When print advertising goes wrong

This past weekend our first print advert for www.datepositive.net – a classified in The Guardian – went wrong. Part of it contained an error and so pointed potential members to a competitor’s website.

I was angry and disappointed. I’d gotten up early on Saturday to pick up The Guardian, and so had to live with my annoyance for most of the day.

And of course because it was Saturday too, there was really nothing I could do. Although I did write an email to our ad rep, Gabriel Larmour, pointing out their mistake and my disappointment, and asking for reassurances that it wouldn’t happen again.

Gabriel called on Monday morning to apologise and said we wouldn’t have to pay for the one line that contained the error. “Is that all?!” I thought.

“No,” I said. “That’s not good enough. I want two week’s free advertising; after all, you’ve pointed us to a competitor.”

We negotiated and I accepted one week, realising that I would get nothing more from this conversation. I also insisted on seeing a proof of next week’s ad, something that isn’t normally done, but Gabriel relented.

Gabriel’s view was that the rate for our advertising is very low. But what he and so many other ad reps fail to recognise is that small new businesses have to watch every penny – literally.

As well, when you have an experience like this, it dents your confidence in the product. Will I advertise in The Guardian again after this four-week run? I don’t know. Do ad reps think about the knock-on effect of ads gone wrong? Probably not.

Having your own business can be a mix of exciting and frightening. Lately, www.datepositive.net has produced excitement. We re-launched late in February and we’re attracting more new members, including paying members too.

So I need to stay focused on the positive, pat myself on the back for a bit of negotiating, and have faith that things do go well – some of the time!