Insensitive marketing message or overreaction? [07/10]

[infobleep]

Given there has been a fatality at Surbiton this morning, the guard told us on my train earlier, is this marketing message sent by O2 on behalf of someone else insensitive or am I overreacting?

My thoughts go out to all those concerned with the incident.

At Woking Station and already want to go home? Search 200,000 jobs and find one worth waking up for http://clckuk.com/Fs2Y4RtIZV4 Terms apply. To stop O2 More text stop to 20502

 

[cuccir]

It's probably an automated message. I don't see anything wrong with it.

 

[iphone76]

Overreacting.

 

[jopsuk]

yeah, almost certainly targeted simply at the rush hour when it would be busy anyway

 

[infobleep]

OK. Fair enough. I probably am overreacting. It just felt like to had been sent in reaction to the fatality but perhaps it was just coincidental.

It certainly wasn't your usual rush hour crowd numbers at Woking station today. Very busy understandably.

They diverted some fast trains via Chertsey and some stopping trains from Guildford via Epsom.

 

[Searle]

Insensitive if deliberately sent out because of the disruption, but yeah, probably automated and just a bad coincidence

 

[Agent_c]

I don't see any link to the fatality at all... If it was something like "dying for a new job" I'd say fair point, but this very generic message has no apparent link at all.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Given there has been a fatality at Surbiton this morning, the guard told us on my train earlier, is this marketing message sent by O2 on behalf of someone else insensitive or am I overreacting?

My thoughts go out to all those concerned with the incident.

It depends on who sent it really. At the end of the day the sender probably wouldn't have been aware of your & no doubt 100's if not 1000's of others who were caught up in this incident.

Like agent_c said if it had said something like "dying for a new job", then fair enough, although the sender is still very unlikely to have known about the situation at Surbiton.

Just delete it and try not to be such as sensitive flower.

It's a good job you don't work on the railway, you'd have to deal with gallows humour and that can be remorseless & very dark.

 

[Scotty]

It will have been automated, and set up days if not weeks ago.

 

[DelW]

Private Eye has a regular section featuring web-site adverts appearing next to (and triggered by) news stories. Being automated and based only on key words, some are spectacularly inappropriate!

 

[DarloRich]

automated message, silly timing, over reacting

 

[miami]

It's probably an automated message. I don't see anything wrong with it.

I see a massive problem -- do people really get spam SMSes on their phones? Glad I'm not with O2!

On the other hand adverts are hardly known for their great timing. I'm not sure when this advert was pulled, but it was running in the leadup to Sep 11th.

 

[SPADTrap]

Paulweaver, reminds me of the intro to one of the old Microsoft Flight Simulators, I think FS98 where John and Martha King are featured, Martha King (both flight instructors) comments on John's Cessna about to hit the Empire State Building (I think) "Hey you almost crashed into the Empire State Building!" and John replies "now that would be cool!"

If only they knew what the future would hold

 

[Matt Taylor]

And there was this forum post on an aviation forum in November 2000:

'Anyone wanna bet that the World Trade Center could survive an 767-300 impact?'

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/336291/4/


Unsurprisingly the OP had a knock at the door shortly after 9/11.

 

[route:oxford]

When I saw this, I thought it was a reference to the bizarre "breast augmentation" adverts that are appearing with a line up of bare boobied women on the Rail Forum adverts today.

 

[dtaylor84]

That'll be targeted advertising based on your recent internet activity....

 

[swj99]

It's probably an automated message. I don't see anything wrong with it.

EE has been in the headlines for spam texts in the past, although to give them their due, they stopped sending them to me when I rang up and told them I didn't want any marketing texts.

Not everyone was quite so understanding.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.ph...coms-operator-ee-uk-nuisance-calls-texts.html

The Information Commissioner’s Office has warned mobile operator EE that consumers have become tired of their nuisance sales calls and marketing texts, so much so that the regulator has even expressed concern about their “compliance with the law“.
But sometimes enforcement action is still needed and the ICO recently fined two companies – a Yorkshire direct marketing firm and a Devon PPI Claims company – a total of £140,000 for breaching the electronic marketing rules. Suffice to say that EE could easily find itself in the same boat unless they change course.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Here's some useful advice anyway: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/stop-spam-texts#spam

 

[SephenWorceste]

My view on unfortunately timed advertisements. If I have not lost a friend or family member then I would not be upset. If I have lost a friend or family member then I have other things to be upset about.

 

[route:oxford]

That'll be targeted advertising based on your recent internet activity....

Indeed. I was sitting watching the boobies on the advertisement bounce up and down, wondering exactly what word or phrase I could have used to return that particular advert on Rail Forums.

It's back to Argos now.

 

[RAPC]

It's a marketing campaign bought by Reed through O2's commercial mobile sales team, which is called Weve. The campaign will be bought to target rush hour commuters on main transport routes.

Just unfortunate timing, but nothing more than that.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Indeed. I was sitting watching the boobies on the advertisement bounce up and down, wondering exactly what word or phrase I could have used to return that particular advert on Rail Forums. It's back to Argos now.

Is that the same Argos that was originally a city in the ancient Peloponnese region known as Argolis?

 

[infobleep]

It's a marketing campaign bought by Reed through O2's commercial mobile sales team, which is called Weve. The campaign will be bought to target rush hour commuters on main transport routes.

Just unfortunate timing, but nothing more than that.

It is, given I've never had such advertising from O2 about commuting before, bar the Rugby World Cup.

I don't mind O2s adverts but do thing some would be suited to O2 Priority. At times it'd as if there are two teams within O2 competing with one another to being out offers.

 

[TUC]

Oh for goodness sake. This is like people who want a TV programme to be not shown because there has been an accident involving ice and the prorgamme involves ice skating.

 

[infobleep]

Oh for goodness sake. This is like people who want a TV programme to be not shown because there has been an accident involving ice and the prorgamme involves ice skating.

Your right. Which is why I asked if I was overreacting.

Saying that a lot of programmes or films on TV do get pulled due to news events. Sometimes the original program details are still shown on the electronic programme guide so you read about what was going to be on. Perhaps that's considered less bad taste than actually showing it. I'm aware they may not be able to update the EPG in time.

However I'd argue does the programme need to be pulled. The TV companies say yes.

 

[swj99]

Insensitive marketing message or overreaction?

The question I'd be asking is this.

Do we want marketing messages at all ?

 

[jon0844]

It should have been an opt in process somewhere along the line (sic).

 

[RAPC]

It is, given I've never had such advertising from O2 about commuting before, bar the Rugby World Cup.

I don't mind O2s adverts but do thing some would be suited to O2 Priority. At times it'd as if there are two teams within O2 competing with one another to being out offers.

One thing to note is that you will have opted-in to receive these messages at some point in time. You can also opt-out at any time either in follow-up to one of the messages, or via customer services.

You shouldn't receive loads of these kinds of messages though, as they are frequency capped to be pretty infrequent to individual users. If you start to get a lot, then something has gone astray with regards to how Weve operate.

 

[SouthStand]

That'll be targeted advertising based on your recent internet activity....

 

[infobleep]

One thing to note is that you will have opted-in to receive these messages at some point in time. You can also opt-out at any time either in follow-up to one of the messages, or via customer services.

You shouldn't receive loads of these kinds of messages though, as they are frequency capped to be pretty infrequent to individual users. If you start to get a lot, then something has gone astray with regards to how Weve operate.

I definitely opted in and don't mind receiving them, although some are of no interest to me. Targeted advertising it isn't.