One of the big hot topics in marketing at the moment is when does customer convenience turn into customer invasion? When I’m logged in to my email and I search “United”, my United MileagePlus number pops up. At first I thought that was really creepy but then I realized that Google is not only searching the web when displaying my results but also my mailbox. An older example that is often mentioned in my classes is that a teenage girl’s father found a marketing flyer selling baby strollers addressed to his daughter. Outraged, he barged into the store questioning why they would be sending such material to his teenage daughter. It turned out that she was buying pregnancy tests and vitamins from the store. The store knew that the teenage girl was pregnant earlier than her father due to her previous purchases. So why does this matter?
Well, customers are beginning to feel uneasy with the amount of knowledge that marketers are able to put together based on purchasing patterns. A similar thing happened to my friend recently. About two weeks before our trip, my friend received an email entitled There’s no need to call us about your upcoming travel plans. Initially, she told me that she was very freaked out. How did her credit card company find out she was travelling? Before you open the email, it sounds like overprotective parents or a stalker boyfriend that are tracking your every move. When you open the email though (click image to the left), Citi explains that they noticed a purchase for an airplane ticket and that they are simply trying to make sure that they don’t block your credit card when you leave the city. In the end, she said, she really appreciated the convenience that the company offered. It even gave her direct links to download the Citi app and unlock extra functionality and convenience with using the credit card.
What do you think? Was this creepy on the side of the credit card company? Is it the title of the email putting you off or the fact that the company is tracking your purchases? Is there something that you purchase that you’d rather not have your credit card company monitor? As always, discuss below!