Hitting Too Close to Home

You know me. I love marketing and teach marketing and talk about marketing to anyone who’ll listen. Sometimes that can get me in trouble and lead to heated arguments. And that’s with family members. And I will have you know that I don’t just talk the talk and walk the walk, I also experience other people’s marketing, just like you.

I received a letter from an insurance agent. That’s not unusual at all.

But this was:

Pictured on the envelope… the outside, the public part of the envelope! was my house. Not a house like mine or a lovely drawing of my house… it was my house, with my daughter’s car in the driveway.

I opened the letter, to see if maybe there was a severed shingle or a copy of my housekey or a welcome mat wrapped in a bullet-proof vest or a ransom note enclosed. On the letter was ANOTHER PICTURE OF MY HOUSE!

He knows where I live.

He has access to pictures of my house and my daughter’s car and my shrubbery.

Does he think this makes me trust him?

Does he think this will make me willing to pay him… protection money?

I mean… what is insurance, after all?

Sure, these are pictures that anybody with a computer can find, but still… invasive!

Marketing, when done responsibly, is about offering solutions to consumers’ problems.

It’s about building trust and relationships.

But this foot-through-the-door approach to marketing was just tossed in the recycling bin.

What do you think?

See you tomorrow!