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Marketing Does Not Mean Tricking People

By Brian K. Hutton

There appears to be some confusion in the marketplace today. There is more mouse print than in the book Ben and Me and terms and conditions are as long as a Nabokov novel. I blame the legal profession for much of that. However, the tricks being employed by the so-called marketing profession are just as sinister. I will give you a personal example:

I enrolled in a cable TV service about two years ago. I won’t mention the company’s name, but their current marketing campaign involves a man apparently suffering from Agalmatophilia, and having an unhealthy and quite disturbing relationship with a marionette. When I signed up, they gave me a free trial of some of their premium sports channels. These channels reside in the 600-700 range, so you don’t stumble on them. In fact, you don’t find them unless you are specifically looking for them or an event that they are covering. My free year came and went, and I don’t believe I watched a single event on this premium programming. Now the sinister part begins. The next year, I am automatically reenrolled in this service and billed several hundred dollars. This is a range of programming that I did not request and did not watch, yet a small charge is being covertly added to my bill over a seven month period. On the last month of the payment plan, I notice it in the fine print. Here is where the real fun begins.

I call their customer service to have the charge removed and to get a refund for the six months that I already paid. This moment is a great opportunity for them to create a satisfied, happy, even raving long-term customer. Customer service can be your best, or worst, marketing tool. Unfortunately for them, it was their worst. I won’t go into all the details, but in summary, I had to speak to seven different customer service agents in multiple offices and at varying levels of responsibility over the course of more than two weeks. Each time, I had to retell my story, ingraining it deeper and deeper into my memory. Each time, they would act empathetic but then be unable to resolve the issue. I kept asking for supervisors until I reached someone who wouldn’t even give her supervisor’s name or contact information. But still, I received no resolution. I finally got a mailing address for their billing disputes office. A physical MAILING ADDRESS. They would not reveal a phone number or an email address. The only way they would allow a customer to communicate was through snail mail.

My expert marketing analysis tells me that either 1) they are the most conscientious company in the world and chose to have a group of devout ascetic monks run their billing disputes department to insure fairness and equity. As such, their vow of poverty and against modern technology forbids them having phones, computers and the like.

Or 2) they want to dissuade people from complaining and make the process so difficult and cumbersome that they win a battle of attrition as most customers just give up. I’m leaning toward the latter.

If you can’t see or read something, don’t inflict it on your customers. Don’t hide the X on your popup or make it white on a light grey background. Don’t have trial periods that automatically sign people up for long-term contracts and don’t auto-bill without permission. Don’t make it impossible to swipe your ad away on tablets. Don’t make your advertising look like a genuine news story or a friend’s post on social media. Don’t make the letter look like a bill or legal document. Don’t trick people into opting in to your email or phone database. The bottom line is that marketing is not the art of tricking people who don’t want your product or service to buy it anyway; it is finding the people who do want it. Sometimes, it is finding those who don’t know they want it yet and helping them realize it. But, it is never bullying them into something that they don’t want, need, or will regret later.

Gotcha! is not a valid marketing technique. So, for your next marketing campaign use the golden rule: if you would think a company was a bunch of jerks if they did it to you, don’t do it to your customers or potential customers. Or else, they will most likely think that your company is a bunch of jerks.

 

Brian Hutton has more than 20 years experience in marketing, new product development, management and strategic planning. Formerly a lieutenant in the Adjutant General Corps of the United States Army, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree from The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and a Master’s Degree in Advertising from Northwestern University in Chicago. Adept at conducting market analysis to reveal customer trends and needs and translating those into marketable products and actionable business plans, Brian is also an expert at helping companies and organizations with management and process development. He holds a United States patent and has written a chapter in Maximizing Marketing Communication Strategies: Leading Marketing Executives on Establishing a Unified Strategy, Connecting with the Audience, and Evaluating Message Effectiveness.

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