Am I the only one that thinks this Staples email blast crosses the line?
It’s one thing to tell consumers your business is solid and stable, but it’s quite another to do so by pointing out someone else has fallen on hard times. I’ll bet the genius who came up with this shining example of bully mentality is the same kid who threw rocks at smaller kids on the playground.
There will inevitably be temptation for independent retailers to do the same—if not in print, verbally-—-as some of their local competition falters or fails. My advice? Don’t. It’s one thing to promote that your service is better, your product selection is better, and your staff is better; it’s quite another to gloat over someone else’s pain, then try to make money from it.
Unless, of course, you want to look like a bone scraping vulture.
I can think of better things to be remembered for.
Click here to tell me what you think....
I received this as well and contacted Staples via email to express my displeasure with their tactics. I really expected Staples to conduct them selves with a bit more class than this!
@ Linda:
Good for you…too often, we bite our tongues and move on.
While in Office Depot later that day, the manager and I got into a conversation about this kind of “marketing.” Like us, he thought it was out of bounds, and beyond tacky. Never thought I’d see the day my sympathy went to a big box, but this is one exception I’m happy to make.