Direct Marketing and the Creation of Trust
Direct Marketing and the Creation of Trust
Apparently, New York State attorney general Andrew Cuomo agrees with us. Last week, Cuomo called the direct marketing industry out when he announced he was expanding his investigation into the student loan industry to include direct marketers. In the article from DM News, Cuomo's office issued a statement that "described misleading marketing practices through direct mail, teleservices, television, radio, and online channels." The article further stated that Cuomo's office cited examples that "included some companies who are accused of mailing commercial offers designed to look like official letters from the US Department of Education that warn students to protect their rights by calling the lender." Other inquiries went out from the attorney general's office that asked about other practices such as offering gift cards for applying for student loans and utilizing sweepstakes that encouraged students to take out loans.
Additionally, Cuomo is looking into how companies market themselves through their slogans. For example, "LendingTree.com is being targeted because it promotes itself with the slogan 'When banks compete, you win,' but, according to Cuomo’s office, LendingTree.com 'had an exclusive agreement with EduCap and essentially offered only its [own] student loans.' " This seems to us simple folks like not a lot of competing was going on there. Geez!
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) came out quickly in support of this investigation saying that "illegal marketing activities erode trust for the entire industry." In fact, Jerry Cerasale, SVP of government affairs for the DMA, went further: "If these actions violate the law, then they should be stopped. Legitimate marketers need to have trust in the marketplace, and violating the law undercuts that trust. This is not retail, where you can walk in and touch a product and buy it. With direct marketing, you don’t hold the product until after you’ve bought it, so trust is essential.”
Like other areas in business, there are some gray areas in direct marketing. I think the simplest way to look at it is with your "truthful lenses" on. If you are representing something other than what you are actually selling, you're not telling the truth. It's as simple as that! And, you're making it worse for the rest of us that do practice truthful direct marketing. Let's face it, we're all consumers of many different products and services. And, as such, we've run into offers that are "too good to be true." So, we've become skeptical for good reason.
We don't want our industry to be over-regulated by any form of government, however, someone has to step in when those in our industry make the decision to cross the line. We agree with the DMA -- trust is essential in direct marketing. We applaud Cuomo for his efforts to protect students!
Direct Marketing and the Creation of Trust - To learn more about this author, visit Nancy Arter's Website.
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At times, direct marketing is a tough gig! When bad press comes out, it really affects the work that all of us do on a daily basis. It's the whole story about the "one bad apple that spoils the whole barrel" thing (a few of you almost broke out in song there, didn't you?). The point is, it is imperative for us to market ethically -- otherwise, we lose the trust of our current and potential customers. We can be creative -- however, we must be truthful. Otherwise, consumers and businesses have no reason to trust what we say -- or what we sell. We strongly believe in creating trust through direct marketing -- and that by doing this, you build more profitable customer relationships.
Apparently, New York State attorney general Andrew Cuomo agrees with us. Last week, Cuomo called the direct marketing industry out when he announced he was expanding his investigation into the student loan industry to include direct marketers. In the article from DM News, Cuomo's office issued a statement that "described misleading marketing practices through direct mail, teleservices, television, radio, and online channels." The article further stated that Cuomo's office cited examples that "included some companies who are accused of mailing commercial offers designed to look like official letters from the US Department of Education that warn students to protect their rights by calling the lender." Other inquiries went out from the attorney general's office that asked about other practices such as offering gift cards for applying for student loans and utilizing sweepstakes that encouraged students to take out loans.
Additionally, Cuomo is looking into how companies market themselves through their slogans. For example, "LendingTree.com is being targeted because it promotes itself with the slogan 'When banks compete, you win,' but, according to Cuomo’s office, LendingTree.com 'had an exclusive agreement with EduCap and essentially offered only its [own] student loans.' " This seems to us simple folks like not a lot of competing was going on there. Geez!
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) came out quickly in support of this investigation saying that "illegal marketing activities erode trust for the entire industry." In fact, Jerry Cerasale, SVP of government affairs for the DMA, went further: "If these actions violate the law, then they should be stopped. Legitimate marketers need to have trust in the marketplace, and violating the law undercuts that trust. This is not retail, where you can walk in and touch a product and buy it. With direct marketing, you don’t hold the product until after you’ve bought it, so trust is essential.”
Like other areas in business, there are some gray areas in direct marketing. I think the simplest way to look at it is with your "truthful lenses" on. If you are representing something other than what you are actually selling, you're not telling the truth. It's as simple as that! And, you're making it worse for the rest of us that do practice truthful direct marketing. Let's face it, we're all consumers of many different products and services. And, as such, we've run into offers that are "too good to be true." So, we've become skeptical for good reason.
We don't want our industry to be over-regulated by any form of government, however, someone has to step in when those in our industry make the decision to cross the line. We agree with the DMA -- trust is essential in direct marketing. We applaud Cuomo for his efforts to protect students!
Direct Marketing and the Creation of Trust - To learn more about this author, visit Nancy Arter's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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