Marketers: When Does Craftiness Cross the Line?

How do you feel about these marketing examples?

• A credit card company telling customers that buying payment protection services and credit monitoring services will help improve their credit scores? (Which they won’t)
• A large home furniture retailer putting the details about their “Buy Now, Pay Later” promotion in the mice type at the bottom of their ads? (Customers had to pay up-front fees to participate in the promotion, notwithstanding the “pay later” promise)
• A microbrewery that sells its beer in a unique 9-pack, claiming each one is hand-signed by the Brewmaster? (Which is true)

Are these examples deceptive or just practicing the value of craftiness?

As a differentiating value, Craftiness means skillful; possessing dexterity; skill in deception; shrewdness. This value can be viewed in either a positive or negative light.

Based on this definition, some would argue all 3 examples above are craftiness in action. However, most would agree that only the last one – the microbrewery – is a positive example of craftiness – unless you’re a distributor or retailer and the 9-pack doesn’t stack well with the others. (And of course, the big brewing companies hate it!)

• The first example was Capital One, which ended with a $210 Million fine by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This was clearly deceptive and not a positive use of craftiness.
• The second example included TWO of Canada’s largest home furniture retailers. The Competition Bureau is currently suing both these retailers for deceptive marketing practices. While hiding the details in mice type has been a common practice for years, there is nothing positive about this practice.
• The third example is one of a number of Canadian microbreweries that are using skillful and unconventional tactics to compete against big beer brands. Such clever marketing may be one of the reasons why microbreweries now account for 10% of all beer industry revenues (in Canada).

While the value of craftiness is more often associated with negative actions, it can be used in a positive way when combined with creativity.

Note: one of the reasons I highlighted 2 Canadian examples today is because all potentially referenceable documents posted on the U.S. governments FTC site (Federal Trade Commission) are not currently accessible due to the government shutdown. Not sure why such a website needs to be turned off…. So instead, I looked at Canadian examples. J

 

Do you know a marketer that is crafty in a positive way?

 

Today’s value was selected from the “Pragmatism-Prudence” category, based on the e-book Developing Your Differentiating Values.