“…the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them. It recognizes the new power of the best consumers to ignore marketing. It realizes that treating people with respect is the best way to earn their attention.”

The phrase was originated by Seth Godin nearly a decade ago; ironically, Godin is the keynote speaker arranged for the MIMA Summit on Oct 5th.

I understand  “permission” can be a gray area – open to interpretation and relative to individualistic preferences – but, isn’t it better to be safe when dealing with such delicate commodities as people’s time and attention?

MIMA has pushed it’s permission limits and abused its right to email me for three specific reasons – surely I am not alone!

1) I have received no less than 6 email messages from MIMA within the last 30 days (July 31-today) and I’m willing to bet that I would have received at least one more before the end of August (had I not unsubscribed today), since they’re marketing me every 4 days on average.  I’m not even registered for the Summit;  I wonder if registrants are getting an inordinate amount of communications/updates as well -or- maybe it’s just repeated attempts to coerce the uncommitted (read: sell).

Remarkability speaks for itself, I don’t need a boilerplate reminder every week for two months in advance.

2) WHY HAVE THE SUBJECT LINES FOR THE LAST THREE EMAILS BEEN IN CAPS?  CAN GODIN CONVINCE MIMA TO STOP YELLING!?!?

3) Please be human.  If you seek the need to invade my brainspace so frequently, at least show me that there’s a real-live person behind it all by returning my email should I respond (favorably) to one of your solicitations. Otherwise you’re reminiscent of egocentric, one-way, old media communications.

4) (I know I said three) but while we’re at it, what’s with the sheer volume of hyperlinks.  15 hyperlinks in one email? Sorry.

I wonder if MIMA is losing any other “permission/attention assets” with their aggressive and seemingly senseless marketing tactics?

http://www.lolworld.com/

Regardless, these outfits are capitalizing on the rush for data in their attempt to circumvent their customers in what could be described as the polar opposite to Vendor Relationship Management (VRM).

I’ll write more on VRM later – quite an interesting initiative!

Ok so yeah, here’s how to opt out this scheme (unless you like being advertising to): http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp

h/t Seth Godin

Hideous. Hanus. Despicable.Classic Meatball Sundae