Don't Call Us; We'll Call You: Let me get this straight. The people in the telemarketing business are whining about a regulation that is going to make its business cleaner and more efficient.
And it will give consumers better value in the process. Please tell me what's wrong here. Last Friday the government enforced "do not call" list, which gave consumers an option to put their names on a
list that forbids any company to solicit them via phone, attracted about 850,000 in its first day. Not many, in my opinion. This new rule forces brands that want to telemarket to do what above-board
email marketers do - treat the consumer with respect. In order to form and maintain relationships with their customer base via email, brands like Pespi, Land's End and Fox Entertainment have had to
offer exclusive deals via email, and make it worth the customers while to open an email. Telemarketers now have to do the same thing. If you want me to be interested in your credit card, give me a
reason to be interested and sign up to take your call. And it better be a much better deal that the one I hung up on last week.
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Just Judge It: No way the Supreme Court was going to rule
on the Nike Vs. Kasky suit last week. The case just hadn't been tortured enough in the lower courts to merit a high court opinion. That's the legal bottom line. But in its wake, I think the line needs
to be drawn between corporate communications and advertising. This case is not about advertising and the claims made by advertisers, as some reports have claimed. It is about the truthfulness that
underlies all corporate communications. With corp comm. becoming as important as advertising at many companies, it's an important distinction to be aware of.
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