From Ian McKee - CEO of Vocanic
Is it that it is just easier to throw marketing at a wall and see what sticks or is there another reason that marketers are so stuck on interruption advertising.
It might work – but what’s the cost?
Although this is a US perspective – I am sure to a greater degree it is equally true in most countries.
Not so long ago telemarketing was the “hot new thing” …. Marketers discovered that you could fine tune the process just enough to make it worthwhile to have armies of people ringing their way through a list, interrupting them to make a sales pitch.
Technologies like predictive diallers appeared – which dialed the next number on the list BEFORE there was an agent ready to speak to someone. Their algorithms gambled that by the time you answered the phone there would be an agent ready. This shaved seconds off the process and boosted ROI.
Except that they forgot about the customer on the other end, who not only got interrupted but then often had to wait on hold till the agent was ready to pitch to them.
Because the negative impact of the experience to the customer was not costed in – the ROI looked positive.
Clearly that was not the accurate picture – because the customers lobbied and had a D0-NOT-CALL registry enacted into law.
A similar thing happened with eMail with the US CAN-SPAM legislation with most countries following with similar initiatives – Singapore passed theirs in 07.
Now marketers are doing again with Direct Mail – in the US - advertising circulars, catalogues, fundraising appeals –actually grew to 104 billion pieces in 2007 from 101 billion in 2005 as first -class volume dropped. The explosion has not gone unnoticed by consumers. Many are asking lawmakers for a national “do not mail” registry similar to the telemarketing Do Not Call phone registry, where advertisers would have to stop mailing catalogs and other unwanted mail to anyone on the list. 19 states in the US have this legislation pending.(see here)
So to all those brand managers who defend using “mass direct” tactics with the argument “it works” – my response is … you are measuring the wrong thing.
If what you do causes your customers to get a law passed to stop you – HOW CAN IT BE THE RIGHT THING FOR YOUR BRAND?
