I received an unsolicited email this morning from somebody offering to undertake email marketing for me.  The email did not have an opt-out and they had included all the names in the “to” list so I could see who else had received it. Why on earth would I want to trust these people with an email marketing campaign? I am sure you all see examples of this sort of thing on a daily basis. What’s the worst you have ever seen?

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1. Walk the talk

The latest campaign to catch my eye has been the ExxonMobil campaign.  ExxonMobil have ads running on TV and also in print.  The TV ads appear on mainstream channels and although maybe not prime time they are in good time slots.  I have seen the print ad in “The Week”, a UK magazine that summarises the weeks news from around the globe.

Now these ads are well executed and as they relate to an industry I know a fair bit about I find them interesting.  What I don’t understand is why are they advertising in this way? 

For those of you reading this who are not from the UK you need to understand that the ExxonMobil name is not well known amongst UK consumers.  Fuel retail for ExxonMobil is handled through a subsidiary called Esso (I was once told that this name came about during the war because Exxon sounded too Germanic).  I don’t actually think ExxonMobil sell any goods to consumers in the UK under that name.

We have a huge petrochemical complex that we can see from our office window here in Southampton.  The complex consists of an ExxonMobil chemical plant, an Esso refinery and a handful of other companies.  Except for those people living on the doorstep of the plants, most people in the area call this complex the Esso refinery.  

This brings me back to my point. Why are they bothering to advertise under the ExxonMobil name in the way that they are?  If they want consumers to change their behaviour then it is not going to happen.  The only product I know of that they sell direct to the consumer is fuel and most consumers would not equate ExxonMobil to Esso petrol.

If they are aiming the ads at purchasers of their synthetic rubbers, polythene, zeolite catalysts etc then why advertise in mainstream media.  There aren’t that many suppliers of these products in the world and any purchaser worth his salt will know where to go to get them.

If they are aiming it at the financial markets then why use consumer media, why not the FT (which for all I know they may be in) or other suitable outlets. 

There may be a grand master plan that will all come clear in the end but from where I’m sitting at the moment it looks very much like these ads have been conceived in the US and thrust upon the UK without anybody attempting to understand consumer perception of the brand or asking what they are trying to actually achieve.

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