Auburndale Recycling Center

Zombie coupons people are real.

I know I just saw a load when I went out to do my Christmas shopping.

These soulless entities stalk our high streets hidden in full view.

They work side by side with zombie deductions to suck the lifeblood out of companies that otherwise deserve to live.

They're the antiheroes of the marketing story. The scourge of businesses we all know and love.

So how do you spot one?

It really isn't that tough. You can tell whether or not a business is deploying zombie vouchers and discounts by having a look at the sort of offer being promoted.

If the store is attempting to bring in punters by giving what it sells away, it is employing a zombie.

If a great little shop with history, customer service and a great experienced based offer has resorted to huge discounts and aggressive, bumbling coupons and offers it has accidentally deployed zombie methods.

Have you been into a shop and felt like a predator hunting for the lowest price, completely emotionally detached from the product or brand? Well they've used zombie discount and voucher strategies in their desperate drive for turnover and guess what, they've attracted zombie patrons.

You see soulless zombie selling pulls zombie punters, it is fact of life!

Zombie shoppers don't become friends, don't care about your business, don't recognize customer service and only recommend you to other zombie buyers.

Once zombie strategies enter your local marketing strategy it is bad news. And can quickly unscramble all of the hard earned credibility, character, loyalty and reputation that you have built up in the bank.

Here's the thing.

As a non-zombie these methods don't resonate with me. They don't win me over.

I spend much more of my very own hard earned money with companies that know the way to make a customer feel special and valued. The ones that sell an experience and cause you to feel like part of their community, their family and their future plans.

There is remedy for this plague of zombie marketing. That cure blends the old with the new, the brand and the consumers.

The cure for zombie selling is promoting that makes you feel like a key partaker in a businesses search for success and perfection.

Finding the cure is something that good marketing companies aid you with. Just take care who you trust and ensure that no one lets a zombie in through the back door.