Marsh promotion cancellation sparks anger

The company began offering the coupon
Tuesday to its “loyal fans, customers and employees” on its Facebook site and told them “don’t be afraid to share. Marsh would
love to see more shoppers become fans.”

But by Friday, Marsh announced on its Facebook page that it had rescinded the
promotion, which was supposed to last until Aug. 8.

“Unfortunately this offer has been widely distributed in an unauthorized
manner throughout our marketing area,” the company wrote. “Due to the vast numbers of inappropriately transmitted and replicated
copies of this offer, we will no longer be able to accept these coupons in our stores.”

The company did not divulge
how many coupons its stores received.

Marsh offered an apology, which did little to quell the anger flooding the company’s
Facebook page. As of this morning, 269 comments had been posted.  

“Marsh, you need to understand what a bad customer-service
move this was. I will definitely be shopping Kroger and Meijer,” wrote Andrea Slayton Reynolds.

Marsh has 3,051 followers
of its Facebook social-networking site. Such sites are becoming a powerful marketing tool for companies to reach consumers.

 
Companies embracing alternative advertising outlets need to be cautious in how they present their campaigns,
said Brian Coles, an account manager at Indianapolis-based Coles Marketing Communications Inc.

“Social media is so
new I don’t think anyone knows what to expect,” he said. “Facebook and Twitter, it’s all word of mouth. Things can get twisted.”

Marsh
did not return a phone call seeking comment this morning.