Nobody’s perfect.

We all make mistakes, but in the digital/on-line age, it seems mistakes and flubs in speaking are emphasized, make headlines and are splashed across the news. From Miss USA falling (for the 2nd year in a row) in the evening gown competition during the Miss Universe pageant, to politicos and their “advisors” saying “the wrong thing” or speaking their mind, it seems the public, you and I, can’t get enough of listening to and watching other people’s mistakes. The Net just lets them live for an eternity somewhere in the digital world.

I’ve notice that more and more companies are experimenting with online marketing and making their share of mistakes. I, like most people, occasionally drop a business card into a restaurant’s or shop’s fish bowl in hopes of winning a free dinner, or some other giveaway. I know full well that the business card will be taken and I’ll be added to some mailing list or marketing effort, but I also like free stuff. Marketers know that people will do almost anything for a T-shirt, free entree, or stress ball [insert your favorite promotional item here].

Say you’re marketing a restaurant and you have a new process of emailing promotions to a “select” group of “loyal” customers. You offer a free “non-alcoholic” happy hour and sampling of a new menu and you want to use the latest in HTML/Flash emails to do it. You’d test it out, right?

Sure you would, but what if the test actually went to all your “loyal” customers. OOPs! That’s what recently happened to UNO Chicago Grill – a restaurant I’ve frequented in the past and dropped a business card. On Monday night, I received the following email from UNO.

	You’re Invited To Our VIP Party We’ve Got Lots To Share With You We’re gathering a select group of friends to celebrate at an exclusive party with complimentary tastes of our select menu items & some fantastic, non-alcoholic beverages. You and a guest are invited to attend. This is an exclusive, limited capacity event. Only the first 100 Insiders who RSVP by clicking the button below will be confirmed. So don’t delay, click today. Come to our party, because there is no UNO without you. CLICK HERE TO RSVP NOW (RSVP by ) Party open to guests age 21 or over. Join Us On , , At UNO CHICAGO GRILL®,

Not a problem, it was one of hundreds I receive everyday. But when I opened it, as the Subject Line: “TEST HTML – Insider’s Party at UNO” intrigued me, it didn’t work. Obviously someone at UNO’s made a mistake and the test was live to their list of loyalty customers. What would you do? What would your company’s response be? When I was with QVC’s Internal Communication department, we got assigned the task to send out holiday cards to all QVC employees around the world. Some 12,000 cards went out, but the mail house just grabbed random cards and sent them, not remembering that we had specific boxes of cards in native languages. When folks in the US started getting cards in German wishing them a Happy Holiday, we had a problem. Mistakes happen, admitting you goofed quickly is the key with the CEO who we were sending them for and to the employees who didn’t understand the German connection. Luckily, it was only a handful of employees affected, but we admitted our mistake to the entire company just in case.

In case you were wondering, here’s how UNO’s responded. I received this late Monday night.

	Dear Insider: We messed up! You recently received an email inviting you and a guest to attend a VIP Party at UNO®. Unfortunately, that invitation was sent in error; we are not currently hosting an event near you. We value your time and apologize for any inconvenience and confusion this has caused. We’ll be sure to contact you in the future about any events, news or special promotions being held in your area. We again apologize for this error. Rick Hendrie Head of Marketing Uno Chicago Grill

It was straight to the point, short and everyone got on with their lives. Now, I’m sure there are people out there that take life too seriously and were pissed that the party invite was a test gone wrong and didn’t work, and I’m sure someone is complaining to Rick and Company that they should get something for their troubles, but there’s also opportunity here for Rick to play up the goof, say were in the food/restaurant industry not IT and maybe send those affected a coupon or something. In the end a mistake can also build a community, because it’s all about shared experiences, and even a email invite that doesn’t work is something everyone has shared at one time or another.

What do you think of Uno’s response to their goof? What could Rick and Uno’s have done differently. Do you have a mistake story you’d like to share and how your company responded? Please share them here.

Until next time, Tim