Marketing Horror Stories Every marketing professional wants their campaign to be memorable.They want who received the letters. A Lesson in What Not to Do
even in the ‘90s, most vacuums were still cheaper than plane tickets, and Hoover lost 50 million pounds in what remains the biggest promotional
consumers to take notice — or take the bait — and make their company a big profit. But sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned.The campaigns below certainly won the attention of consumers, but in each case, what started out as a marketing dream quickly turned into a nightmare. Fiat’s Direct Mail Disaster In 1992, women across Spain received anonymous letters inviting them to go on a “little adventure.” The letters stated,“We met again on the street yesterday, and I noticed how you glanced interestedly in my direction.” Fearing a stalker, many women locked themselves in their homes. A few days later, another letter arrived, revealing the identity of the “secret admirer” as the new Fiat Cinquecento.Yes, the creepy letters were part of a marketing campaign by the Italian car company. Fiat apologized and ended the campaign after criticism from consumer protection groups, Social Minister Cristina Alberdi, and the 50,000 women
KFC and Hoover Can’t Do Math A shocking number of companies hold giveaway promotions without calculating exactly how much they will cost. Here are a few examples. • Back when “Oprah” was the biggest show on television, KFC ran an ad offering a free two- piece chicken meal with two sides and a biscuit for anyone who went to their website and downloaded a coupon. Over 10.5 million coupons were downloaded, and KFC had to give away $42 million in free food. • In the 1990s, Hoover Company in the United Kingdom offered two round-trip plane tickets with the purchase of a vacuum. Unfortunately,
disaster ever.
Cartoon Network Causes a Bomb Scare Guerilla marketing can create valuable word of mouth — think about the success of the movie “IT” last year.The marketing for the film included simple red balloons tied to storm drains. But Cartoon Network didn’t have quite the same luck in 2007 when they tried to promote their show “AquaTeen Hunger Force.”When the network put electronic devices featuring a character from the show all over Boston, city residents thought the strange contraptions looked like bombs and called the police.This triggered a terrorist scare that ultimately cost the general manager of Cartoon Network his job.
‘The Art of Learning’ A Child Prodigy Rethinks Success
This is a book about a journey. It chronicles a life of international chess tournaments, high- stakes martial arts competitions, a boy who found too much success, and the man who had to relearn everything because of it.Yes,“The Art of Learning” reads like a gripping, emotional
for Bobby Fischer,” chronicling his young son’s journey into the world of chess.This then inspired the movie of the same name. Now, one does not normally think of child prodigies as being great sources of insight into finding success. By definition, prodigies are exceptional
and hard work, we will be brittle in the face of adversity.”Waitzkin was very gifted at chess, and he didn’t have to push himself early on, but by the time he did find challenging opponents, he found loss and adaptation impossible to handle. It wasn’t until he stepped out of the rigid grids of chess and into the flowing movements of tai chi that Waitzkin was able to formulate a guide to success. Appropriately subtitled “An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance,”Waitzkin’s story of grappling with childhood stardom and climbing the brackets of the tai chi chuan circuit is full of wisdom applicable to anyone looking to achieve mastery in their field.With compelling personal anecdotes and a unique perspective on what success really looks like,“The Art of Learning” is a fresh, vibrant addition to the personal development genre.
memoir, but make no mistake — JoshWaitzkin’s work doubles as an effective guide for business
— exceptions who operate on a different playing field than most. But Waitzkin firmly positions his journey through the chess world as the antithesis of what he calls “the art of learning.” As the author states,“The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience
owners striving to attain perfection in their fields.
JoshWaitzkin’s name will be familiar to longtime chess fans and movie buffs alike. As a child prodigy,Waitzkin won his first national chess title at age 9, which quickly made him an international sensation. His father, FredWaitzkin, wrote the renowned book “Searching
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