There’s a promotion going on for SoBe Lifewater. As part of the marketing push, one promoter emailed Chris Brogan with an offer to send a case of the product along if he so desired. The following is a word-for-word copy of the email as quoted by Brogan:

Hey. Were sending out incase influencer packages for our client, SoBe Lifewater. Tge packages are going to interesting people from the world of film, music, sports and digital. If you have any interest feel free to check out the link that shows past campaigns or just an email me an address and I’ll get it out to you. All the best. [link removed]

It’s not very well written. It’s pretty terrible, actually.

As I see it, there are three ways to respond to such an email:

1. Delete the email – You could even go so far as to report the email as spam and block the sender’s account if you wished.
2. Post a copy of the email and rant about how bad it is on your blog – Chris chose this option.
3. Contact the author – Pleasantly offer to turn a failed marketing effort into a learning experience.

The first option is simple. The second option is probably something you could derive enjoyment from in the short term. The third option offers an entire world of possibility.

You might ask, “Seriously, Seth? A world of possibility? How is emailing some no-name marketing grunt going to change the world for anybody?”

Here’s one possible timeline:

• Grunt emails Chris.
• Chris emails grunt with a quick explanation of who he is and what he does. (Do you have a short bio you can cut-and-paste yet? If not, get one.) He offers to give Grunt some quick pointers on optimizing his email efforts.
• Grunt, now aware that the “guy from the list of 5,000 social media influencers email list” is offering to help, agrees to a quick phone conversation.
• As the conversation is winding down, (It need not be long. Just enough to get a few points across) Grunt mentions that his project manager might want to speak with Chris. Contact info is exchanged.
• After a few conversations with members of the agency hired to promote SoBe, Chris is hired to do a series of workshops on using new media.

Is that an unrealistic timeline? Possibly. However, experience has taught me–in both positive and negative ways–that every point of contact matters. There’s just something about people who position themselves as resources and treat others with respect that draws me in.

How about you?

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[For those wondering, I think Chris Brogan is a great guy. I think of this post as a continuation of Chris's post because I suspect he'd have written something similar if he'd had the time.]

photo:swanksalot

“Free” is a word we’re passionate about. We fight for it, die for it, and when Starbucks makes it from coffee and heavy cream we eat it.

According to some marketers, (ala Seth Godin) “Free” is the way of the future. Until people get tired of enjoying products and services at no cost–which is unlikely–we’ll continue to see products and services promoted through giveaways and free trials.

This brings me to the question I’ve been stewing over for the past few days: What sort of support should we expect to come along with free products and services?

If your pint of Starbucks tastes bad, should you expect to get a replacement without hassle? Yes! I think you should get another free pint. The savvy employee will even go so far as to check with a manager and get clearance to give you coupons for free coffee, etc. It’s important that Starbucks treat you just like a paying customer because their entire promotion is about creating more paying customers.

What about all the free services we enjoy online? Twitter, Gmail, Flick’r, Youtube, etc. Should we expect prompt and courteous responses to our concerns just as if we were paying customers? I think so. I see customer service and tech support as a big part of what makes a product or service unique.

It’s expensive to take this approach to “free.” But the benefits can be dramatic and long-lasting. Consider:

• Starbucks, if they planned their promotion well, has extra staff scheduled to keep lines short and service brisk at retail locations that carry the ice cream. The cost of the promotion is much higher than just the cost of the product because the savvy promoter carefully presents the complete product experience to potential customers. In this case, a short line, quality product, and friendly barista.
• Twitter, if they invested in a “welcome team” that greeted new users and helped them figure out the service, would not be losing users at such a high rate. (Remember Myspace’s Tom? He made a difference. Having a suggested user list of accounts that don’t reply to “normal” people is a recipe for disaster.) Would it be expensive to develop an effective team? Sure. Worth it? I think so.
• Moonfruit, had they assigned a team to Twitter during their weeklong promotion, could have generated a dramatic increase in value-added awareness (sales) just by responding to the question: “WTF is moonfruit?” popping up all over Twitter. By focusing on just building buzz they missed out on a lot of honey.

“Free” is not a new concept to those with experience in the gratuity-driven parts of the hospitality industry. “On the house” are a patron’s three favorite words. But the staff charged with distributing the free good or services rarely feel the same way. Why? Because people who get free food, drinks, massages, etc. seldom remember to tip. In the moment of “free” they fail to behave like paying customers.

A departure from normal behavior often takes place on both sides of “free.” Consumers, given the chance, take advantage (in the pejorative sense) of promotions. Producers and service providers give a lower level of service because they think it’s enough to simply give something away for nothing.

I don’t think it is enough.

What do you think?

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photo: kevin dooley

Update: Since we’re talking about “Free” I should note that I didn’t lift any portion of this article’s content from Wikipedia. =)