Are You A Beggar Or A Fundraiser?
This marketer, writing in Targeted Marketing, clearly has had enough of the unceasing fundraising appeals he’s received from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Here’s the eighth message, which pushed him over the edge.
And here’s his reaction …
“Final notice”? That reeks of desperation covered by a thin veneer of bullshit.
“Emotional hot-button copy is essential for driving action. But marketing is often compared to dating, and nowhere is that truer than in the fact that desperate is not attractive. When you’re acting that desperate, solicitation turns into begging. And no one wants to do business with a beggar.
“In fact, the overall impression I’ve taken from years of these kinds of fundraising efforts is that the DCCC must be losing because they tell me they’re desperate every day.”
In fairness to desperate fundraisers, this aggrieved marketer also put his spotlight on Jos A Bank, from whom he had received ten ‘final day’ notices over two weeks, using the infamous spoof Saturday Night Live did on that retailers discounting offers …
As he concludes, “Strong brands are not desperate … Are you a beggar, or are you a marketer?”
Well, which are you?
Tom
2 responses to “Are You A Beggar Or A Fundraiser?”
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You’ve made an excellent point about how ineffective and desperate this is. I’m really worried about the ethical issue here. Threatening to take way membership status in the party if they don’t donate or having a big, red final notice is laughably stupid to most of us, but it could feel very real and scary to some older adults.
The part of the brain that assesses risk degrades with age, which makes it harder to see through lies and scams. Many older adults who get these types of messages give out of fear or confusion. There’s no difference between that email and any other scam out there that scares vulnerable people out of their money.
p.s. I just have to mention the irony of that email coming from the party that established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
I unsubscribed to these disparate appeals. They became just pathetic. Especially annoying was “we need $XXX to meet our goal for this month”
Why would I care about “their goal”? I want to know what wonderful things are going to happen if I give. This is just one example of how the Dems lost the election…