Add to the list of marketers unwisely sending customers e-mail marketing messages without permission Canine Fence, makers of the original Invisible Fence.
And not only is Canine Fence sending unsolicited e-mail, it’s sending offers that trivialize its brand.
For those who don’t know, Invisible Fence is a wire buried in the ground that delivers a shock to dogs wearing a special collar.
We had an Invisible Fence installed recently when our dogs began escaping through our deer fencing on a daily basis. We made the final decision when a woman called and said she found our dogs on New York Route 6, a busy, four-lane, 55-mile-per-hour roadway leading to a main artery to New York City.
The woman had to stop traffic to round them up. We almost lost those animals that day.
For those who think an Invisible Fence is cruel, with proper training (a) they only get shocked once or twice before they learn what the little white flags marking the perimeter mean, and (b), that contraption is saving our dogs’ lives.
And not only is it saving their lives, it has transformed our lives from one of daily stress trying to figure out a way to keep them in, to one of complete non-stress concerning the animals. They’ve got an entire acre to run in. They’re luckier than most—just as long as they don’t cross the invisible line of pain.
And no, I did not test the system on myself. I don’t need to be shocked in order to be taught to avoid wandering around on Route 6.
I any case, the folks at Canine Fence have begun to send me e-mail. As has been repeatedly stated here, e-mailing even customers without permission is unwise. It’s a sure way to draw spam complaints and begin having delivery troubles.
But Canine Fence’s e-mails were not only misguided, they were off brand.
The first one contained offers on a couple throw toys and something called the Pooch Masoose.
But the Canine Fence brand isn’t about playing or giving the dogs a massage. It’s about safety, security and behavior modification. It’s about delivering an electric shock or two for the dogs’ own good.
Buying an Invisible Fence isn’t a decision to be made lightly, and isn’t generally made under lighthearted circumstances,
So the toy spam was unwise and a little odd from a brand perspective. But then the second e-mail came containing offers for designer collars.
One had peace signs on it, another smiley faces. Is it me, or is putting a smiley-face or peace-sign designer collar on the dog that shocks the living crap out of him when he crosses an invisible line in the yard a little weird?
Not that I’m a designer dog-collar kind of guy anyway. And not that they should be selling collars with death heads or lightning bolts, either. But Invisible Fence is a serious product that addresses a gut-wrenching issue. Once an owner realizes their dog—or dogs in our case—cannot be contained and are at serious risk of being killed by a car, the wait for that fence to be installed is agonizing.
And once it is installed—assuming it works; I hear for some Terriers it doesn’t—the owner is grateful for the incredible peace of mind it creates.
Canine Fence’s spamming clients with throw-toy and smiley-face designer-collar offers trivializes a serious brand that transforms its customers’ lives.
However, I’m willing to concede that other dog owners may not have the dramatic lead-up to buying an Invisible Fence that we had and, therefore, may not view the brand so seriously.
Readers?
