KPMG wins Grinch award for the worst Seasonal Greeting ever
Christmas is traditionally a time when firms send some seasonal greeting to clients, by way of thanks for business and maintaining relationships. There are mixed views as to whether it’s worth it, but if you are going to do it, do it well. An “interactive” seasonal greeting from KPMG (my accountants) arrived in my email inbox yesterday afternoon. I showed it to a friend who’s an expert in such matters. Her reaction says it all:
Oh my god – I can just see how they:
- Decided not to mention Christmas because that might offend someone, somewhere
- Decided to cut back the budget – shouldn’t look too flashy
- Thought they’d be so cool and make something “interactive” then got scared and went back to an animation
- Had the idea to write their own copy to save some $
- Said it had to be in corporate colours to be “on brand”
- Ended up with a message so bad it’s almost worth spoofing….
The covering email (below) is even worse. Impersonal, automated and downright boring. Frankly they shouldn’t have bothered. I think it goes down in history as the worst corporate Seasonal Greeting I’ve ever received. Bah! Humbug! Just as well that the real people I deal with at KPMG are much better than their marketing communications department.
December 11th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I STILL (even after your description) imagined more than THAT.
Unbelievable.
Loved:
* the music
* The animated wording and stars
* The absolute LACK of any festivities or joy
December 12th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Oh my goodness. The music is straight out of those cheesy 1980s TVNZ live shows. ‘From the Christchurch Town Hall, the 1985 Skellerup Young Farmer of the Year Awards!’ ‘Yes, it’s the Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Awards!’ ‘The 1983 Miss New Zealand competition!’ You can just imagine Steve Parr and Hilary Timmins getting on stage with that music as the background.
January 7th, 2009 at 11:51 am
I think it is environmentally friendly and in line with the green image of New Zealand and I think more businesses should be doing it this way rather than cutting down trees for Christmas cards that end up in the bin at the end of the day anyway.
January 7th, 2009 at 11:56 am
I agree that an electronic greeting is a good idea, Sara. No problem with that at all.