Marketers VS Consumers Predators VS Prey


The distance between marketing consultants and the real world can truly be mind boggling. When a marketing consultant tells someone to send out 10,000 postcards in order to get a 3% response rate and that the actual sales will be something less than that ...and then asks the client to pay him for that golden nugget... there has to be a problem!

One subject I have heard precious little about is the process of building badwill as opposed to goodwill. When consumers were being ripped from the dinner table by long distance phone companys' telemarketers they did not consider the badwill they were spreading until the no call list came out.

I for one have several companies on my "never-do-business-with-list". Is it because they have bad products? No. Are they over priced? No. Do they have a bad reputation for customer service? No.

I simply will not do business with them because of their aggressive marketing. Feeling like hunted prey does not make me want to do business with the predator.

The badwill that is caused by ad campaigns is a huge factor that is seldom considered and the fact the consumers in America are tired of feeling like prey is rarely factored in to a marketing plan.(Companies are still trying to figure how to work around the no call list!)

I have made it a mission to discover what marketers are telling their clients, and I have checked out hundreds of selling books, marketing books and business books and seminars to find out what the current trend is in marketing wisdom. Although many marketing gurus do preach a kinder and gentler method of marketing I rarely found any that mentioned badwill and how it affects a company's image and sales.Here is my short list of badwill generators.

1.Flyers stuffed in mailboxes or thrown on front porches making a home look like landfill and inviting thieves when the homeowner is on vacation.

2.Junk mail advertising/email advertising which is obviously mailed at the cheapest rate possible( if I'm not worth 37 cents then you don't need me as a customer)

3.Automated customer service...cheap for the company,hell for the customer.

4.computer pop-ups especially those with annoying sounds that hide their close buttons( talk about feeling like prey!)

For the full list of badwill marketing and solutions go to http://lastingimpressions2.com and check out marketing tips.

Ms Gossland is owner of lasting Impressions 2 a marketing services provider in the Los Angeles area specizing in multicultural marketing, client relationship marketing, and Public Relations and direct mail marketing. Ms Gossland can be contacted at [email protected]; http://www.lastingimpressions2.com