Friday, December 26, 2008

Social Initiative or Marketing Ploy?

I got this email today.

Hi
I am
(name removed) from (company name).

We have initiated a movement to donate Rs. 1 Lakh to the National Defense Fund, a fund for the welfare of the security personnel and their dependents on 26th January 2009. We want to contribute as a community and hence we are inviting people to join the movement. We want to contribute the money with 1 lakh names on the list.

In this endeavor I seek your help. You can help us reach more people by simply writing something about the movement or by adding the widget on (URL) on you blog.

Hope to get your support in bringing together as many concerned individuals as possible.

When I went to the website, I learned that they pledge to donate one rupee for every registration on their website. It is a website that provides information about service providers such as florists, bookstores and restaurants. When I register, it asks me for my preferences for updates about such items as computers and accessories, media and entertainment, and shoes. And then it asks me to "invite people I know to be a part of the movement". The site doesn't even mention anything about Rs 1 lakh. (That much? Really? Not only are they trying to emotionally manipulate us, they're being so cheap about it.)

I'm a marketer myself, but such "marketing" does our profession no favours.

1 comment:

D said...

I've been thinking about the same thing. Like everything else, are companies now trying to cash in even on the Mumbai tragedies?