[wrasee]

I have a hunch that one of the reasons it may have worked where it did is because they tapped very quickly into the ego of the executive they were targetting. Even the outside of box came with a picture with their (nicely stylized) face on it, which I wonder might have flattered and disarmed more than it should have.

Then inside, more personalized photos to keep them engaged.

Move the focus away from the individual to some brand message and I think the outcome could have been much more like you suggest.

In that sense, this is more a demonstration as to the effectiveness of social engineering than anything marketing related.

[amelius]

Isn't most marketing basically social engineering, but on a wider scale?

[wrasee]

Yes i suppose it is. Good point! But there's something very personal about their approach that couldn't scale to a wider audience, almost by definition. When you present something to even a precise demographic, but an anonymous one, you are in some sense still presenting something to the market. When you do the same but target a specific individual you're no longer addressing the market. I'd say that has more parallels with hacking than marketing.