Worms and zombies, phishing and hacking, social engineering and mass mailing... These may sound like random words or phrases reminiscent of a science fiction novel, yet they fall under an umbrella term known as spamming. British born and bred, Mr Alastair Tempest from Conock Consultancy presented a lecture on spam to the third-year Marketing Management Integrated Practical Project class in May 2015.

 

Spamming, an illegal but fast-growing trend, is the submission of the same message to a large number of people, forcing information on those who would otherwise choose not to receive it. This phenomenon poses a great threat to direct and digital marketers, as advanced information technology has extended the platform for spammers to play around and destroy customer trust in marketing. However, according to Mr Tempest, marketers can actually learn a few tactics from sophisticated spammers, including good segmentation and targeting; the use of human weaknesses and social media to identify “victims”; patience; and the acquisition of updated security efforts or systems.

 

It is important to note that there are various national and international bodies and regulations (such as the London Action Plan) that aim to combat these issues.

 

For marketers in the digital arena, the threat of spammers is very real and growing globally. In order for marketers to survive in this techno savvy era they need to adapt, analyse, keep up with upcoming trends and educate consumers about spamming to prevent marketing from suffering due to unscrupulous spammers.

 

The Integrated Practical Project students found the lecture specifically useful as input into their direct and digital marketing strategy projects.