That’s why BrandWeek sought me out when they wrote a story about the growing practice of deceptive mailers. While they quoted me several times, this quote received prominent play:

“What I don’t understand is why organizations allow deceptive practices to undermine their carefully [and expensively] cultivated brand images in the first place,” said Chandler. “I recently received a series of envelopes from a large credit-card bank where I held an account. All shared the same alarmist stamp that “Important Information” about his account was enclosed. “Of course, it wasn’t important information,” Chandler said. “It was a series of cross-selling pitches. After a month or two, I canceled my account.”

Rather than deceive, why not delight recipients?