I don?t know how many CEOs of service companies are actually taking a hard look at the marketing processes they have unleashed and consumer anger that seems to be rising given that the phrase ?permission marketing? has been so blatantly violated. Take the usual offenders, for example. I am sick and tired of being harassed by the ICICIs and Citibanks of this world. They have people who can?t speak straight; who call you without even realising that you may already be an existing consumer and this harassment is inflicted without even an apology.
These brands are consistently violating judicial orders, which ban this kind of soliciting over the phone, but it seems that no one really cares and this is the enduring tragedy. Why can?t brands, such as Citibank, get their permission-marketing act in order, and why should a hapless mobile user suffer such an intrusion?
For every Citibank kind of example that seems to suggest that things are awry, there are some very fine examples of ?permission marketing? taking on a new role and avatar in India. Take the recent forays of ITC Hotels, for example. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a Welcomaward Card with an embedded chip, which has everything there is to know about me: whether I need Isabgol in my room, to what my meal request pattern has been, to whether I like goose down pillows, not to mention the obvious storage and accumulation of reward points that I may have incurred owing to frequent stays.
The icing on the cake is that this card opens every room that I stay in, no matter which hotel across the chain. So, it is recognition, rewards and access: all rolled into one. Not many hotel chains in this country have got it right. The worst offenders include the InnerCircle programme offered by the Taj and the Oberoi Plus Programme (TOP) offered by the Oberoi Group.
Technology in ?permission marketing? is not the end. But only the means and to mortgage the soft touch at the altar of technology is the critical mistake that most service marketers are making.
More recently, I got an email from Jet Airways inviting me to click on a particular link to know of the interesting offers they have with respect to their London flights. I wasted about 15 minutes but could get nowhere. What the marketing person at Jet doesn?t realise is that he could have easily given me the information in that very same email, but obviously has no respect for my time so would much rather I did a dance in the web-world.
This kind of lethargy points to a deeper malaise that has set in as far as the application of ?permission marketing? is concerned. Every consumer is treated the same way, and the phrase ?mass customisation? is then abused till kingdom come. Not for a moment realising the enduring damage that we cause to brands that are supposedly the epitome of service: both personal and efficient.
The impersonal nature of ?permission marketing? requires, therefore, even more deft handling. The consumer today is more stressed than he ever was and an information overload only enhances the clutter in his mind: both with respect to the brands that seek his attention as also the values and benefits they provide. Add harassment to this blend, and you have a lethal concoction.
The worry that must seize service marketers is how frustrating is prospective brand engagement and, therefore, what can be the fallout of such an engagement?you are not going to get an irate or a harassed consumer to buy your brand, so why persist just because you want to notch up numbers on your cold-calling list. There is also a woeful lack of dedication in actually understanding the consumer that they target. I have been a cardholder with American Express for as long as I remember, and what irritates me is when I get calls from some clown asking me if I wish to own an American Express card. Here the engagement can be even more lethal for the marketer. If American Express doesn?t know that I am a consumer, then there are only two possibilities that exist: either they don?t care to manage their database or they simply have no clue.
But in all these situations, the problem is not perhaps with the brand: it is more with the kind of vendors they do business with; the kind of call centres they employ and the kind of breeding those call centre employees have. Because if this were not the case, why would any well-mannered call centre executive choose to wake me up every Saturday and Sunday afternoon and ask me if I was interested in what they have to offer. I can understand that the Citi never sleeps but who on earth has given them and their ilk to keep me awake when I actually deserve a siesta?
The writer is CEO, Equus Redcell