It seems that in the world of marketing and it’s subsidiaries, PR, direct mail etc. there is an ignorance to being spot on or effective. It seems to be all about making money, just making money, just making money. It is giving a black eye to our business as a whole.
My post for today is dealing with this inadequacy and what I think should be done about it.
I receive all the junk mail in the world, I receive free magazine subscriptions and all things dealing with car stuff, smog checks, aluminum siding sales, etc. However I am not the only recipient of these JUNK mails. I also receive this mail for my children, stepchildren, fake named children and the list never ends.
How do these names get on the sender’s list I ponder?
There are the insidious list sellers out there. They will sell any list, no matter how old and outdated it might be. I have not seen my stepdaughter Danielle (Dani) in better than five years and she has not lived with me in well over thirteen years. I receive mail to this person on a regular basis. Now mind you, I had moved and changed my mailing address for ME and no-one else. No matter that this girl was a minor at the time she filled out the forms, joined the club or wherever else she wrote her address for some company wonk. No matter that her last name is entirely different from mine.
After all the time that has passed they are still selling that false list to unsuspecting and trusting customers. This is a direct slap in the face to those who buy these lists and I personally feel it is one of the worst things about the business. If they insist on being in the business the least they could do is become more efficient and effective.
Back to the name thing. I have over the last twenty years filled out forms for different contests or other ilk. These companies have been sold or have been absorbed by other companies. I know this is where the majority of these faux pas lie. One large contributor which surprises me is Reader’s Digest. They send me, on a bi-yearly basis promotional info for my ex-wife, a woman I haven’t lived with since 1986.
I get other materials from other promo groups and the address wording is such that I can tell they are using the same list.
Yes she subscribed to Reader’s Digest and I thought she had taken the subscription with her. Perhaps she quit reading it and they are trying vigorously to get her back. I would suppose that whoever is in charge of their marketing would do a little research and realize the costs of mailing to ghosts of people from their distant past. They might even have time to look up her new address!!
At any rate I receive these things and I am certain I am not alone here.
DIRECT MARKETERS………………….WAKE UP!!!!! Quit selling useless lists to your customers, make a name for yourselves as honest marketers not this silly thing that it has become. If you clean up your act perhaps we can get the PR guys to quit “spinning” and the ad guys to lighten up on the pissing people off so they remember their client better. There are many things wrong but with a bit of effort we can begin to make the whole thing respectable once again.
I have bitched enough but could go on for hours.
This is really a pock on the entire advertising community.
cheers,
Moi-mon
