On Marketing
By Susan Getgood, Getgood Strategic Marketing, Inc.
Note: Susan Getgood will moderate a panel with Rick Murray of Edelman’s me2revolution and SNCR Fellow Andy Abramson of Comunicano on viral marketing at the upcoming New Communications Forum, March 7-9 in Las Vegas. If you haven’t registered to attend yet, visit www.newcommforum.com to view the entire conference program and register online. Use the discount code 612SHN and save $200.
Placing electronic devices with magnetic lights under bridges and overpasses is probably not the brightest marketing move, wouldn’t you say? Well, apparently the Turner Broadcasting Network (Time Warner) thought differently. They did just that as a national promotion for one of their Cartoon Network adult cartoons.
As a friend emailed me this afternoon, if they gave a Darwin Award for marketing, these guys would get it.
What WERE they thinking? Ooops. I guess they weren’t.
At least nine different suspicious packages placed throughout Boston, including the first one that was detonated near I-93 this morning, caused the shutdown of the city’s major roadways and subway lines. Emergency responders, bomb squad, police, you name it, were called to respond to this potential disaster. Only to learn that it was a network stunt….
Apparently, similar devices have been placed in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas, and they’ve been there for about three weeks. I’m not going to get into why they haven’t been discovered before today, but I am at a loss to explain why the TV network thought this was a good idea.
We have to take our shoes off to go through airport metal detectors and can’t bring water from home on the plane. And they thought it was a good idea to put suspicious looking boxes near bridges, waterways, overpasses and medical centers?
I would not be surprised if the State of Massachusetts sued to recover costs. Not to mention possible criminal charges. From Governor Deval Patrick’s statement:
“I am deeply dismayed to learn that many of the devices are a part of a marketing campaign by Turner Broadcasting. This stunt has caused considerable disruption and anxiety in our community. I understand that Turner Broadcasting has purported to apologize for this. I intend nonetheless to consult with the attorney general and other advisors about what recourse we may have.”
Folks, this isn’t viral marketing. It is just sick.
The preceding article was originally posted on the Marketing Roadmaps blog.
Susan Getgood was among the pioneers in introducing children and parents to the Internet as an expert in online safety and General Manager of Cyber Patrol, one of the world’s first Internet filters. Her 20+ years in the computer software industry included leading a global marketing team as Senior Vice President of Marketing for SurfControl, with offices in the U.S., England, Australia and seven other countries. A results-oriented strategic marketer, Susan knows how to build brands using technology, policy and good old fashioned high-quality products. In 2004, she founded GetGood Strategic Marketing Inc. to help bring blogs into the mix as an indispensable marketing tool. Today, her firm helps public and private companies and organizations build brands and drive revenue with integrated marketing and communications strategies. Her own blog is Marketing Roadmaps, which is part of the Corante Network.
