Tommy Can You See Me?

I love Tommy Bahama attire. I’ve bought their pants and belts. I have their polo shirts, t-shirts, and sweatshirts. I have work shirts, bathing suits, and Hawaiian shirts. What I don’t have is any of their women’s attire. So why did I receive this mailer with some very… well, er, proportioned women begging me with their eyes to go swimming with them?

A colleague of mine who is also a Tommy Bahama enthusiast – and has also purchased only men’s clothes from them – received the same mailer. As customers, we have not purchased anything from Tommy Bahama other than for ourselves.  Yet we received this self-mailer. It is printed on heavy white paper with some well-designed and superbly printed photographs. It cries to the aspiring summer bather, “Join me” or “Be me.” All the same, it gets a Fail for List. Mailing this piece to us is a waste of time and money.

Some direct marketing professionals might suggest that, perhaps, Tommy Bahama used a Big Data method as part of a growth strategy to try to bring in new purchasing behavior. Maybe we have credit card purchase data suggesting we buy things for our female significant others. I would be able to accept such a hypothesis if we were new customers. However, we both have years of purchasing behavior and we were identified by our customer number on the self-mailer. My hypothesis is that the merchant sent the same self-mailer to most or all of its customer base.

Lesson: Use your customers’ purchase history to your advantage. Target offers to customers that demonstrate a likeliness to make an incremental purchase. 

P.S. As I write this, I am wearing a Tommy Bahama men’s shirt.

AARP and the Mini Day Bag!

My girlfriend recently celebrated her birthday. While she is not exactly in the demographic sought by MTV, she isn’t that old, either. Which is why we were surprised when she received an offer to join the AARP. 

My understanding is that the minimum age to join the American Association of Retired Persons is 50, and she is several years away from that threshold. Besides, I doubt that either of us will retire at 50, much less 60.

Creatively, the package is interesting. 

Externally, the AARP leverages a self-mailer approach with a nearly blind outer envelope; that is, the typical consumer would not note that it is from the AARP, although the typical direct mail marketer would notice the mention of ‘AARP’ in the universal postage indicia. Internally, the first things an old person potential member sees are the card and the image of the Free mini day bag. This suggests that the incentive is as much the Hero as is the value of membership.

 When the full letter is opened, a reader learns of all the benefits. The copy on the left side is assumptive, opening with, “Please keep this card until you receive your Membership Kit.” The copy on the right side calls out the various benefits of membership.

The return envelope reiterates the benefits -- not of membership, but of the mini day bag. For so much emphasis to be placed on this, it must be quite a great bag. If the bag and membership are enough reason for the reader to join the AARP, that person has to provide a stamp for the return envelope. This is likely also an indication of the target audience, because younger people such as my girlfriend are less likely to have a stamp -- they would have preferred to respond online.

 

I presume that a large organization such as the AARP has put in the time and effort to optimize their Control solicitation package. Perhaps this is the first in a series of solicitations. However compelling the visuals, messaging, and incentive, a Fail for List is appropriate. Maybe after mailing to my girlfriend, they will target recent college graduates?

Response form tear-off

Lesson: Target your mailings to the appropriate audience. Otherwise, you waste production money and postage while potentially damaging your reputation.

Response envelope flap

Outside of response envelope

Citi aspires to list fail

I received this email from Citi today, reminding me that I still have the opportunity to spend enough on my Hilton HHonors Reserve Visa Signature Card to achieve Diamond status in the Hilton HHonors program.  However I met the spend level. 

This Fail for List might be forgivable if I recently met the threshold.  After all, there is a lag time between when an action takes place and customer's information is updated as there is between when a list is pulled and used for direct correspondence.  However I met the spend requirement in March -- a full 5 months ago.

Lesson: Be sure your contact list is based on accurate information.






Disclosure: I used to work in Citi's Bankcard group, although I was not involved with the HHonors credit card portfolio.

Lands' End says "Daddy!"

I have been a loyal customer of Lands' End for over 20 years, purchasing clothes by mail and online for myself. Because of that, they occasionally send me catalogs and frequent discount offers.

I have not purchased any gifts from Lands' End or clothes for other people, so why did I receive this Lands' End Kids catalog? The timing is not bad -- Back to School shopping season is approaching, as is fall -- but the use of their in-house mailing list and big data is questionable. Why target someone who does not have children and has not purchased anything for children from their company?

Or perhaps the Lands' End database knows something I don't. Perhaps I'd better check in with my ex-wife.

Embassy Suites: A hotel for old people?

I consider myself a young guy. I haven’t hit my midlife crisis yet, although I did eye a red sports car last week. I relate to ’80s music and take issue when the Classic Rock radio station groups it in with ’60s and ’70s music. Hey, Men Without Hats is still current!

Are they drinking apple juice?

Perhaps I am older than I perceive myself -- so old that Embassy Suites thinks I am at least 50. Otherwise, why would they send me an email promoting an AARP Member discount? Those people in the picture appear to be older than my parents (or maybe my parents are older than I think they are. Mom still says her age is “39 and a bit”.)

The email is a Fail for both List and Creative.  From a List standpoint, the hotel chain and Hilton HHonors should be judicious before sending out age-specific emails. Don’t presume your customers are old -- ask them their age. The Creative Fail is that the picture shows a couple of old people hanging out; however, the image does nothing to suggest that they are at an Embassy Suites hotel. Why not show them enjoying their signature Embassy Suites breakfast or manager’s reception, or perhaps at an outdoor table in front of the hotel? Perhaps the ad designer is concerned the intended target market might confuse the hotel for a local diner serving the early bird special.

Lessons:

1. Do not send customers an age-specific message unless you know their age.
2. Present your product or service with images of your customers using them.
3. Don’t use visuals of old people that make them appear old.

Who Am I? 1 of 3 possible voters at my address

The Pennsylvania Voter ID law requires voters to show proof of identification in order to obtain their right to vote on Election Day. Implementation of the law was postponed until next year, but I thought I would use this Election Day to share some mail I received at home.

A few weeks ago -- before implementation of the law was postponed -- my mailbox included three postcards, all the same. Each one was addressed to a different person with my street address. This means the state of Pennsylvania has three records on file for this address, even though only one person lives here. Perhaps that is why they want to make sure each voter positively represents him or herself.

The three postcards below do not quite merit a Fail for List, because the state is striving to reinforce the new law, but it certainly is interesting. No lesson today, just friendly a reminder to vote.

Not me

Not me

The real me