Yoo Hoo Team Greco, Where Are You?
When it comes to pop culture, I’ve never been one of the cool kids.
While all the other girls were pouring over magazines like US, People, InTouch, OK and LifeStyle to catch up on the latest celebrity gossip, I was reading the Economist and National Review.
As I said. Not cool.
From what I’ve ascertained (mostly from standing in lines at the supermarket), it appears that there are two ways to break down celebrity couples. If it’s love, you combine their names. Tom-Kat (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes), Brangelina (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) and Spiedi (Spencer Pratt and Heidi-What’s-Her-Name.) If it’s war, you assign teams. Team Paris versus Team Nicole. Team Britney versus Team K-Fed.
In the world of what’s hot and who’s not, love is all rainbows, unicorns and adopted babies. War, on the other hand, is serious business. There are two distinct teams and you need to choose sides. You’re either Team Jen or Team Angelina. You must pick one. Abstaining is not an option.
So I ask you, WHERE THE HELL IS TEAM GRECO?
I don’t know Gerry Pike and I will admit that when he first came on the scene, I thought he was a sandwich short of a picnic. His one-page web site was uglier than a dog’s breakfast (and this is coming from the self-appointed Alpo Queen.) His e-mails lacked concrete examples. A search on his name yielded a lot of information about a Porn King. And well, he just seemed like the girl who got dumped the day before the dance.
As time went on, Gerry Pike became more and more impressive. The guy was like the Little Engine that Could, chug-chug-chugging away up the hill. He sent out e-mails. He made calls. He responded quickly to the press. He started using specifics. And most important, people — well known and respected marketers — came out in support of him. It spoke volumes when folks like Anne Schaeffer said she had given him her proxy. Anne worked at the DMA for over 24 years, she was Ms. DMA for all of them, and the woman eats nails for breakfast. She’s not going to side with you for a cupcake and she sure isn’t going to shut up for a cookie.
As for John Greco and the DMA*? Well, they became whatever is less than not-at-all-impressive.
Their retaliation e-mails read as if they were written by someone who knew NOTHING about direct marketing. To add insult to injury, many people didn’t even receive them. Why? Because they ended up in the SPAM folders, of course.
Their telemarketing effort? My three year old nephew could have made better, more persuasive calls. Some folks complained that the DMA group called at dinner. Others wondered why they were called at all as they were on the Do-Not-Call list. (And yes, the proxy call would technically be exempt, but still…) Even more horrific were the comments that the telemarketers couldn’t even pronounce proxy (per-oxy? Really?!?) and didn’t know where to get said per-oxies (not to be confused with per-ogies) or how to send one, if requested.
Their cease-and-desist letter to Pike? Who paid for that little exercise in futility? The members? Wouldn’t that money have been better spent on promoting Annual? (Pretty soon, we’ll all know if their “registration did track consistent with their plan in a positive manner.”)
Their PR response to the whole matter? One word. Pathetic. Had they never learned about crisis PR or were they just too arrogant to treat the matter as critical? You’d think the organization that completely botched the whole Catalog Choice fiasco would have done better this time. No. Such. Luck.
Their announcement that they were “poised to shift toward interactive?” A colossal joke. Interactive implies two-way communication. A large part of “interactive” is talking to and listening to your customers on their terms, wherever they are. But did the DMA ever once respond to any of the comments on the Big Fat Marketing Blog or Richard H. Levey’s spot-on news articles? What about Ken Magill’s hilarious take? No. Not once. Not even one line that said “we hear you and are trying to make things better.”
And where was Team Greco? People are coming out in droves for Gerry Pike but who has come out publicly for John Greco? How many of the board members have sent out e-mails or letters supporting him? Gene Raitt appears to be the only one.
Two of my closest industry friends think Gene Raitt is the best thing since sliced bread. I don’t know him so I can’t comment on whether or not he’d make good toast. What I can say is that comments like he wrote on Lois Geller’s Facebook page Sunday just aren’t at all helpful.
Raitt said: “I agree with changing the DMA, and have been committed to doing so over the past 2 years. I would not want Gerry to be the one providing the change however. There are at least two sides to every story, and you are looking at only one of them.”
What the hell does that mean? This is like the consultant who tells our mutual client that he and his wife “know terrible, terrible, terrible things about Amy Africa. So terrible that I can’t tell you” but refuses to say what they are. What does he know? That I kidnap small children and sell them for body parts on eBay? Common knowledge. You either have the cubes to take a position or you don’t.
Greco has a staff — people who report to him. He also has PR people that were trained on how to handle these types of things. Somewhere — someplace — he’s got to have industry friends. Ramesh can’t have been the only one. (Not that I’ve seen he’s put anything in writing for collective distribution either.)
John Greco is not an idiot. John Greco is actually a very smart man (and obviously one hell of a salary negotiator.)
He should have done better.
But he didn’t.
Maybe he doesn’t care. Maybe he does and just doesn’t know how to show it. I have no idea.
What I do know is that Gerry Pike is at least making an effort. He started the conversation and despite the adversity, he’s continued it.
And that should count for something.
Send your proxy in today — now — right this very minute.
If you’ve already sent your proxy to the DMA, click here now to find out how you can change it.
Your vote really does count… especially to Team Pike.
*Please Note: There are some really amazing people who work at the DMA. This is not about folks like Karina, Vince or Julie — this is about the folks who support and execute the decision to not handle this proxy debacle in the manner it deserves.
