Today I received the above advertisement in the mail. Setting aside the fact that I have absolutely no interest in owning timeshare property and have already declined countless appeals to purchase a timeshare, this ad caught my attention.
The company, Timeshare Relief (Canada), INC, boasts two very important facts on the rather innocuous 8 inch by 5 1/2 inch flyer. The first is that they are among America's 500 fastest-growing private companies. Presumably, they believe that the fact they are expanding so quickly in such a turbulent and tumultuous economy means they are doing something right.
The second, and far more interesting statement, is that they are "#24 in Consumer Products & Services". So now I am confronted by a seemingly incongruous juxtaposition of rapid expansion and abysmal product and service offerings...how am I to reconcile this?
Why would a company tout the fact that there are 23 companies who are offering better products and better service than it is? How does promoting this fact encourage potential customers to not only do business with them but to trust them?
On their website, they delve deep into their personal experiences with the timeshare industry, and admit that they were taken in by a sales pitch and had been caught with a timeshare property they could not get rid of. Since then, have dedicated themselves to assisting thousands upon thousands of people to find relief from their timeshare burdens. While a seemingly noble cause, it would appear they may be going about marketing it the wrong way.
The ad I received does not even state what the company does. Mentioning the fact they are among America's 500 fastest-growing private companies may very well have been an attempt to gain my trust and compel me to buy a timeshare from them. Presumably I would find relief in the fact I needn't look any further for assistance. The ad even invited me to "act now! call today!" because they would be in my area in February.
From a marketing perspective, this entire flyer seems counter-intuitive. If their mission is to offer relief to those people who have already succumbed to the timeshare trap, this needs to be more evident. Had they removed the reference to the fact they are "#24 in Consumer Products & Services" they would have likely earned recipients' trust much more easily. If they truly felt it important to promote the fact they are among America's 500 fastest-growing private companies, they need not have made it so prominent. A simple graphic of the honor in the corner would have sufficed.
I applaud the efforts of companies like Timeshare Relief (Canada) INC to market themselves, but they need to be aware of how their advertising is being interpreted by their intended audience. For all the money they spent developing, printing and mailing these flyers, I question whether they will see much of a return on their investment. Whether they could actually help is irrelevant because with advertising like this, most people (even those who really need the help) won't give it a second look.
For companies who find themselves in a similar situation, it may be wise to engage a market research firm to test the copy. If this proves too expensive, consider consulting a local University. Marketing students always need subjects for their marketing plans, and this can be a cost-effective means of accessing a large and relatively untapped pool of marketing talent. If nothing else, try asking people who are unfamiliar with the company their opinions. The responses will often help to improve the quality of the copy which will ultimately yield better results. There is nothing more damaging to a company than ineffective marketing communication.
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