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Don’t Mangle Your Message (Jim Karrh On Marketing)

3 min read

The past several weeks have been filled with examples of organizations that somehow managed to lose control of their messages in the marketplace.

One notable case is that of the NFL and the assault case against star Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice and his then-fiancée (now wife), Janay. There are many questions about what the NFL brass knew about the severity of the attack, when they knew it and how honest they have been with the press and fans. For their part, the Ravens faced justifiable criticism for trotting out their head coach — rather than the general manager or owner — to initially address the media. The owner, Steve Bisciotti, has subsequently taken the lead on the team’s messages and has apologized for the manner in which the Ravens handled the Rice case.

On a related front, the makers of DiGiorno Pizza offered a lesson in how not to use social media. As a result of the Ray Rice discussions, a number of women took to Twitter to explain their decisions to stay with an abusive partner; they used the hashtags #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft. On Sept. 8, DiGiorno tweeted, “#WhyIStayed You had pizza.” Uh-oh. The company swiftly deleted that tweet — you can never unring that bell, by the way — and followed with “A million apologies. Did not read what the hashtag was about before posting.”

A final sensitive issue concerned tweets on 9/11 with promotions attached. I believe it’s appropriate for organizations to express a supportive point of view on days like Sept. 11, but some brand messages on 9/11 were clearly crass. For example, a lingerie marketer called Intimacy Box tweeted, “Rembering [sic] those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. 40% OFF END OF SUMMER CLEARANCE.”

Is a sober, thoughtful remembrance (or a “rembrance”) of an American tragedy really consistent with a clearance sale on lingerie?

The most damaging blunders don’t necessarily happen as part of crisis communication efforts or around particularly sensitive occasions. Rather, the lessons to learn here apply to the management of everyday communication with customers, prospects, employees and communities. When it’s done well (even if not perfectly), I call that “managing the message.” When done poorly, it seems like a mangled message.

Having seen the smoldering rubble of many organizations’ messages over the years, I developed five primary indicators that things are truly mangled:

  • The message is not honest or believable. This may involve dubious data, misrepresentations or obvious omissions.
  • The message is detached from marketplace reality. How often do we hear companies tout their commitment to customer service, for example, when our eyeballs and ears are telling us consumers something very different?
  • The message is overly focused on the sender (organization) rather than the receiver (consumer).
  • The message is inconsistent across different communication channels. What are companies saying onsite versus over the phone versus advertising or social media?
  • The message is delivered clumsily and perhaps by the wrong people for the situation. This “messenger problem” can range from grammar and spelling (see Intimacy Box, above) to a poor choice of spokesperson (see Baltimore Ravens, above).

Here’s a local example that, unfortunately, highlights all five components. For months, my dry cleaner had a sign on the counter that read “Having fun while we’re getting it done!” (along with a plea to like them on Facebook). The message bore little resemblance to my usual customer experience, which was fine but not fun; most of the young employees at the counter go through the motions while the crew in the back is normally silent and sweating. That’s OK, because as a customer I care more about my “getting it done” reality than their “having fun” veneer.

Later I noticed that the sign had been removed. When I asked one of the employees about it, she rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, we used to laugh about that here. No one cared.”

Are your messages attracting customers and employees to your side … or turning them away?

Jim Karrh of Little Rock is a marketing consultant, trainer and speaker. See JimKarrh.com, email him at Jim@JimKarrh.com and follow him on Twitter @JimKarrh.

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