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July 31, 2009
If It Looks Like Spam, Smells Like Spam...
This morning I go an e-mail with the Subject Line "Time Sensitive Offer for the Wall Street Journal Online" from Sender "wsjo" and Sender e-mail "wsjo@branchedscho.com". It joins the growing list of e-mail pieces that I receive from premium brands using purported "CAN-SPAM Compliant" marketing services selling "lead generation."
Excuse my end-of-week grumpiness, but what bull. They are selling spam and amazingly (or not), supposedly smart marketers are falling for it.
To be clear, under the letter of the law, which only requires that a mailing has a valid opt-out and certain characteristics like a physical address, the e-mail pieces may not technically be spam. But I did not ask for it, I did not want it, and it annoys me to have to delete it. So, to me, it was spam.
Some companies have done this to me more than once (Pitney Bowes comes to mind) and have now created such ill-will that I consciously think about their junk mail when there are decisions to make in areas where Pitney could be a vendor. That's what spam does to a brand -- it creates conscious or subconscious feelings, usually negative.
Now in defense of the companies who spit this trash out, I am certain it garners some "opens" and possibly even some true leads. And, consistent with the American entrepreneurial spirit, if it is not illegal, I cannot complain about their business model. BUT, I can caution legitimate brands of the dangers of putting your good name in the hands of a spam factory.
Brands take years to build and burnish, but just seconds to tear down in a customer's eyes. In difficult times like we are currently experiencing, the lure of cheap lead generation is strong. But the dangers of bad practice far outweigh the minimal value you might gain from these type of programs.
Posted by jcioban at July 31, 2009 7:01 AM
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