This ‘Do you want to hear from us?’ thing. A bit obvious?

9th March 2023 | Posted in Marketing communications, Mature marketing

A few years ago I applauded one company’s email to ask if I wanted to receive their Mother’s Day marketing. As I was a bit raw from the loss of my own mum, this felt genuinely thoughtful and I reacted positively.

Fast forward a few years and they’re all at it. For various reasons I’m signed up to newsletters from a huge number of retailers. I only hear from some of them once in a while, and others on a daily basis. But a huge number have sent that ‘Would you prefer that we don’t send you Mother’s Day messages?’ email. Even the fish farmers and the butchers. Even the ones who don’t normally park anything in my inbox from one month to the next.

I haven’t responded to any of them to say I don’t want their emails. And yet not all of them have actually sent me further Mother’s Day marketing promotions.

This attempt, then, to appear caring and sympathetic isn’t going so well. Anyone who didn’t want to be reminded of Mother’s Day will actually have been reminded over and over by companies offering not to remind them. That may have caused genuine pain, so that’s not helpful.

And given the retail industry’s constant desire to hang a marketing campaign on any available hook, this just seems a little bit cynical.

Not good. Not empathetic. Not working.