketer

I choose to believe that most marketers are good.

Most believe in accurately, appropriately and professionally representing their brands in order to generate genuine demand based on valid product value.

Then this happens, and it tarnishes our reputation.

The decent among us step out of our comfort zone and curse them.

This company is assuming, or at least hoping, that consumers are stupid.

This is a scratch-and-win (looking) card which appeared in my mailbox today. You are meant to believe, like with any other scratch-and-win game, that if you uncover a certain result, you win the corresponding prize.

Not so in this case.

In this case, you are CERTAIN to uncover a "winning" pattern. Once you do, you "may" win one of the listed prizes. All you have to do, of course, is call the "prize hotline" to find out what you CAN win.

I'm sure this company (they never reveal themselves, interestingly) is hoping that people say "Sure! Let's call the number to see what I won!" Hoping that the customer does NOT read the fine print.

I read it.

First of all, the prizes listed are "available at the outset of the game; prizes diminish as prizes are awarded" - their way of saying 'we can decide who gets the best prizes'. How are prizes allocated you ask? Well, they are "determined by the company's master list" - their way of saying 'we can assign you whatever prize we wish'. Oh, and if the prize is "unavailable, sponsor may substitute" - their way of saying 'you may not even get one of the prizes you were expecting'. Then, in order to claim this mystery prize, you need to agree to a "product presentation". Ah, yes, of course I do.

OK, so now on to the odds of winning: 1 in 800,000 for the grand prize (but don't forget, it has probably been preferentially "awarded" to someone else, or the prize may have been magically substituted for something else); 875 in 1000 (that means almost 9 out of 10) for the hotel stay. Ah, that's where they get you. You are almost certainly awarded the hotel stay "prize". They lure you with the thought of a free vacation, then force you to endure their "presentation" - the ensuing barrage of pressure sales tactics for whatever it is they're pushing (which is never mentioned, by the way).

Makes me want to puke.

Who is oblivious enough to fall for this?

More importantly (to me), how do the marketers that conjured up this scam sleep at night?

They have no integrity. No morality. No professionalism. No dignity.

Sadly, they can call themselves marketers, as I do.

I am ashamed to be associated with them by any description.


So endeth my rant for the day.

Direct mail can work... except when it looks like this!

Direct mail is making a comeback.

When you hear of the term "junk mail" today, you're probably thinking about the junk you get in your email inbox. Believe it or not, junk mail used to actually refer to... wait for it... MAIL!

The ease and affordability of email made it the golden child of marketing, but also made consumers an easier target for junk email. But as consumers become more spam-filter-savvy and as corporations block more and more unidentified inbound email, marketers (at least the progressive ones) are returning to direct mail, and getting much better at it.

There is still less promotional mail than in its heyday, but some direct mail packages are personalized, sophisticated, impressive and in many cases compelling (inspiring the marketer's desired response).

However, as much as I applaud marketers for their clever return to direct mail, I cringe when I see stuff like this (click on the image) in my mailbox.

This company really tried hard. They went door-to-door (no postage) and tried to deliver a compelling message. I still don't know what that message is, because there is NO CHANCE I am going to read this.

Neither are you.

TAKEAWAY FOR YOU:

Please, if you're considering a return to promotional mail, remember:

1. Keep it simple (which means SHORT)
2. Make it pleasing to the eye (my eye needs to be drawn to it, but not overwhelmed)
3. Include an offer that is really hard to turn down or ignore. No more "10% off online orders" or "save the tax". It may seem like a lot to offer, but it's truly not enough. Give away something valuable for free (no free fridge magnets!) or consider the deepest possible discount without having to declare bankruptcy.
4. Think about the last item YOU got in the mail that inspired you to act in some way. What made it so effective? Can you use that tactic in your program?
5. Make it easy for them to act. A simple phone number or url (acme.com/mailoffer for example)
6. Once is never enough. Send multiple mailings. Remember that people need to hear something 6 or 7 times before they actually HEAR it. Oh, and never send another mail offer to someone that's already responded! Pay attention to the details.
7. Ask for feedback. Ask friends, colleagues, family members if they would be compelled. Don't try too hard to measure the results - direct mail often just build brand awareness. But you can get opinions about your program and work on improving the next one.
   

Credit where credit is due - they fixed their mistake!

In an earlier post I called out McNain TV for creating possibly the worst flyer in history (NO contact information - had no idea where they were located or how to reach them).

Seems they have realized the error in their ways. Their most recent flyer clearly displays their locations, phone numbers and web site. I'd like to think they read this truly influential marketing blog and discovered their blunder in the post and corrected it immediately, but I'm sure they figured it out on their own. After all, it couldn't have been that hard to notice an oversight like that!

TAKEAWAY FOR YOU:

• Proof read, proof read, proof read.
• Have someone not connected to the project look it over. I'm sure someone from Accounting would have said something about missing contact information.

Uh oh. Someone at CIBC's in trouble about this direct mail...

Today I received a direct mail piece "inviting me to apply for a CIBC Aerogold VISA Infinite card".

Um, I already have one!

So, the obvious problem is that they completely wasted their money sending these mailers to existing cardholders. That's basically step number one when it comes to direct mail aimed at acquiring new customers: make sure you don't send it to existing customers! Direct mail 101 people. Huge oversight.

Here's the less obvious, but equally damaging problem: the impression I now have about CIBC. I've written a number of posts recently about the importance of strengthening your brand with your actions, not weakening it. This is, sadly, a clear example of how quickly you can damage your reputation. Many of the cardholders that received this in the mail will just quickly discard it and forget it, but many still will take note of the oversight and think poorly of the company that sent it.

This mismanagement of the corporate brand has less tangible, but significantly damaging implications. The next time I need to get a credit card, what recollections will I have about my experience with CIBC? Will it persuade me to consider a competitor's card? Don't know for sure, but we do know that significant damage has been done.

Don't waste your marketing dollars - another example!

Sorry for the slight gap in blog posts - it was the March Break after all. Disney's become an annual 'must' for the kids.

In my last post I talked about the importance of targeting your marketing tactics so that a high proportion of the audience is actually your target audience. Well, the next day in the mail, I received a package in the mail that, sadly, strengthened my contention.

Lab Safety Supply (I had to look hard to find the name of the company... but I'll save that one for another day) sent me a 196 page (not a typo) catalogue, in full colour, with a nice glossy cover, listing industrial safety and storage products (like bins, ladders, cabinets, safety goggles, etc.). It was actually a very impressive catalogue. But it was wasted on me!

I have a consulting business. I will never need any of their products. Ever. Why send this to me? It's not hard to get your list provider to include the industry, or SIC / NAICS code, or number of employees even. If they used any of those filters, they would have saved the cost of this rather impressive catalogue (probably in the $8-$10 range) and the postage (probably $2-$3).

Now to give them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they are counting on me passing it along to someone I know who might be interested in their products. A good thought, but I'm likely not going to. And of all the people they sent it to, I'm probably the most likely to pass it on (since, as a Marketing person, I am aware of the importance of such business building tactics). Most people will be bitter that they're cutting down so many trees to produce it. Perhaps they want me to put it on my waiting room table... but I don't have one. And they should know that.

The strongest argument for deciding to do this is the hope that I will pass it on to someone I know. Then, it is sure to get to the right person, and I have essentially endorsed it by passing it to them. Endorsement, as we know, is a powerful marketing tool. But if they wanted that result, they could have achieved it for a lot less. Send me a flyer instead of a full catalogue. Or an email even. I will never look at all 196 pages, so why send them?!

The point is, don't waste your marketing dollars. Especially when it can be so easily avoided (as is it could have been here). Those dollars are better spent somewhere else.

Have your say: Do you have any examples of marketing waste?