I was astonishingly fortunate to attend the MusiCares tribute to Bruce Springsteen last Friday. More than a tribute, it was a fundraiser for a great organization. To swipe their home page copy:

MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. MusiCares’ services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. MusiCares also focuses the resources and attention of the music industry on human service issues that directly impact the health and welfare of the music community.

Now, I have been to a number of charity events over the years, and I have participated in my share of auctions. I’ve never seen anything like what MusiCares offered in their pre-event silent auction. There were nearly 900 items, from jewelry to sports memorabilia to trips and so much more … and, of course, the music memorabilia. An original Peter Max painting of Springsteen. Signed guitars and concert posters. Framed museum-quality photos of Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Hunter Thompson and so many others. Original art by Yoko Ono. Imagine another 850 or so items, and you begin to get the idea.

The worst part of it all, though, was that they lost a lot of money because the technology used for bidding didn’t work well at all.

Each item had a small tablet that was tied in to a central database for taking and managing bids. More often than not (at least in my experience, as well as the experiences of everyone I spoke with about the bidding process), the tablets seemed to take the bid, but the bid didn’t register. Which meant that you had to fight the crowd to get to one of the few kiosk computers that were working properly.

Bottom line? Lots of bidding went unregistered and lots of items sold for far less than they otherwise might have. I’m guessing some went unsold that otherwise might have sold had the bidding system worked properly. It’s a shame. A ton of money was probably left on the table.

Takeaway for marketers: If you’re involved in something like this, test the technology. Then test it again. Then again. Then stress test it. Then test it once more. In the end, it’ll be worth it.

Here we have a couple of panels from issue 7 of Invincible Iron Man, a series that’s written brilliantly by Matt Fraction. Here’s what’s happening: Newspaper editor Ben Urich is driving with photographer Peter Parker (you know him as Spider-Man) and Urich tells Parker about a man named Clifton Pollard, that he made $3.01 an hour digging graves in 1963. From the panels above:

Urich: “Here’s a hint. He worked at Arlington National Cemetery.”

Parker: “1963, 1963 — J.F.K.?”

Urich: “Bingo. Clifton Pollard dug the grave of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Came into work on a Sunday to do it, too. You know how I know? Jimmy Breslin was the only guy in America that thought to talk to him. And he wrote one of my favorite pieces of journalism doing it. That’s the kind of thing I want to do here.”

And on they drive to Tony Stark’s corporate facility on Long Island. But the point is a great one: Urich remembers that Breslin column because it was a singularly unique piece of writing. At a time of national mourning, while everyone in the media was zigging, Breslin zagged. He came up with a fresh angle that no one else imagined. That angle, plus great writing, long outlived countless volumes of words that were penned around the same time.

Read Breslin’s column here.

Takeaway for marketers: Don’t follow the masses. Look for the fresh angle. While everyone else is zigging? Zag.

Some time ago, I added one of my email addresses to the Papa John’s mailing list. The kids liked their pizza and wings for a while, and we had fun ordering online.

In recent months, I have read plenty of articles about John Schnatter that lead me to the conclusion that I really don’t feel like supporting Papa John’s with my business anymore. Here’s a piece in Forbes that gets into some of the details, and here’s one from Politico. I’ll leave it at that.

So what’s the marketing issue at play here? Well, aside from political blowback affecting sales: In recent weeks, I’ve repeatedly tried unsubscribing from the Papa John’s mailing list. The unsubscribe process didn’t work, the emails kept coming and I posted the following to the Papa John’s Facebook page:

Your emails will NOT allow me to unsubscribe. They are not coded properly. This is a violation of federal CAN-SPAM laws. Fix it.

Okay, a little inelegant, I suppose, but to their credit they responded quickly. Just two hours later, this was  their reply:

To which I responded:

That will help me — but it doesn’t address the CAN-SPAM issue. I have been trying to unsubscribe for weeks, now. The “unsubscribe” link in the email takes me to an “email preferences” page. So far so good. I complete the form (including my reasoning: John Schnatter’s political views are blitheringly idiotic, as they are evidently a parroting of hyperpartisan demagoguery, so I will never buy PJ pizza again), click the “update” button and the page reloads; clearly doing nothing. And your emails keep coming. This is a clear violation of CAN-SPAM, which calls for “a visible and operable unsubscribe mechanism present in all emails.” Your unsubscribe mechanism is clearly not operable. Maybe Schnatter ought to worry less about 14 cents per pizza for employee health care and more about his own company running afoul of federal law, which can result in fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

(Okay, what can I say? It’s Tuesday and I’m cranky. I mean, how many emails hawking three-topping pizzas for $9.99 can I delete?)

No response yet on the Facebook page, but I’ll update this post if and when the conversation continues.

NOVEMBER 11 UPDATE: No response from Papa John’s, but I did get an email imploring me to add a second large pizza for $9.99. The email unsubscribe function clearly still doesn’t work.

NOVEMBER 12 UPDATE: No response from Papa John’s, but I did get an email introducing Papa john’s Chicken Poppers. The email unsubscribe function clearly still doesn’t work.

NOVEMBER 13 UPDATE: No response from Papa John’s, but I did get an email offering me 50% off an online order. The email unsubscribe function clearly still doesn’t work.

NOVEMBER 14 UPDATE: No response from Papa John’s, but I did get an email imploring me to buy a  large 1-topping pizza for $6.99. The email unsubscribe function clearly still doesn’t work … Response from Papa John’s: “Craig, we’re sorry you are having issues unsubscribing from our email program. We’ve tested the links and found them operable. Please send us your email address via private message on Facebook so that we can look into the issue further.  Thank you!” … My reply: ” I’ll be happy to forward the email somewhere so you can see how it’s not working; I’m less concerned about my email account specifically and more concerned about the links in the email not working generally.” … Their response: “Craig, that would be great if you could also forward the email you were having issues with so that our technical team can see what you are seeing in the email. Your email address is important so that we can troubleshoot log files as it pertains to your email address. This will help identify any potential issues with the unsubscribe process for not only you but for others. You may either contact us via private message on Facebook or send your email to onlinemarketing@papajohns.com. Thank you!”

Takeaway for marketers: You might want to double-check to see that your unsubscribe link — and the functionality on the page to which it directs users — is working. Just saying.

This infographic that’s making the rounds (it’s shown up several times in my Facebook, Twitter and G+ feeds) presents 36 rules of social media. It’s a little reminiscent of the 95 theses of The Cluetrain  Manifesto, except they seem to come at some of the same issues from completely opposite directions.

For example: Social Media Rule #29 says, “People don’t want to shop where they socialize.” But Cluetrain Thesis #1 is simply: “Markets are conversations.”

So maybe people don’t want to shop where they socialize … but do they want to socialize where they shop? (Malls would suggest: Hell, yeah!) And if so, what are the implications for brands online?

Here’s another one: Cluetrain thesis #74: “we are immune to advertising. Just forget it.” Doesn’t quite dovetail with Rule #25: “The only way to scale word of mouth: paid advertising.”

So does advertising work, or doesn’t it?

Sorry, I don’t have any answers. I just find it interesting that when it comes to business wisdom, it’s often style that trumps substance. Advertising works. Advertising doesn’t work. The substance of the position doesn’t matter; say it with the proper style, though, and you’ll convince plenty of people that you’re right.

Takeaway for marketers (and for non-marketers, too): Style vs. substance. Sorta sound like life, not just marketing, dunnit?

Whether you agree or disagree with what Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter had to say about President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. “Obamacare”), the fact of the matter is that his comments have hurt the chain … probably a lot more than the 14 cents per pizza the health care law will cost him. YouGov BrandIndex reports.

Takeaway for marketers: Brands advocating on political issues — like helping fight hunger, for example, or sponsoring charitable events and engaging generally in advocacy marketing — is one thing. Brands speaking out on hot-button topics in a high-profile manner is something else entirely. Tread carefully. Very carefully.