Is Your Company or Organization Hated?
The financial news website 24/7 Wall St. published its list of America’s 20 “most hated companies.” The company uses consumer surveys and other data to arrive at the list.
The list is full of familiar names which I will get to, but the reason this story is in a marketing blog is because of the No. 1 thing in common with all companies that make the list.
The common theme of businesses that made the list is they “tended to promise one thing but deliver another.” In other words, they overpromise and underdeliver.
You would think in marketing that we push companies to brag, hype and puff up organizations. It is not true: Our No. 1 goal is to sell authentic benefits. However, in the digital age it is getting harder and harder for companies and organizations to see the world from customers’, donors’, patients’ or prospective students’ points of view. Overhyping messaging only leads you to become one of the most hated companies.
Here are 5 of the top 20 most hated companies in America according to 24/7 Wall St. :
- Equifax
- FOX Entertainment (including FOX News)
- NFL
- University of Phoenix
- Electronics Arts (EA)
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
