Bait and Switch
Whenever I tell people I’m in marketing, they frown. A lot of people even go as far as asking if I like lying to people. For the longest time, I never understood where this disdain for marketers came from. I’m an honest person, all of my co-workers are honest, and everyone I know in marketing would never lie to their customer. Then again, I hold people I associate with to very high standards and would never spend time with a person who knowingly misleads their customers.
This past weekend found me walking through the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila. I go to the mall not really to shop, but to people watch and keep my eye out for innovative new advertisements. It seemed this weekend that I was drawn towards a sweet little sports car that was being given away in a drawing. It looked too good to be true, so I almost started filling out the entry form. Then I saw the “or $25,000″ note and decided to read the fine print on the back of the form.
Note number 3 made me even more suspicious.
Grand Prize winner will receive a new vehicle worth approximately $25,000.00. Color choice, make, model and options are up to the sole discretion of ETL Promotions LLC. Or at the winners choice, $25,000.000 in cash paid in one lump sum. Delivery, license and registration fees shall be the sole responsibility of the winner.
I walked over and read the details in the car window. To my shock, this was not the car the winner could walk away with. The car on display costs $33,410. That’s a lot higher than the $25k limit on the entry form. I started reading the rest of the disclaimer in more detail.
Completing this form may result in sales solicitation for water treatment, home care, indoor air quality products, vacation travel, home-security, home-based business, food service, and other telephone solicitations.
What do any of those sales solicitations have to do with my interest in flashy sports cars? I was drawn to the information box by the sexy automobile in the hall. I picked up an entry form because of the photo of the car above the submission box. I almost filled the form out – and I would have been stupid to do so. This is but one example of the bait-and-switch techniques many poor marketers are using to build phone lists for their sales people. The information on the entry forms will likely be sold to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that wants to sell me another piece of crap that I really don’t need.
Yes, though I am on the national do-not-call lists, they would still be able to call and interrupt my dinner.
By completing this form, you agree that sponsors and co-sponsors of this Sweepstakes may telephone you, even if your number is found on a do not call registry or list.
I understand a bit better now why people shake their heads when I say I’m in marketing. However, let me promise you that I care deeply about all of my customers and clients and will never sink to the level of bait-and-switch marketing and lead generation. Companies like ETL Promotions LLC should be ashamed of themselves for hurting the good names of marketers everywhere and making our jobs just that much more difficult.
I run into the same issue with the term “business development”. Apparently, the term has been hijacked by HR people as a fancy way of luring people in to sell in a retail environment.
“Marketer” has been often been hijacked by people looking to make a quick buck by any means possible. Telemarketers come to mind when I think of people that use the “dark side” of the marketing force.
I suggest giving them a new term – my suggestion is “marketeer”. I know, it’s subtle, but it conjures up images of “racketeers” or “privateers”, both of which more adequately describe what these people do.