This Is Not the Way: The High Cost of Marketing Ambiguity

Cineplex recently sent me an email with the subject line "Get a first look with Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu: May the 4th IMAX Special Look Event".

I eagerly (read: quickly) read the email and, knowing that free tickets to an IMAX event would likely not last long, I clicked the bright-yellow "Get Tickets" button as fast as I could.

But I missed two very important words in that email.

And after my friend and I drove for an hour, parked, and walked for 20 minutes to get to the downtown Toronto theatre from our homes North of the city, then waited in line for two hours to secure good seats for the screening, those two words ended up being the difference between "delighted" and "disappointed".

Below is the full text of what I was sent. See if you can spot the two most important words that I foolishly missed.

The two words were "footage from".

Because, as it turns out, this invitation was not to see the full film two weeks before it officially launched in theatres, as I had believed when I excitedly accepted the invite.

It was to watch:

1. A completely unnecessary IMAX countdown from ten to one, presumably to showcase the excellent visual capabilities of the format, but not something that added any real value to those in attendance;

2. A one-minute warm introduction to "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" by the film's director, Jon Favreau;

3. And 25 minutes of footage from the upcoming film.

Which means, if you count the trip home, my friend and I spent almost five hours (between travelling and waiting) to watch 27 minutes of footage.

"Disappointed" is an understatement.

I'd forgive you if you thought, "This situation is entirely your fault. You misread the email, and you have nobody to blame but yourself." Because I mostly agree with you: the words "footage from" were clearly present in the email, which clearly meant what I was invited to see was not the complete film, and I clearly misinterpreted the communication.

Except, it's clear to me that I wasn't alone in misunderstanding what had been offered.

I know this since, after those 27 minutes when the lights came up, a theatre full of people sat there in silence: a collective disbelief that the showing had ended, immediately followed by the disappointing realization of "that's all there is".

Earlier this week, I wrote a post I called "Cineclub Earns Loyalty: This is the Way". I stand by the main message of that post: true loyalty is built when you move beyond point-collecting to give members something "a little extra" as a reward for their patronage.

But, after redeeming my "little extra", it seems there's an important caveat I need to add: if your "little extra" fails to meet your customer's expectations, you'll end up doing more harm than good.

Was I delighted when I thought I had been invited to see the latest Star Wars film on "Star Wars Day", for free, in IMAX, two weeks before its official release? Yes!

Did I feel foolish when I realized that's not what I had been offered? Also, yes!

But do I believe the company's communication could have been much clearer about what I was being invited to attend? Without question.

There's a high cost to marketing ambiguity.

The goal for any organization should be to exceed its consumers' expectations: the products you sell should add more value to their lives, the services you offer should be better than they expect to receive from you, and the overall experience of interacting with your brand should leave them wanting to come back again and again.

And when something you communicate causes your consumer's expectations to exceed what you can realistically deliver, the result will always be disappointment in your brand.

My friend, who took a half-day off work to attend this "premiere", was very forgiving. He enjoyed the sushi buffet lunch we had before heading downtown, and the pizza we shared on the way back home. So overall, he believes it was a day spent with a good friend, even if that day involved far too much travelling and waiting.

But he's also resolved not to go and see "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" in theatres as a result of this incident; I agreed that I would also wait for it to be available on streaming services before enjoying the film.

And the next time CineClub presents me with a "special offer", I won't read the email with excitement.

I'll read it with cynicism.

And for that, they have no one to blame but themselves.