Greg Verdino: We're all friends (and family) here

Has the term "Friends & Family" lost all meaning? I'm not riffing on the "never ending friending" epidemic that continues to afflict the social media crowd (myself included), but something a bit more old school -- the "Friends & Family" retail sales event.

It seems like these VIP-only sales used to be limited to actual, you know, VIPs -- best customers, employees or actual friends (and relatives) of employees. I get plenty of VIP mailers from stores I frequent and have been in several of my clients' employee discount programs over the course of my career. But this weekend marks the first time that I've noticed a so-called "VIP Family & Friends Event" promoted with a newspaper insert.

Promoting a private "VIP event" to everybody who happens to subscribe to the Sunday paper -- isn't this what retailers used to just call a "sale?"

So how about a bit of friendly advice? Context is king. Make sure the medium matches the message. Consumers aren't stupid enough to believe that you really think they're all VIPs -- those who aren't will see right through your ploy and those who are will probably feel like you couldn't care less.

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About

Greg Verdino is a futurist, marketer, writer and speaker who works as Chief Strategy Officer at marketing consultancy crayon LLC. His first book, microMARKETING, is due from McGraw-Hill in summer 2010. This blog looks at trends in media and marketing, as these industries grapple with the changes being brought on by disruptive technologies, new business imperatives and the rise of the empowered consumer.

July 2009