Can of Worms: sloppy marketing

I came across a link today asking me to go vote for someone who could win something if they got enough votes.  Sounded easy enough.  I'm happy to see people win things they want, though I pride myself on being as objective as possible when voting.  I like to take things under consideration.  For example, if the prize is a necessity for one person and a luxury for another, I tend to vote for the person who would otherwise be without.  If it's say a photography contest for "best picture" where the client is the winner, I like to vote based on the merits of the images as opposed to whomever sent me there to vote.  That sort of thing.

The link I stumbled across today via a friend of a friend was for someone to win online mentoring.  Great!  I'm all about mentoring!  Since this was a contest for photographers, I was pretty excited, hoping to give an upstart a fair shake at getting ahead.  Off to the site I go to vote, hoping to read some sort of little bios or surf the websites of the entrants and consider who might benefit from such an opportunity, when what do I find but some 200 "contestants" with the instructions to TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS TO COME AND VOTE!  Huh!?   How was that fair to the people who had entered?  It wasn't being a) voted on merits or b) drawn as a random prize but was built as a popularity contest with the goal of increasing traffic to that website.  Scam marketing.  Sorry, all you loser entrants who don't have enough friends to bring me exposure... Booooo!!!!

BUT WAIT!  Isn't free marketing, free marketing? Well, OK - sure, but free marketing isn't synonymous with "clever" or "targeted."  I can go spray paint the address of my website on the shopping carts of homeless people downtown, or write it in bathroom stalls for free, too...  This is unlike a photographer posting, for example, a favourite themed wedding photo competition wherein the bride and groom will win a prize if their photo wins a popularity contest because the people voting are actually friends and family who were probably at the wedding and want them to get free stuff.

BUT WAIT!   Aren't these both examples of word of mouth?  In order to be effective, when efficacy in this case would ultimately be measured in terms of future investments from the increased traffic to this website, word of mouth generally requires some sort of testimonial or endorsement from a close personal friend or a satisfied client.  A happy client directing their friends and family to vote for them is a bang-on example of targeted marketing because the client already endorses the photographer and are bringing people who have probably already met the photographer to a place where they are going to see more samples of work that showcase the photographer's talent, and that will likely strengthen loyalty and build relationships that ultimately translate into future clients.

BUT WAIT!  If enough people see it, then someone *might* sign up.  I have to pause for a minute to point out that "viral" does not equate to money, but it *can* lead to fame, popularity, and social rank, something that we as a culture have come to think of as a currency.  For those of you who doubt me, I would question then why we seem to be so obsessed with the mundane activities of so many "reality" stars or internet phenoms who are nothing more than a flash in the pan, whose fame (and fortune) lasts for mere days unless they are able to make big enough spectacles of themselves to remain in the public eye.  Usually, this is as a result of them engaging in stupidity or crime, but I digress....

Let's put this into a different context.  Let's assume this is your child entering a colouring contest run by a local chain restaurant that you really hold no opinion of.  If you entered them thinking that they stood a "fair" chance of winning, whether by random draw or by judging based on merits like staying within the lines and following the colour-by-numbers, but found out after the fact that your child could only win if they were able to win the popularity vote after enough of your friends made a minimum purchase at the restaurant in order to be eligible to vote, chances are you'd be irritated if not outright irate.  Think about it.

I propose that, "Hey, someone might get free stuff," isn't "word of mouth" so much as a hook... for a scam.  When the person running the rigged fake contest opened the votes, it sounded something like a practice acceptance speech for the Oscars.  "I can't believe how many people have been to my blog..." Yeah.  Whatever.  You lost me at hello. I don't care if you want to be rich or famous... just don't lie to me or try and trick me into playing along.  I have some wonderful and amazing friends who I think are nuts for swimming with the piranhas on their mission to be the Next Top Paid Famous Photographer.  But at least they are honest about their motives. This? It was dishonest and left a bad taste in my mouth, like those scratch and win mail promotions where the only way you *might* win a prize is if you're willing to listen to a sales pitch for vacuum cleaners or a time share in Mexico.  (P.S. You never win unless you invest...)  

Historically, successful (note I say successful) marketing campaigns are very well thought out and take into consideration the input of people clever enough to know not only WHO but HOW and WHY people will invest time or money or support.  They either a) identify their market and design their goods and products to meet consumer wants/needs or b) find the market who will want/need the product or service they are selling and promote it to them through appropriate channels.  I'm pretty confident that "someone else might win a prize if they are popular enough" won't make any top ten successful campaign lists, though I could see it winning a spam award.  You don't need a degree to know that.  As one of the kids who never could (or really wanted to) win the popularity contests and on a philosophical level strictly opposes the sort of social elitist mentality that precipitates in things like kids being marginalized or ostracized (or beat up) on the playground for wearing the wrong clothes or having parents in the wrong profession, I won't be promoting this rigged contest much less passing the name of the person offering a prize of mentorship along.

I voted for the friend of the friend (she obviously wanted to win) and left - but I felt no more desire to go explore the site. Marketing FAIL. With a background in arts marketing (oh, goodness, yes yes, for real - it's what I went to post-secondary for, not photography or writing nasty blog posts and pissing people off, so no no, I'm not just making stuff up...) in my unabashedly educated guess, at best it's misleading, sloppy and presumptuous (read: lazy) to drag me over to your site and assume I'm that easily taken in.  Marketing FAIL.

OK, so someone pointed out to me that maybe this person just didn't know any better.  Well, they had a motive (self-promotion) and did it at the expense of their supposed contestants (friends with friends) with no benefit to the unsuspecting people (spammers) who ended up there under the pretense of helping a fellow photographer or acquaintance win a prize. If this was done intentionally, it would be dirty, but if it wasn't... OK - either way it's lazy.  If *I* am personally not eligible to gain any benefit, and there's not a fair chance of the people entered in the contest winning unless they have everyone from their gramma to their dog-poop scooper on their FB friends list, what's my motive for giving a damn about raising the profile of an industry competitor under the guise of a popularity contest that flies in the face of common sense and decency?

So after all is said and done, I'd say I have been insulted, save for the fact that the prize is for mentoring in... marketing.  Oh, sweet irony...

SO, if you want to enter a contest where everyone has a fair shot at winning, check out my beloved friend Tammy's contest here or, if you want to vote for some great photography where the clients win, try out my other amazing friend Trina's top ten contests here.

And, just to up the ante, I'm going to give you some FREE marketing advice, right here, right now, and you don't have to pretend to win a popularity contest or tell a single person if you don't want.  The best thing you can do to ensure happiness and fulfillment in any business venture is to operate with integrity, honesty, and fairness.  A win-win attitude will prevent you from getting trapped in the idea of your success being measured by your notoriety or bank account, and will allow you the pleasure of enjoying the inherent value your clients get by simply having you on their team. If you want to be rich and famous, then this is the wrong blog to be reading.  If you think it'd be pretty cool to have your brides include you in the first people they call when they find out they are expecting and to have 5 year olds who camp out on their stairs waiting for you to arrive, you've come to the right place.

HONK IF YOU BELIEVE IN FAIR AND HONEST MARKETING!

Comments

Steve said…
Don't see to many comments on here... And I'm guilty of creeping the site and never commenting myself.. So here we go... A real comment!

First and formost, thanks for blogging all these little details it's refreshing to see an honest and passionate blOg on things that really matter in their heart and then having the nerve to put it out there for anyone to read. Keep up the great work!

Secondly... I'm really trying to win a contest. I need all my friends and family to vote for me... Ya I totally agree. I saw another contest similar to this for singing. The winner was dictated by votes. Skill and talent had no bearing at all. The winner by a landslide was well to be honest.. Not the most skilled.. But had the most friends. Sad... Especially when others had invested a lot of hard work and effort into songs etc.. Meh... They make the rules and people fall for them...

Anyways! Till the next installment take care!
Hope Walls said…
Thanks, Steve. As the not a popularity contest type I don't really think of many people reading my rants. It's nice to hear someone has lol.

muchLOVE,

Hope. Or, Hoipe, if you were in New Zealand...

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