Got a great letter from Hallmark Consumer Care the other day in response to an idea I sent them a while back. I quote.
“Thank you for contacting Hallmark.
Although we are honored that you would think of Hallmark, we do not accept submissions of creative suggestions, ideas, notes, drawings or concepts or other information (Collectively, the “information”.) If you send us the information despite our request that you do not do so, the information shall be deemed, and shall remain, the property of Hallmark.”
Well so much for open innovation and customer co-creation then:
This was written by a lawyer. Statements like this are pretty standard to avoid the possibility of being sued in the future should the idea be brought to market (or, even worse, to guard against the likelihood that the submitted idea coincides with something already under development). It is reads harshly, but it is probably necessary in today’s litigious society.
The lawyers were without a doubt. I don’t have a problem with this in a general sense but it totally stops any conversation with outsiders (customers for example). The same thing happened with Samsonite a few years ago.
P&G get it right!
I didn’t know that a card company could set up its own little dictatorship.