Preexisiting Business Relationship be Damned!

The legislation around marketing these days makes most of us marketers cringe, but being in the email industry you need to keep yourself current on the laws being proposed and passed in states you send mail in to and maintaining CAN-SPAM compliance. I am a true believer that we, as civic minded, responsible adults should be able to clearly see the right from the wrong - but if I hear one more marketer fall back on the crutch of a preexisting business relationship I may just throw something (or someone) across the room!

I am not going to go down the path of rolling a select few under the proverbial bus today (as I am feeling a little sympathetic to the plight) but today was the day that the preexisting business relationship was apparent in my inbox. I talk to a lot of people on behalf of my clients - and in two such instances I was working with publishers to secure dedicated email sends for the purposes of lead generation (which I am not a big proponent of...but that is another rant for another day). Now I have not signed a contract or an insertion order with either organization, but somehow, I have miraculously found myself on their subscriber list and have begun receiving email from their various partners.....so to you, I say, Preexisting Business Relationship be Damned! What ever happened to best practice? Express permission? Even feigned interest?

The hunt found me again! The skunk? All you list owners out there that think this is an OK practice. And the resolution? STOP IT!

Motorcycles and Leather? I'm just not that girl!

The Hunt

There was no hunt folks - this one found me - these three to be exact. I was going about my day, minding my own business when on September 26th in popped a message with a subject line of M.C.A Hits Wall Street Journal with a from name of Motorcycle Charity Associates, Inc. - then I got hit again on the 28th with the subject line of Playboy Mansion History/Wall Street Journal and most recently on Tuesday the 30th I received Leather Meets Lace at the Playboy Mansion/This Weekend.

The Skunk

So while most days I would have just chalked it up to SPAM - it was the appearance of a theme/campaign that really caught my attention and drove me to do some research. There was NO WAY this was a legitimate email campaign...

...oh yes it is! If you visit the website, it is nicely built out and includes details around all of the charitable events and non-profit organizations that the MCA is affiliated with. Most notably, Generation Rescue the Autism foundation where Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey are board members. Don't get me wrong, the creative is awful, the targeting tactics they utilize are way off base and the frequency (every two days) is beyond annoying - but the real skunk here is the muse of email marketing best practices associated with their unsubscribe policy (which btw appears as an image...hello...anyone home).

The Resolution

Let's start with the most obvious points first and work our way back to the finer points.

1. Let's clean up your targeting tactics. One can only assume that my information was exchanged through some third party agreement somewhere in time. The only tie in I can think of may be the fact that I am a mother with small children and meet a certain income bracket - which may make me more apt to donate to an Autism organization. But being that same mother of three - I am certainly NOT likely to attend a Leather and Lace event at the Playboy mansion...no personal trainers and 40 hours a week to dedicate to getting this tushy back in shape! And let's not forget the obvious...I drive an SUV-not a motorcycle. I haven't been on a moving vehicle with two wheels (bicycle included) in years...let alone a motorcycle...
   
   
2. Identify yourself! Fine, you've decided to launch a campaign to a group of unsuspecting parties, at least identify yourself! Don't make me wonder why the h*ll I am receiving these email from you-be upfront and honest about where you got my information. Example: As a subscriber to , we thought you might be interested in helping to support Generation Rescue through this event hosted by Motorcycle Charity Associates.
   
   
3. Look legitimate for goodness sakes. If you actually take the time to link out of the email and hit the website it appears very credible, well put together and legitimate. The same cannot be said for the series of email messages I have received. Your email communications are a representation of your brand and the same care and attention should be paid to each one that you send as you would spend on perfecting your website or a print ad. I mean really - - I am somehow doubting the Jenny McCarthy wants her brand associated with this dribble I received (take a close look at the picture of Jenny McCarthy the used in the last message...couldn't get something more current without her autograph on it?)
   
   
4. Be Consistent. If you are going to send crap, keep the crap consistent at least. It looks like three different middle school kids threw these email messages together for you. This is where the notion of a template is novel. Develop the template once, make it good and just swap out the copy as necessary. C'mon!
   
   
5. Don't hide behind the muse of best practices! I really could go on forever about what is wrong with these messages - from the unsubscribe being part of an image to including header copy that asks me to confirm my interest is receiving email from MCA (which I have NEVER clicked, yet continue to receive email) but what chaps my tushy the most is that when you click the link to unsubscribe I am presented with some bull about Responsible Email Marketing...see below. Responsible - see points 1-4 and tell me what you think!

And wouldn't you know it! As I finish up this post...I just got another...*heavy sigh*