You’ve heard of permission marketing. You’ve heard of pull marketing. Now we’ve got a whole new concept: Usurp Marketing.
Yes, I’m thinking that’s what we should be calling the new strategy put forward by Facebook and their partner vendor sites in the new Beacon program. The dictionary defines usurp as “To seize and hold by force without legal right or authority”. Sounds about right. I mean it’s diametrically opposed to the mantra that many online marketers have been using through the years. That would be Seth Godin’s permission marketing.
I have to say that for all the talk about “permission” and “pull” and “listening to your community” or “the customer is now in control”, the online marketing community seemed to be somewhat reluctant to criticize Facebook. Sort of a wait and see approach to gauge what other online marketers are saying. Now, the blog posts are coming as the criticism grows. But I’m left wondering if people are or were really dedicated to the principle at the beginning of this paragraph.
Oddly, I still have nothing against assertive marketing that’s pushed. It’s often necessary – more necessary than many have been willing to admit. It may not be as effective as it once was, but that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t play a role. But Beacon? No, that’s Usurp Marketing.
The thing we must remember is that there are indeed vendors that are participating in this. They are the ones sending the info and they are the ones that agreed to take part in this. The list includes AllPosters.com, Blockbuster, Bluefly.com, CBS Interactive, ExpoTV, Gamefly, Hotwire, Joost, Kiva, Kongregate, Live Nation, Mercantila, the NBA, NYTimes.com, Overstock.com, (RED), Redlight, SeamlessWeb, Sony Online Entertainment, Sony Pictures, STA Travel, The Knot, TripAdvisor, Travel Ticker, viagogo, Vox, Yelp, WeddingChannel.com, and Zappos.com.
Those are the companies that invited Facebook into your relationship with them – without your permission. That’s Usurp Marketing. What a concept.
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Something tells me that there is nothing new about “usurp marketing.” I can remember when companies used to exchange mailing lists. I can even remember when prospective customers (of one of my previous employers) demanded to have a list of our current customers incorporated into a software license in order to forestall “customer poaching” arguments.
It’s all more visible now — which is good.
Yeah, I agree. It is all so sleazy. I guess, in many ways, the systems in the past were slow and inefficient. Now, things happen instantaneously. One can actually track the feedback loop. You can track the cause and effect.
I was just “Beaconed” by Facebook and Blockbuster. What amazing jerks. Both companies. I feel completely violated. When I feel violated, I hire lawyers and let them sort my feelings out for me.