Stop Interrupting me. Seriously. It's rude.

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Even the most adorable brand image
can irritate the wrong demographic.

I grew up with 3 younger brothers. And while it was a brilliant, exciting, and a busy way to grow up, dinner time will forever be known in my parents’ house as the witching hour. When food finally hit the bellies of three excited little men, a quiet chatter of booger stories, entree swaps, and tales from the sandbox, would grow into a roar of armpit farts and hysterical giggles. Then about halfway through the meal, mom, exasperated at trying to carry on a conversation, would finally holler "STOP INTERRUPTING ME! IT'S RUDE!" And the roaring boys would scale back their commentary to a temporary whisper, allowing the adults a few brief minutes in which to enjoy their meal.

Well times have changed and my three little men are no longer so little, they are now 3 strapping athletes, that can hold their tongues (and booger stories) until after dinner. But I could not help but to be reminded of many dinners past and moms' fervent enforcement of table manners while I was watching my favorite TV show recently... Without TiVo (queue ominous music).

Literally every time something exciting happened the station would flip on five minutes of the most obnoxious TV commercials I have endured (due to the aforementioned TiVo, commercials are immediately and righteously obliterated with my lightening quick fast forward finger). Mom's mantra repeated itself in my head. But unfortunately for me, brands are far tougher to convince of manners than my brothers seemed to be.

It got me thinking. Perhaps, it might be good for marketing departments everywhere to take a lesson from dear old Mom.

The trouble with "traditional" marketing channels is that no matter how you spin it, the prospect is going to be interrupted; they will have to stop what they are doing to react to the offer they are being presented, whether it be watching their favorite show, reading an article in their favorite magazine, or trying to listen to the radio, and frankly, marketers should know better. Why is it acceptable for companies to jump in the middle of what their prospective customers are doing to try and get them to read, watch, or buy something they probably don't need, want, or can afford to use? It is not acceptable, not going to work, and, thank goodness, not "cool" anymore... as far as the world of marketing goes anyway.

Consumers are now going to great lengths to "tune out" the SPAM-y clutter of calls to action and special offers. Like my mother at dinner, they have finally become exasperated by irrelevant and inconsiderate marketing, trying to convince them to redeem offers for services and products they don’t want in the first place. Lucky for them, TiVo,  iPod, social media and other technologies are making it easier than ever for potential clients to "tune-out" unwanted offers, and hone in on brands they want to hear from.

So....Stop it. 

If a company is looking for loyal customers who have a sense of commitment to their brand it seems to make sense that they should be showing appreciation and commitment to their customers. Utilizing social media is a great way for brands to show off their unique voice and perspective without being overly invasive to their customers, by providing an easily accessible platform in which to communicate. Rather than blasting the public at random with offers most of them will not redeem, maybe it is time for marketing teams to take advantage of technology and stop interrupting disinterested prospects and focus on targeting their efforts towards potential customers.

 A great social media campaign not only encourages opt ins to an internal database, but followers, fans and friends from various social networks can be analyzed to determine whom to target with future offers and marketing materials.

Direct mail is the perfect understated companion to social media because the two are easily integrated with various social networking sites through PURLS, QR codes, and other technologies It is a unique form of marketing in the fact that it is very considerate to the recipient in that Direct mail hangs around until the prospect is ready to examine the offer, and really absorb the message being presented,  so that no one’s day is going to be interrupted to jot down a phone number, or run to the phone. Marketers can easily target these campaigns by reaching out to both customers opted in to an internal database, but also access an unlimited universe of prospects, filtered not only by basic qualifying information like age, income, and gender, but  advanced data filters now provide such specific information as people who donate to charity, and even specific hobbies and personal interests. These carefully selected recipients are more likely to respond and redeem offers, but marketers are also promoting their brand in a tactile way to more potential clients than before so that those prospects can save necessary contact information until they are ready to act.

Maybe Mom was right after all....

A thank you card is appreciated, and interrupting is still rude.... it may seem unlikely, but modern technology has made customers, and in turn marketing and branding execs re-examine traditional values- and a little old fashioned politeness is going further than ever before. Corporate giants like Coca-Cola have already taken notice of this trend, focusing more resources and efforts on social media campaigns, and scaling back TV ads in favor of well placed products. Windstar Cruises, a high end cruise line, spends the majority of their marketing budget maintaining customer relationships through direct mail and email retention programs. Thanking their customers profusely for opt ins,  trips taken, and offering special discounts to frequent travelers gets Windstar consistent, and fearlessly loyal regular travelers... I guess learning manners pays off after all.

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