Soulpepper Digital Marketing

Includes "Soulpepper Law Firm Marketing" and "Soulpepper Dental Marketing"

Offence(s): "Deceptive Marketing Practices" [Astroturfing.] (Canada)

Details

Soulpepper Digital Marketing is a Google Premier Partner that breaks Google's guidelines in multiple ways in addition to Canadian advertising laws. They operate a fake review network of Google accounts that leaves reviews on their own business and their client's businesses in order to artificially inflate their rankings. This manipulation is officially known as "Deceptive Marketing Practices" by the Government of Canada but is also known as "Astroturfing". Astroturfing is one of the types of scams that The Competition Bureau of Canada attempts to fight in collaboration with the RCMP.

Soulpepper has THREE entities online. Soulpepper Digital Marketing is the actual company but they also operate two additional sites for lead generation purposes. Soulpepper Law Firm Marketing, and Soulpepper Dental Marketing. All three entities are the same business and share the same address but have different phone numbers. Soulpepper claims a second office in Australia in their website footer but it is actually a private home.

Supposedly has revenue of 7 Million and is a certified B Corporation (which puts them at risk if someone chooses to lodge a complaint.)

Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability

SoulPepper Digital Marketing Australia via Google Streetview

The irony

Soulpepper's Rik Klingle-Watt published this article in 2015 about fraudulently misrepresenting a business online. But coincidentally Rik Klingle-Watt himself has published fake reviews for Soulpepper itself. (See below.)

LogoThe Real Cost of Buying FollowersDigital Marketing

You’ve probably seen the ads or been spammed on your Facebook business page: “BUY LIKES/FOLLOWERS – 10,000 for $5” And they’re not lying. Thousands of likes or followers will be delivered overnight. Guaranteed. An impressive achievement to be sure. But what’s the true cost of such numbers?

Obviously, some brands and individuals view buying “likes” as a popularity tool. People buy social friends to look cool on social media. But at what cost? Buying fake likes or followers would be the same as buying fake designer clothing – What’s the point? The pieces aren’t real. You may look and feel like a success in your fancy duds, but if they’re not real and you know it. You’ll always have the thought of “I hope no one notices” running through the back of your mind.

At soulpepper, we discourage buying likes, friends and followers. Sure you may look successful with a million, billion or gazillion likes, but it’s a fake accomplishment. You didn’t get there by building relationships, starting conversations or catching the interest of people. Instead, you whipped out your credit card and presto, there they were. The number looks impressive at a quick glance, but when people who may actually be interested do look at your page, your posts (the likes, comments, and shares of your content) will reveal a lack of engagement, and you’ll definitely get caught. All those posts with no likes, comments, shares or any type of engagement will definitely be a red flag. In the end, buying all those likes makes you look worse than if you had a lot fewer with actual engagement.

Which brings us back to the point of this post. What’s the advantage of buying fake likes? There isn’t one. It may seem like a good idea at the time, or make you look popular for that moment, but having a high number of likes or followers with no engagement just plain looks bad. Worse, all the content you’re posting and sharing won’t be seen by anybody because your entire following is not real.

A better idea is to think about your audience, who you want to target, and who you want sharing your content. Before you post something, close your eyes and think: what does my demographic look like and what would they want to see? Make your content interesting, valuable, and outstanding. Everyone’s news feeds are flooded with content so ensure yours is unique. Also, don’t forget to engage your audience to let them know you’re out there; comment, share, and like your audiences’ posts to start that initial conversation and get them visiting your page. “It’s called ‘social media’ for a reason states Social Selling Evangelist, Melonie Dodaro, “Don’t forget to be social!”

So get to it. Now is the perfect time for little Spring Cleaning. Wipe those fake users out of your social channels. Start fresh, and carry on!

1. Soulpepper Digital Marketing

Founded by:

Sean Jimenez

Sean Jimenez

Mahan Salimian

Mahan Salimian

MMA fighter/instructor with a blackbelt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. 😅

Their Google reviews (34)

Fake Reviews - 17 (50%)

Reviewer

Type/Proof

soulpepper Digital

Soulpepper Itself

Launtia Cuff

Soulpepper Employee

Rik Klingle-Watt

Soulpepper Employee

Sarah Liu

Soulpepper Employee

Samantha Short

Soulpepper Employee

Justin Loo

Soulpepper Employee

Sebastian Ortiz

Soulpepper Employee

Silvana Agolli

Soulpepper Employee

ShuLynn Oh

Soulpepper Employee

Justin Chou

Soulpepper Employee

Howard Tseng

Soulpepper Employee

Roman Komarov

Soulpepper Employee

Mahan Salimian

Soulpepper Director

Alexey Zhdanov

Soulpepper Fan Account

Mark Ellis

Soulpepper Fan Account

Lindsay Raschelle

Soulpepper Fan Account

Priscilla Carter

Soulpepper Fan Account

Suspicious Reviews - 3 (8%)

Reviewer

Type/Proof

Bogdan Transcendentov

Suspicious

Eric Wildey

Suspicious

Q B

Suspicious

Legit Reviews - 14 (41%)

Reviewer

Type/Proof

Robin Turnill

Client

Renew Laser Ltd. Pitt Meadows BC

Client

Kelly Gates

Client

Fred Magnanimi

Client

Rahul Kaushal

Client

Cosabella Ecommerce

Client

Newton Village Dental Clinic

Client

Sam Wilkins

Client

Jaspal S. Bal

Client

Andre Carter

Seems legit?

David Robinson

Seems legit?

Roofer Dave

Seems legit?

Paul

Seems legit?

oms vii

Seems legit?

2. Soulpepper Law Firm Marketing

A duplicate listing for Soulpepper which is in violation of Google's Guidelines for Businesses. Holds events for lawyers at Google HQ Toronto with Google staff as speakers.

(View: Armando Muñoz, Account Executive at Google.)

Their Google reviews (4):

All four of Soulpepper Law Firm Marketing's reviews are fake reviews.

1. Sydney Bradford

Sydney reviews only Soulpepper related businesses.

Sydney Bradford's Google reviews

2. Mahan Salimian (Profile #1)

Mahan Salimian is the Digital Marketing Director at Soulpepper and reviews only Soulpepper related businesses.

Mahan Salimian's Google reviews

3. Mahan Salimian (Profile #2)

Mahan Salimian's Google reviews

  • Creative Fighters Guild (Soulpepper Client)

  • Soulpepper Law Firm Marketing (Soulpepper Itself)

  • Baker and Baker Family Lawyers (Soulpepper Client)

  • Evelyn & Arthur - Hilton Head Island (Soulpepper Client)

  • Game Room Guys - Metro Detroit (Soulpepper Client)

  • Nirwan Law Corporation (Soulpepper Client)

  • RoderickAllan Inc (Soulpepper Client)

  • Soulpepper Digital Marketing (Soulpepper Itself)

4. Bob Chandler

Doesn't appear to be a real person. Bob reviews only Soulpepper related businesses.

Bob's Google reviews

Clients at risk:

Considering the unethical and illegal nature of Soulpepper's marketing practices their legal clients should be very concerned as they could find themselves in violation of Law Society rules. Particularly in regards to advertising.

Any legal clients found to be knowingly or unknowingly participating in an Astroturfing campaign run the risk of being found in violation of their respective governing body's advertising standards in addition to legal ramifications from the The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and The Competition Bureau of Canada for violating "The Competition Act", and "Truth in Advertising" Laws.

Google reserves the right to suspend access to Google My Business or other Google Services to individuals or businesses that violate these guidelines, and may work with law enforcement in the event that the violation is unlawful. - Google

CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT (Law Society of British Columbia)

Chapter 4 – Marketing of Legal Services – annotated

4.2-5 Any marketing activity undertaken or authorized by a lawyer must not be:

(a) false,

(b) inaccurate,

(c) unverifiable,

(d) reasonably capable of misleading the recipient or intended recipient, or

(e) contrary to the best interests of the public.

Baker & Baker, Family Law (Toronto)

Toronto Personal Injury Lawyers (McLeish Orlando LLP) (Toronto)

Harpreel N Nirwan, Nirwan Law Corporation (Surrey, BC)

Russel Shanahan - Attorney at Law (Pittsford NY)

Sam Goldstein - Criminal Lawyer (Toronto, ON)

Rose Keith Law Corporation (Vancouver, BC)

Spinks Law - Okanagan Personal injury (Kelowna, BC)

Gates Criminal Law (Richmond Hill, Ontario)

Samuel Osei Law Corporation (Vancouver, BC)

Findlay Gunnell Sandor (Maple Ridge, BC)

Tom Doust (Vancouver, BC)

Omni Law Group (Mississauga, ON)

3. Soulpepper Dental Marketing

Clients at risk:

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