I agree with all here. And the thing is, once bitten, twice shy…

However, I am not sure whether this is a case of poor authenticity, as much as of lack of integrity.

How do you define authenticity?

Kim George says: Authenticity = loving who you are…

Warmest

Remember, bait & switch is actually illegal in the US and EU – so it’s important to be sure somethign really is B&S before labelling it as such.

Interestingly, also illegal (certainly in the EU) is the false “available only for a limited time” claim which I still see used a lot.

Ian

In this case, it feels like you still could have taken the free option – they were just offering you an upgrade to a better (paid) product. I’ve not got much against that if done subtly.

Ian

However, some people would argue stating “Isnt Marketing all about getting eyeballs and Sales”. Very often some folks may get carried away with the notion of “Any Publicity is Good Publicity”.

But ultimately, IMHO, genuineness is (and should be) the underpinning of any campaign.

Thanks for sharing your insights.

Mike

I cringed when I read this story. It really is too sad.

There are a couple best practices here:

1. Sharing parts of your personal life to help build the relationship. This is a great way to show your prospects and clients that you too are a real person. Let’s be honest people buy people and the relationship is necessary for the first sale and especially follow on sales.

2. Split testing – a necessary element to improving your marketing and sales. You should always be testing to get the best results.

However, even with these best practices in place, as you note, if you aren’t authentic all will be for naught. You can follow all the best practices in the world and still lose the relationship when you aren’t honest. It takes years to build the relationship and credibility, and only one email to lose it all.

Thanks for sharing.

Erica

A good point well made.

I responded to an advert yesterday and it offered me a free telephone conference series, and then as soon as I had registered to receive the details of the series – I was offered the whole lot as pdf and mp3 files to be downloaded for a mere $XX.

Ok its a valid proposition, it would have been easier than scheduling time to call in etc… BUT I still felt tricked and think that the whole event was in poor taste. That’s because what I was offered was something for free, which we all know is a reason to give your contact details and you may be offered something later, but the way this was done was typical Bait And Switch – a technique that loses credibility straight away.

Phil