Apparently not, but LowerMyBills mortgage advertising seems to imply just that. Personally, I do not think this egregious as advertising creatives often push the envelope a bit. However, I do think that it signals a greater problem within the Experian/LowerMyBills organization: stretching the advertising voice and message to satisfy shear volume. Somewhere they missed the memo that lead clients are no longer looking for impressions (because these click-throughs are really no more valuable than eyeballs scanning).

The really ironic thing is that the answer sat in their leadership. I say this because in a not so distant conversation with Matt Coffin he struck on the concept that I think is LowerMyBill’s big winner and market maker. He said and I am paraphrasing from my memory (so Matt correct me if I get your comments wrong):

In the early days of LowerMyBills we had a compelling customer experience. You came to the web site and got real comparisons of how you could save money on your current phone service by switching providers. You selected the deal you wanted and it happened.

That is honest advertising. That is WOW customer experience. But, I don’t want you to miss the solution. The solution is create an advertising and lead generation strategy that gets consumers the BEST DEAL! If you do that you become the destination for the best deal. You become the trusted advisor. You are the number one lead provider. You make a lot of money!

Experian you should heed the discussion because it is creeping into your brand too. Notice how all of the latest publicity is adding your name to the content. What happens to the credibility of a major credit bureau if it is not a trusted consumer advocate?

Tags: lowermybills, experian, matt coffin, lead generation, mortgage, advertising, marketing, oprah winfrey