Dish Network: A Profile In Poor Marketing
A few weeks back, this direct mail piece came addressed to me from Dish Network. It features a picture of an olive-skinned and black haired beauty on the front and handsome dark haired, stubble-bearded man on the back. Beyond that, I cannot tell you what it says because it’s written in Arabic. My husband and I first had a little chuckle about it, but the longer this piece sat on my desk, the more it bothered me. It appears that it was sent to me because of the ethnicity of my last name, however I have a distinctly Armenian name, not Arabic. Although Armenia is in the general area of many Arabic speaking nations, Armenians actually do not speak Arabic as their native language; they speak Armenian. Different culture, different language and different alphabet altogether.
I found out that Dish Network is on Twitter, so I quickly tweeted them asking to be connected to someone in their marketing department to discuss an issue. I swiftly got a tweet back saying that I should DM them with the specific issue so that they can be sure to “connect me with the right person.” As succinctly as possible in 140 characters, I stated that I was offended by being ethnically targeted with a direct mail piece and wanted to discuss it with someone. Silence. A day passed and I sent them another DM, asking to please be connected to someone who could discuss this with me. Silence. I went to their web site, found a customer service email address and sent a message explaining the situation in detail, why it bothered me, and again asked to be connected to someone who could address this with me. Silence.
So here’s what’s so wrong with this entire scenario from a marketing, customer service and social media perspective:
1. If a company is going to send out a direct mail piece, then they better be darn sure they know who they are targeting.
2. Making an ill-informed assumption that someone with a name from a certain ethnic group speaks a certain language is wrong for several reasons. In my case:
- Armenians aren’t native Arabic speakers. Some Armenian may speak Arabic, but that’s not typical. Clumping everyone with heritage from that region of the world into a general category of Middle Eastern and making assumptions based on that, negates the richness of Armenian culture and the myriad of other cultures that grew from that region.
- I am a 2nd generation Armenian-American. Not only do I not speak or read Arabic, but I do not even speak Armenian (except for a few words like girl, yogurt, dog and how are you) and can’t read it at all. I happen to speak and read English as my native language.
- For all the Dish Network marketers know, I may not even be Armenian. I could be from any ethnic group, and simply married to someone with an Armenian name.
- Even if my heritage were from an Arabic speaking culture, why would it be assumed that I speak and read Arabic?
3. If a company has a presence in social media, then they are essentially inviting people to contact them with comments, suggestions or problems. If a consumer does contact them via social media with a problem, then they are obliged to answer. What’s the point of being there if they don’t? To just have the appearance of being accessible?
4. If a company tells someone that they will connect them with the “right” person, then should connect them with the right person, not just ignore them.
5. If a company has a contact email on their website and someone takes the time to contact them, explain a problem, and ask for assistance, then they should respond to them, not just ignore them.
Yes, I admit, this post is a bit of a rant, but I am angry that I have been targeted and profiled in this way. I am angry that I tried to contact Dish Network to discuss this and was even invited to do so. But instead of offering me some kind of response, they chose to ignore me instead.
Moral of the story:
1. Direct mail campaigns based on ethnic or racial profiling are probably not a good idea.
2. If a consumer has a problem or complaint, then it’s probably a good idea for the company to respond (in English).
Bourke Marrison
wrote on February 10, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Hi Cheryl,
Looks like Dish is trying to short cut in their attempt to connect with a potential ‘non-English’ customer.
Somewhere along the line, some half-wit devised a software program that purported to devine a person’s cultural or linguistic make up by their last name. It’s moronic and it makes the user seem, well, cheezy.
Here in Canada, there a couple of companies that do the same thing – it’s silly and it can really destroy a brands chance of establishing a meaningful relationship with someone new to the country, culture or brand.
So-called “Ethnic Marketing” is – as many will attest – a hot topic in some places in North America – and so few companies appreciate the scope of the challenge or the size of the opportunity. Instead they take the easy (cheap?) route and send you Arabic materials and then wonder why they receive no response.
As a long time believer in deep branded experiences with multicultural audiences, I can tell anyone who cares to listen that simply relying on some mass message translated from English will almost always fail. I have been working in this space for more than 15 years and I am amazed almost daily by the silly things brand marketers do to connect with consumers from non-traditional cultures. Hang in there – and get ready – no doubt, we’re going to see more of this garbage.
Cheryl Andonian aka Momblebee
wrote on February 10, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Hi Bourke,
Not surprisingly, I did hear from Dish Network today (after I sent them a DM on Twitter w/ a link to this post.) They publicly sent me a message on Twitter saying that they sent me a message (which they didn’t) asking for my address so they could remove my name from their mailing list. The discussion moved to my email box when they said they “understand my concerns and will remove my name from the list.” That actually made even more frustrated because they clearly missed my point completely. This wasn’t about getting a piece of mail I didn’t want or couldn’t read. It’s about marketing through ethnic profiling of names and the ill-informed assumptions that go along with doing that, coupled with their lack of response to me or understanding of what my issue really was. It ended with the representative telling me that she would pass on my concerns to the marketing team, of which she is a member. I shall not hold my breath while I wait to hear of any decisions they make to change their practices.
Thanks for stopping by and adding your input…
Cheryl
Condo Blues
wrote on February 10, 2010 at 4:43 pm
This happens to me frequently. I supposed my zip code has a higher percentage of various ethnic demographics living here (I know my immediate neighborhood does, that’s why I chose to live here.)I get a lot of direct mail targeted to me as “a *insert ethnicity that isn’t mine* women” I roll with it. Fortunately all of the mail has come in languages that we speak and read.
Cheryl Andonian aka Momblebee
wrote on February 11, 2010 at 5:28 pm
It was the idea that they targeted me by my name that really bothered me and that they completely missed their target because of a mis-informed assumption somewhere that Armenians read Arabic. It just felt very personal to me…an ignorance about my heritage.
Tim Little
wrote on February 17, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Cheryl:
I’m ashamed to say that I’ve worked in direct marketing for over 20 years. This is gross in-competence and a mistake like that is very costly and I have seen direct marketing managers fired for much less. Something like this would never be tolerated in media publishing. Your follow-up is humorous.
Tim Little
Publisher, http://www.MarketingListBroker.com
Jay@DishtvBlog
wrote on February 20, 2010 at 1:50 am
That is a very poor way to market. I am an affiliate marketer and would never use direct mail that way. I do know that the Dish Network team on Twitter does a great job of taking care of questions and service issues. I follow their Tweets. There still is no excuse for them not connecting you to someone to take care of your concerns.
Greg Satell
wrote on February 23, 2010 at 1:36 am
Cheryl,
Or put another way, Pay Attention!
Your name is clearly Armenian and there is no way it should be confused with an Arabic name.
I have a hunch that what probably happened is that a DM agency tried to create a database where there wasn’t one. Instead of telling the client that they couldn’t get enough names, they simply broadened their target.
- Greg
Cheryl Andonian aka Momblebee
wrote on February 23, 2010 at 5:50 am
Greg,
You are probably right, but I still feel that it is the obligation of Dish to know exactly who they are targeting. Even if they had successfully created a list that only went to those with an Arabic name, again, they still run the risk of missing their target. Not all people with Arabic names read Arabic. Making assumptions about who people are and what language they speak or what interests they have simply based on their last name is just plain ignorant. Maybe Dish Network should ask for a refund on that targeted list that they bought!
Renee
wrote on April 20, 2010 at 12:54 pm
This just happened to me today. I received a mailing for Indian Dish Network packages based on my name. I am not Indian. I do not speak Hindi, and there are few Indians in my area. I cannot believe that this company does not realize the negative impact they may have by ethnic based marking.
Cheryl Andonian aka Momblebee
wrote on April 20, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Renee,
Seems to me that Dish should look into hiring a new agency to build their direct marketing lists. I doubt you and I are the only ones that have been targeted in this way. Thanks for adding your thoughts.
Cheryl
John
wrote on May 6, 2010 at 6:38 am
Just to point out why this likely happened – many of the ethnicity appends available to purchase by direct marketers are based on the name of the recipient. Obviously, this is less than ideal.
Unfortunately, unless you ask how a given append is determined, you may not realize how it may be less than ideal. In this case, they probably purchased a list labeled “Ethnicity: Arabic” without realizing how that was calculated.
Also, they probably should have purchased one that said “Language: Arabic” instead of Ethnicity, but because those lists are generally smaller (since the ways to determine language spoken are much more stringent), then someone probably decided to include the ethnicity one as well. This may not have even been marketing at Dish Network making the decision, they may have contracted out the request to a third party who purchased the list and sent out the mailing.
Cheryl Andonian aka Momblebee
wrote on May 6, 2010 at 6:52 am
John,
I realize that they most likely purchased a targeted list and the poor quality of the list may not be the direct fault of Dish Network. However, Armenians are not Arabs, and not all people with Arabic names speak Arabic. It is the responsibility of the Dish to make sure that their marketing efforts are reaching the right people. Leaving your efforts completely in the hands of a third party is poor marketing. The list company is going to try to sell Dish the largest list they can to make the most money. Dish should find themselves a new direct marketing partner….
Thanks for stopping by…
Cheryl
Steve
wrote on August 25, 2010 at 5:02 am
Cheryl:
I had a similar reaction. A flier came yesterday in Arabic. Didn’t bother me at first, but then my blood started to boil. I’m, like, 4th generation.
Strange, I went next door to my neighbor (with an Italian last name). They didn’t get one in Italian. Next door down – German. Nope, none of their Dish marketing stuff was in German. And so on.
So, there’s a profiling campaign going on. It’s actually both comical and disgusting. All I know for sure is that I will never sign up with Dish. I don’t like what they put on their plate.
God Bless America.
Steve.
Cheryl Andonian aka Momblebee
wrote on August 25, 2010 at 6:34 am
Thanks for your input Steve. I guess we are both on the same list:) It would be interesting to see how many people are on that list, how many actually speak Arabic, and how many sales Dish actually got as a result of this mailing.
Cheryl
p.lions
wrote on September 23, 2011 at 7:02 am
I hate Dish Network! I get at least a mailing every month asking me to switch from cable. How much money have they spent on glossy printed material and killed trees so I can throw it away. I wish there were a national Do Not Snail Mail list.