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Brand rape: how to bankrupt trust in one easy step

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David Gillespie is senior producer at ie Media. Prior to joining ie he worked with start-ups, at DDB, consulted for the Australian Government and travelled the world making computer games. When not offending people, he makes music and sleeps. Visit his blog 'Creative Is Not A Department' if you really can't get enough.

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In marketing (and Marketing), we see some pretty cheeky things. The best bring smiles to our faces, while the worst leave us gobsmacked, wondering how someone could possibly have suggested such a thing.

The latter has a lot to do with permission marketing, and last night I came face to face with it, getting back to my car and realising the place I had it serviced at last had put a sticker on my back window without asking or telling me.

Prior this I had really good feelings about them. Understand, I'd have trouble changing a tire, my interest in cars is on par with my general feelings towards pot pourri or the mating habits of sea lice. With this in mind, they had been great at what they did, I always felt comfortable, they talked me through everything, even sent a follow-up letter a week later thanking me for coming in. They had done everything right.

Until now. Now I don't trust them. Now I don't want to take my car back to them. Now the open conversation and full disclosure is over-shadowed with the manifestation of a worry their work isn't good enough so they have to sneak their message out any way they can, because we, the customer, won't talk about it. The thing is I had, and I'd recommended them to my friends.

Permission marketing is just that, it requires permission. Otherwise you're just forcing yourself on people, and that doesn't work anymore. Earn people's trust, respect their time AND their dollar. Don't try to put words in their mouths, because that only works as long as you're in the room, and you don't have time to be there in the room with everyone of your customers (even if you did, you'd just breed resentment, not loyalty).

Let your work speak for itself. If it doesn't, you're clearly in the wrong business.

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6 Comments

Editor | Scotland
  • Wrote on 18 Jun, at 06:41AM
It's interesting you raise this topic now David, because there's a debate happening on Plurk and Twitter right now surrounding a recent campaign by the NAB that fits this permission marketing atrocity model.

Duncan Riley posted on Monday (June 16th) about a story reported on Crikey, which detailed how the NAB had deliberately spammed the comments section of private blogs in a bid to promote one of their new services.

Another great example of a company that should be working as hard as anyone to build trust with their consumer (banks usually don't have a great track record in this area, let's be honest) dropping the ball and committing the crime of brand rape.

Is this too strong a term to describe what happens when a brand takes the trust that you have invested in it and tramples all over it? I don't know. Ten years on from the publishing of The Cluetrain Manifesto, still way too many companies who don't understand the basics of conversation, mutual respect and reciprocity.

Link to Duncan's original article:NAB Spams Blogs. Australian Blog Owners Need To Change Banks
Also thanks to @Problogger for the original Plurk, which you can check out here. Congrats on the new baby Darren :-)
carlwilliams
  • Wrote on 18 Jun, at 11:02AM
I cannot believe that a PR company would even suggest this. Morons.
Peter Applebaum
  • Wrote on 18 Jun, at 10:59PM
Youre a tough marker, David. I also hate it also when servos do that but just vote with your fingers & rip it off. If theyre excellent in every other way, I would view the stickering as a minor indiscretion from unsophisticated marketers. But if your car breaks down, THATS when it gets serious!
David Gillespie
  • Wrote on 19 Jun, at 08:34AM
Scott - looked into that NAB story, absolutely incredible. Carl is spot on, morons.

Peter - Im a big believer in customer service being your best marketing, and in the case of this mechanic, they have nothing to worry about. Ill be the first to admit Im always up for a bit of over-reacting, but I have a hard time accepting anything less than a zero-tolerance policy on this sort of thing.

One thought I had though was they took the time to mail me a letter thanking me for my business, why didnt they put the sticker there? Have a little faith in your own work, the rest will take care of itself.
mattgranfield
  • Wrote on 19 Jun, at 09:22AM
I had my car serviced the other day at the dealership where I bought it. I like getting my car serviced there because they do a great job and I can book online. Their customer service has always been amazing but they have this annoying habit of sending me a letter in the mail a few days later thanking me for my custom and urging me to contact them if I wasnt happy about anything. Great idea, but Im a digital boy in a digital world, they have my email address AND my permission, I wish theyd save a tree and use that instead.

Interestingly, I got a call on my personal mobile phone during work hours from the car marque a few days after I recieved the letter asking me to participate in a telephone survey about my experience at the service centre. I agreed and went through the motions, answering favourably to almost everything, the only negative point I had was that they didnt wash my car, which is no big deal, except they always used to wash my car, it was their wienie (http://www.hear2.com/2008/05/it-doesnt-have.html). For some reason they didnt this time and I felt let down, so I mentioned it. As I was about to hang up the phone the guy asked me if I minded if my contact details were given to the car company and the dealership in association with my survey responses. I asked why. "Oh, they may contact you about to ask about your experiences with this telephone survey..." was the answer.

I havent filled out the survey form that they hung on my rear vision mirror yet, but I can think of a few things I might add.

At least they didnt whack a sticker on my rear window.

Moral to the story #1: Survey-fatigue makes me brand-weary
Moral to the story #2: Dont give someone a wienie and then take it away
l'Attitude
  • Wrote on 3 Jul, at 10:27PM
David, methinks you are being just a tad precious over the sticker thing which the motor service industry has been doing tor decades.

If you dont like it you can just pull the offending sticker off!

I have to wonder how you feel when the selling dealership fits number plate frames showing their name

Do you rail against them for "bankrupted trust" too?

And how about the car manufacturer who has the temerity to their name on the car itself.

Another "bankrupted trust"?

Mate, if thats all you have to fixate on, perhaps you might consider getting out more.

JV of l'Attitude, Cairns

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