Drake Harper: Vindictive Spammer

Today, I received a spam email from Drake Harper, LLC, an Accounts Receivable firm (AKA collection agency).  I made the mistake of clicking on their Unsubscribe link and completing their unsubscribe form.  Approximately an hour later, I received this reply:

You have successfully added your email to our list 5 more times.


Many thanks,

Drake Harper, LLC
[address & ph # redacted]

This is a Fail for List -- sending spam -- and Creative -- writing rude messages to people who are not interested your services and never opted-in for your emails.

Lesson: Do not send spam and don't be rude to prospective cusotmers, or they might just write a blog post about you.

Chase: Double the Mail, Double the Fail

Two, two packages in one

I recently received not one but two solicitations for the Chase United MileagePlusExplorer card. The pieces were addressed exactly the same to me. The lack of removing duplicate names is a classic Fail for List.

Is this a side effect of the Continental / United merger?

The inside flap of the self-mailer shows my mileage balance -- a prudent and creative method of demonstrating the potential of the credit card by showing how many miles I can get for acquiring the credit card. However, in this case, the difference between the two mailers also suggests why I received two of them. One reflects my miles balance on my legacy Continental OnePass account while the other reflects my balance on a legacy United MileagePlus account. 

The man holding the credit card on the mailer I received appears to be African-American while the man holding the credit card on the landing page, billboards, and TV ads look like a young Jeff Goldblum. Why the difference? Did Chase attempt to appeal to a presumed heritage based on the fact that my last name is Davis? If so, that would be a Fail for List & Creative because I don’t fit the racial profile.

Chase Bank appeals to an incorrect racial profile -- twice.

Lessons: 

1. Dedupe your solicitation mailing list by name and address. 
2. Carefully consider when and how to use race-based visuals.

Updating your address list is not always sensible

I can't stop pay-to-play in Houston if I don't live there anymore.

I moved away from Houston more than two years ago. When I registered to vote in my new home county, I formally dropped my Houston voter registration. That is why this recent mailer related to a primary merits a Fail for List. It is a waste of money to reach someone who can't even vote.

Let's say, for the sake of discussion, that I continued to vote in Houston even though I moved away. It would still not be worth the cost to mail to me because Standard Rate mailers like this arrive too late to send an absentee ballot.

Political organizations aren't the only ones allowing their mail to follow me even though I live over a thousand miles away. The YMCA in my old Houston neighborhood would like me to become a member again so I can exercise at the local facilities. That would be going a bit out of the way for a workout.

Leisure Learning Unlimited of Houston continues to send me a schedule for local classes on boating, cooking, and stained glass making. I don't think I'll make the trip to learn to windsurf in the Gulf of Mexico when I can do that in the Atlantic Ocean.

What typically happens is that mass mailers run their mailing list through the USPS National Change of Address database. When the USPS informs the mailer that the recipient has moved, the address is updated and the mail goes to the new address.

That does not make sense for Leisure Learning, YMCA, or the Houston Realty Business Association, but it does make sense for appliance manufacturer Whirlpool, which sent me this package offering a warranty extension. But if they are updating their mailing list to reflect my new address and assume I still have the refrigerator I purchased in Houston, why bother addressing the forwarded correspondence to "Marc Davis or current resident"?

Lesson: There are times when address updates are useful, and times when they are not.  Consider removing people from your business's mailing list if they no longer live in your metropolitan area.

Don't let your holiday card become Mail that Fails

During my first job out of college, I was fortunate enough to attend the seminar "Winning Direct Mail" led by Joan Throckmorton. One of my key takeaways from her seminar was that successful direct mail should be personal and engaging. This advice should be considered even if the purpose of a communication is simply to recognize a holiday. 

Falling envelopes can make for a happy, snowy holiday.

Much of the holiday mail we receive at work includes a small note or hand-signed signature. It suggests that the sender cares enough about the recipient and their business relationship to personally wish him or her a happy holiday. Sometimes the sender uses the holiday card to show off the company's capabilities, such as this piece from last year, or the following more recent holiday card sent by a major print supplier. 

Inside: Personalization & real signature

This card from Data-Mail intelligently leverages personalization.  Not only is my name personalized on the card, but it appears to be signed by hand. 

In the example below, the print vendor shows off its ability to personalize by including my name in the same typeface and color in the surrounding copy. The back includes a calendar that also demonstrates the ability to personalize content. 

Outside

Personalized card, printed signature

Personalized calendar

I consider this card a Fail – in this case for poor list management. The personalized content is for "Marc B." My first name is indeed Marc, and my middle initial is indeed B, but I never refer to myself as "Marc B."  Other people in my office received the same card without a middle initial. I suppose when someone entered my name in the company's database, that person included my middle initial in the first name field. 

The card below is a potential Fail for Creative because it is a greeting card that is neither personal nor engaging.

Was the OE printed on a home PC?

The addresses on the outer envelope were slanted, suggesting it was poorly produced. 

Front cover: hoe, hoe, hoe - funny

Inside: dull & generic

No one signed the card. Was the card from a salesperson, someone I had met at a professional function, someone with whom I used to work, or perhaps an ex-girlfriend? I have a guess, but I'll never know for sure without doing some research. If I don't know the sender, why should I expect the sender to know me or care if I have a happy holiday?

The cover is interesting – with the hoe, hoe, and hoe – but it lacks a humorous payoff inside the card. It simply mentions "Happy Holidays" with a company name.  

A donation will be made in my name to a charity. Nice gesture. But why not choose a charity aligned with the card's theme, such as the Sustainable EarthFoundation?

Lesson: Even business holiday cards should be personal and engaging. If you want to strengthen your business relationships, take a few extra seconds to verify your recipient and sign each card.

ACME Supermarkets: Better Never than Late

In August, 2010, a woman provided her email address at an ACME supermarket in Delaware when signing up for an ACME SuperCard®. Six months later, she moved to another state. Five months after that, she received the email below. It took nearly a year for ACME to welcome her to their email program, by which time she lived in a location over a thousand miles from the nearest store.  This is a Fail for poor list management.

Last year, I wrote about a Safeway loyalty program where there was a long delay processing loyalty program enrollment. It’s as if the retailers don’t see enough value in customer data to use it on a timely basis. That is quite a contrast to higher-cost, lower purchase frequency programs like Alamo that recognize a new customer within days.

Lesson: If customers are willing to share personal information with you, don’t let it get stale. Recognize the customer within two weeks if communicating by mail, or within a few days if communicating online.

AT&T's new Terms of Service for those without service

The email from AT&T gets an easy Fail for List.  I know of several people who received it who have not had AT&T Internet for over a year.  Sending an update of your Terms of Service for current customers is one thing, sending it to people that are not current customers is something else.  It will make some people less likely to be AT&T customers again.

Lesson: Don’t force changes to your Terms of Service on non-customers.

A Boy Named Sue

In late December, a major full-service business-to-business provider of print and related solutions produced and mailed 2011 calendars to many of its customers. The printer used this as an occasion to show off its personalization capabilities.

Beautiful content. Great personalization.  Unfortunately, the recipient’s name is actually Marc -- not “MARK” as it was printed on the calendar -- so the calendar will not be used.

Lesson: Correct personalization is just as important with business-to-business communications as it is with direct-to-consumer communications. Be sure your customers’ names are correct before your personalize your content.

Mail Early, Mail Often, and Don't Fail

The 2010 election is behind us, so it's time to share some lessons about failed political mail.

As with direct mail used for marketing purposes, political mail can Fail for List, Creative, and Timing.  An example of a Creative Fail is when the wrong message is conveyed to a constituency, as with Al Edwards in Texas earlier this year.

On election day, I received this self-mailer supporting a proposition on the Houston, Texas ballot:

The message is clear, friendly, and persuasive.  So why the Fail?  For List.  It was mailed to me in Arlington, VA, presumably because I used to live in and was registered to vote in Houston.  However, my voter registration moved to Virginia more than six months ago.  Given that they were mailing close to the election date, the people behind the mailing should have dropped anyone that might have voted via absentee ballot as well as those who cannot legally vote in Houston.

Here is an easy Fail for Timing: 

This oversized postcard from the Chris Zimmerman campaign arrived on November 3, the day after the election.  The use of black copy over dark backgrounds such as in the "Supporting our environment" box makes some text unreadable.  This is sadly typical of quickly produced political direct mail, not exceptionally bad enough to call it an outright Fail.

Lessons:

1. Send your political mail only to people who can vote for your election when they still have the opportunity to choose how to vote.  
2. Use adequate color contrast to ensure people can read your message.

Should PetSmart's Fail go to the Dead Letter Office?

When I received this self-mailer from PetSmart on September 21, I planned to post it as a quick Fail for Timing.  The coupon redemption period from a consumer standpoint is only 12 days.  The address panel includes a request for in-home delivery 8/30-9/1, which suggests that the Fail might belong to the USPS for slow delivery.  The holiday mailing season has yet to start, so why would mail arrive this slowly?

Addressed to Jazz c/o Marc Davis

Then I noticed that it was addressed not to me, but to Jazz, my dead dog.  Jazz was truly man's best friend.  He thought that every stranger was a friend he hadn't met.  I met more than a few nice people with him along.  Jazz barked only at mylar balloons and enjoyed playing with squeaky toys.  He passed away about 18 months ago at a fair age of 14.

Great festive creative

When I received a similar mailer about a year ago, I called PetPerks to inform them that my dog died.  The customer service person was sympathetic when he said he would remove Jazz from their files.  And yet, I received another birthday card 12 months later.

I adopted a different dog several months ago through a PetSmart adoption program.  Buddy is a perky, friendly dog and enjoys coming to the office with me.  I updated my PetPerks file in July so they know about Buddy, including his birth date and how I discovered him at a PetSmart.  We'll see if I get a birthday card in May for my living dog to go along with this one for my dead dog.

In addition to ensuring that records are properly updated, perhaps PetSmart should consider setting an age when the pet should not receive direct communications, or perhaps send an occasional e-mail to cusotmers requesting that information about their pets be updated on their PetPerks profile.

Lessons:

1. Be sure your customer list is up to date.  
2. Consider when it is time to purge old data and focus on current data.