Permission Marketing Is NOT Quid Pro Quo

I'm a big fan of Seth Godin.  I subscribe to a handful of blogs, and his blog is probably the one I enjoy reading the most.  So when I heard someone misuse the concept of permission marketing this week it bothered me.

I was listening to a lecture, and the presenter was telling us about a marketing campaigns he ran.  His client sponsored an event where people could have their pictures taken with a particular celebrity.  Once their picture had been taken the client would ask for an email address where they could send the picture.  The presenter claimed that their client now had "permission" to email the client, and they could then begin sending them promotional offers.

I don't agree.  The people only wanted their picture, nothing more.  Maybe a few of the people at the event would have been willing to receive promotional information from the company, but they were never asked.

There's a big difference between permission marketing and quid pro quo.  Of course nobody explains the difference better than Seth:

Permission Marketing

Quid pro quo (santa math)