On March 24, Joel Spolsky posted this amusing rant attacking Earthlink for a piece of direct marketing that he considered dishonest. I asked Earthlink for a comment. Yesterday I spoke with Claudia Caplan, vice president for brand marketing, who gave her company’s side.
In a word, she’s unrepentant.
“Advertising uses all kinds of devices to get people’s attention,” she said, noting the vast amount of marketing to which we’re all subjected these days. “We all, in my business, have to work extremely hard to break through that clutter.”
Caplan didn’t concede that the mailing in question was deceptive. Maybe it isn’t for someone like me — I’m so inured all marketing tricks that I immediately toss out junk mail with that kind of come-on — but I’ll bet it’s not so obvious to plenty of the people who do get it.
Caplan wouldn’t go though Spolsky’s posting item by item. “Deconstructing this really doesn’t serve much of a useful purpose,” she said. “The whole thing was created for one single effect — to make someone think they were receiving something sufficiently important that they should open and read it.”
Hence the “Urgent” labels plastered in large letters on the “Express” envelope. Well, explained Caplan, it’s urgent to Earthlink that the company get your attention to sell its products. Grrrr.
What Earthlink is shooting for in marketing like this, she said, is an “effect of verisimilitude.” That’s an interesting way to put it, because “verisimilitude” means the “quality of appearing to be true or real,” according to the dictionary.
Deceptive? I think so.
Unusual? Nope — and that’s the sad reality in today’s world.