Today I received a promotional flier from Virgin Media in the post. I read it. What a waste of time. Virgin is trying to promote something to me that I can’t actually buy. Specifically, they tried to sell me video on demand (great!) via their optic fiber network. Problem is: I have no optic fiber connection in our house. What is worse: I asked Virgin for it and they said they couldn’t supply it to me.

Think it through slowly: they tried to sell me something of which they already knew that I can’t get it. They told me so themselves.

When you are marketing, be specific. Don’t waste your money. Or my time. Target people who can actually buy what you have to sell. Promoting something to people that they want to have, but can’t get will actually have a negative effect. I am a little angry with Virgin now. They reminded me of something that I want, but can’t have.

What I want in the post is: “Jens, guess what, you can have fiber and video on demand now! Sign up here!” I have told them in the past that this is what I want. And giving people what they want is the way to delight them. Mindless mailshots to some rubbish list won’t.

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