VIEWPOINT: Ask for permission before you speak

<p>The new age of direct, one-on-one marketing is upon us, thanks to </p><p>the Internet. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to those in the know, this revolutionary new medium will - and </p><p>in some cases, already does - allow marketers to specifically target </p><p>consumers as individuals, tailoring advertisements specially for each </p><p>and every one of them. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Database mining, cookies, tracking, new technology - these are all means </p><p>to which marketers will justify the ends of using the 'Net as a </p><p>communications tool. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Which is all fine and well from the marketers' point of view. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But for the consumer, the implications are disturbing. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Direct marketing is one thing, but the line between communication and </p><p>downright harrassment is a fine one. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In general, most consumers view advertising as a necessary evil, which </p><p>they endure because they realise it keeps their own costs down, and </p><p>because - occasionally - they see an ad which is of interest and informs </p><p>them. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But ask 20 people in the street if they would rather that they saw no </p><p>advertisements at all, and chances are that at least 15 of them would </p><p>say 'yes'. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And when these ads start being addressed directly to individuals, the </p><p>sensation of Big Brother's big hand on our shoulders is more than a </p><p>little disconcerting. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Another issue which has not yet been addressed is the fact that much of </p><p>the one-on-one marketing facilities online are computer-generated, </p><p>controlled by software programmes which do not take into account any </p><p>human considerations - because they can't. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>How else to explain the fact that one Hotmail user, a married woman with </p><p>two young children, regularly finds her mailbox crammed with junk email </p><p>from pornography sites touting the temptations of "hot young sexy </p><p>luscious schoolgirls all naked all the time"? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And where does the whole privacy issue come in to the picture? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Back in the '90s, much was made of the fact that lists and personal </p><p>information were being sold to marketers; legislation controlling and </p><p>preventing such happenings was introduced - to little or no effect. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This is where discretion, permission marketing and the human element are </p><p>going to prove crucial. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Unless marketers realise that they risk annoying and alienating </p><p>consumers by talking directly and incessantly to them on a one-on-one </p><p>basis, the whole Internet phenomenon is at risk. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>