Comments on: Don’t Be Pissed Off At Me, I Am Not Lying I Am Marketing!

By: Lawn Care Australia

Lawn Care Australia — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:47:55 +0000

You are absolutely correct. I’ve been marketing my real world business for years, and front and centre of all advertising are the benefits and features of what I have to offer. I also provide all the terms of service of my business to all of my customers, just not on the marketing material. It’s not hiding anything, in fact I see it as complete honesty and transparency in giving clients a full understanding of how my business operates. I operate my business with full integrity and offering this transparency fits fully with this ethos.

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:52:10 +0000

I don’t think this is misleading or anything.

I’ve actually had my teeth whitened with this and it hurt like hell (after the procedure for like 5 hours)

BUT…

This is something your dentist does and the pain can really vary from patient to patient. A friend of mine told me he didn’t feel a thing.

In the end whoever is doing the procedure has the responsibility to warn you about the pain.

If this was a “do it yourself” thing then yes I think they should tell you about it, but since it isn’t the really don’t have to say it upfront.

By: Chester

Chester — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:36:27 +0000

The right marketing strategy for this: “No pain, no gain!” Pretty much potential clients would understand when you say this.

Chester's lastest..Viral marketing series - Part 2, Case study: Trollcats.com

By: Business Logos

Business Logos — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 10:01:36 +0000

I think its important to make an emotional connection to potential purchasers.

By: bet

bet — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:43:38 +0000

I agree. We buy with our emotions, and as marketers we have to be completely honest in order to gain any trust from our customers. Thanks, John Cow

By: Katherine

Katherine — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:48:17 +0000

I always enjoy your posts. This one was even better than usual.

By: Master Craig

Master Craig — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:02:11 +0000

No, they weren’t lying, I agree with you. Should the pamphlet have mentioned that it may cause sensitivity in some patients — yes, but that doesn’t make them liars. And you said yourself some people you knew weren’t badly affected by pain at all.

I would imagine the procedure isn’t regulated by any governmental body (you know like the drug companies have to disclose everything up front) so — NO what that did wasn’t wrong.

By: antonfkip

antonfkip — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:38:18 +0000

great article i like your article......

By: Newbie Profits

Newbie Profits — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:43:09 +0000

They could always appeal to the masochistic crowd and say “You’ll enjoy the pain.”

Newbie Profits's lastest..Turnkey Sites Lessons Learned

By: Tome

Tome — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:50:17 +0000

I believe honesty is ALWAYS best. Folks won’t return nor refer you to others, if they feel they have been fooled.

It is okay to state obvious facts — like the coffee company that used the ‘mountain grown’ phrase; although ALL coffee is Mt. grown, they made it sound like a specific benefit to their coffee.

But to leave out something which is a deficit is dishonest no matter who does it.

I certainly bad mouth anyone that does this to me and I assume my customers will/would do the same for me.

It’s not worth it for the reputation hit – most ethical advertisers simply put the deficits in small print at the bottom.

In fact, the government sometimes demands that any deficits be pointed out, i.e., the drug ads in which the ‘killer’ text is always listed really fast at the end – like you can’t hear if they say it speedily – LOL

I personally have gotten credit cards to reverse charges also for just this type of deceit – or failure to reveal info.

Just my viewpoint.

By: Venky

Venky — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:05:53 +0000

I agree with Jeromy’s comment. The impact of the hidden/ lied about/ whitewashed information on the potential buyer’s decision is what should be first considered in a decision on whether something is “ethical” or not.

By: Hillbilly

Hillbilly — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:46:19 +0000

That is ultimately the challenge isn’t it….10 people could have 10 different ideas of where that line should be.

By: Dhi Home Inspection Services

Dhi Home Inspection Services — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:26:18 +0000

Great blog man we tried it and it works amazing.

We have been marketing our company this way for years now that’s why we are the largest Home Inspection Company in Southern California Thanks!

By: Familydrfensetechnology.com

Familydrfensetechnology.com — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:05:03 +0000

I enjoyed your analogy. You are right in the fact that if people bother to read the fine print, they would get the whole story. But most people want a quick fix and only read enough to get what they want and complain later. People have a very short attention span (thank you tv) and want what they want and want it now. Emotion is where you get people’s attention. No one reads the fine print. Great insite!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:01:37 +0000

In the early sixties, when I started smoking, Marlboro did in fact make me feel like a rugged cowboy, and Camels made me feel like a tough loner, a rebel capable of anything. They tasted great, like the ads promised, once I got used to the taste of dry feces in my mouth and after my taste buds stopped functioning. Madison avenue did not lie.

Does anyone here know where I can pick up a cheap heart and a new pair of lungs?

By: RetireNation

RetireNation — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:34:08 +0000

I like your spin on "the message" advertisers project. I agree with trying to surface the "emotion" as long as the product or service delivers.

Now, for those interested in the actual act of whitening your teeth...

I had yellow stain on one tooth for many years that no one dentist could eliminate without literally painting my tooth (this was years ago) I decided to hold off and when the Crest Strips came out I used those that miraculously erased that stain 100%! I now maintain whitening with Listerine's Whitening mouthwash and my once drab looking teeth are brilliantly white.

I flew to Boston a few weeks ago to see my parents and my Dad asked me if I Ajax my teeth or something. LOL

Save time and money and use what I used to get similar results.

There's my two cents =)

By: June

June — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:33:34 +0000

Excellent post. My understanding is that marketing, whether online or off, always appeals to the emotions of the prospect. The benefits will engage by getting the prospect to envision how they would feel better, look better, be smarter, be thinner, etc. than everyone else if they just had your product. That is selling. Disclaimers can always be added to keep with the right side of the FTC, but the features are not what sells. The benefits that you will get by owning the product is what sells.

By: Al@ las vegas sem

Al@ las vegas sem — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:33:01 +0000

So where do you draw the line of personal responsibility and service

By: Al@ las vegas sem

Al@ las vegas sem — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:30:55 +0000

It's not different than what the lenders did to potential home owners. They created an atmosphere that played on greed by telling people they could resell their homes 2 years later and reap a huge profit. Little did they know (if they had read the fine print) that the banks don't take responsibility for a down turn in the economy.

By: Yinka Taiwo

Yinka Taiwo — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:25:57 +0000

Wow I love this post. Sometimes people are disappointed at last if they found out the truth.