Affinity Federal Credit Union: Visa Email Not the Best Fit

When you join a credit union, you can remain a member regardless of what happens to your original qualifications. That is the case with me. My first job out of college was at AT&T. I used my first paycheck to become a member of the AT&T Employee Federal Credit Union at their on-site branch. A month later, I applied for and received their Visa credit card.

I left AT&T but remained a member of its credit union. A few years later, the credit union expanded its membership criteria and rebranded as Affinity Federal Credit Union (AFCU). I have watched over the decades as the credit union’s marketing communications evolved from simple and homely to complicated and flashy. Sometimes, their complex messaging leads to ambiguity and confusion.

For example, I recently received this email selling a change from my current Affinity Pure Rewards Visa Credit Card to an AffinityCash Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card. My current Visa card offers the equivalent of 1% cash back on all purchases, plus up to an additional 5% on purchases made through their online portal. The Signature Card earns – well, based on the email – something that matches my personal spending style. Huh?

The Subject Line reads, “Switch Your Card to the Best Fit.” The headline in the email reads “SWITCH YOUR CARD / Find Your Best Fit” – suggesting I might be able to compare cards. The first Fail for Creative is the contradiction between the Subject Line and email content. The Subject Line implies that the Visa Signature Card would be my best fit; the Headline implies that I need to find the card that is my fit; then, the Subhead suggests that the Visa Signature card is meant for me. The card should either be good for me or not – pick one.

It turns out that I have to find the card and work hard to find the link to make the switch.

The email’s links to “Log In & Switch” do not lead to a comparison page. They lead to the credit union’s general customer login page. From there, I have to log in; scroll past my account balances, my pre-approved auto loan offers, a solicitation to consolidate outside accounts, an offer to track all my purchases by category, and a review of my rewards points balances and rewards available; and find a link in 12-point font reading, “Switch My Credit Card.”

This is a Fail because the offer requires substantial customer effort to respond. Granted, the email explains part of this process, but that only partially mitigates the friction present in the transaction. Furthermore, there is not an easy way for me to compare my current card to this new one. Which benefits are the same? Which ones are different? What benefit might the customer lose by making the switch? 

If I haven’t given up and I manage to click on the “Switch My Credit Card” link, this confirmation screen appears:

This confirmation screen is the first point in the customer experience that mentions specific product benefits. The product description reads:

Unlimited cash back with no annual fee. Earn up to 5% cash back on all purchases, including bookstores like Amazon.com, access 24/7 Visa Signature Concierge, cell phone protection, travel benefits and more.

This sales message is another Fail for Creative. Overall, the sales message is fairly incoherent, with a confusing string of dependent clauses.

It is sparse and written poorly. Let’s break it down:

• “Earn up to 5% cash back on all purchases”: What does “up to” mean? Do I have to meet a purchase threshold to earn 5%? Does 5% apply only to purchases up to a threshold amount? Or is some other dynamic in play?
• “…including bookstores like Amazon.com”: Amazon is not a bookstore. It is a shopping site that sells just about everything you can have shipped to you, digital services, even house cleaning. Does this phrasing mean I would earn up to 5% cash back only on books? Or on anything purchased on Amazon.com? The Amazon app is not a dot-com. Are those purchases eligible? What are “bookstores like Amazon.com”? Does that include books on barnesandnoble.com? What about jigsaw puzzles on barnesandnoble.com? Does it include my local brick-and-mortarbookstore? What about books on target.com?
• “Cell phone protection”: What does that mean?

Another Fail for Creative is the lack of information in the customer email. With some active research, I was able to learn that the card offers 5% cash back at “all bookstores, including Amazon.com” (whatever that means); 2% cash back at restaurants, gas stations, and supermarkets; and 1% on other purchases. These are substantial features that should be included in the email to help explain why the card fits my lifestyle. 

I was able to find more information on this product sales page. It appears to have some explanation of what “bookstores, including Amazon.com” means. If I understand the footnote…

2 Cardholders will earn 5% cash back (which is equivalent to 5 points for every $1 spent) for purchases made at Bookstores, which also include purchases made at Amazon.com on up to $3,500 per month in purchases, excluding gift cards. Please note that these bonus categories are categorized by specific Merchant Category Codes. Not all merchants may use the specific qualified transactions codes. The additional points may not be issued, if the merchant does not use a qualified Merchant Category Code.

…a customer earns 5% cash back at Amazon.com and at all bookstores. If so, why not state that outright? Or perhaps simplify the offering and make it applicable to only Amazon.com, as Discover Card does in its quarterly calendar?

The same page mentions the feature of cell phone protection as an exclusive “card-holder” benefit:

There are two Fails here. The first is grammatical: “card-holder” is not hyphenated. The second is that there is no explanation of features related to this benefit. What does "cell phone protection" mean? How is a cell phone protected? Are there incremental requirements to get this protection? My supposition is that AFCU’s protection is similar to Wells Fargo’s cellular telephone protection; however, this is merely a guess. I cannot find details anywhere on the ACFU website. While I’m not a fan of having numerous disclosures in a marketing communication, an explanation and details should be available to the customer.

Lessons:

1. The content of a marketing email should complement the Subject Line.
2. Marketing communications should explain at least some product features to support benefits messaging.
3. Marketing emails should have a simple call to action.
4. A customer's online sales journey should start with supporting the email sales message, then quickly and easily bring the customer through the sale.
5. Amazon is not a bookstore.
6. Proofread your content.
7. If you message a product feature, make available a clearly communicated explanation of what it means.

Wells Fargo: Benefits & Call to Action

Brochure Front

A couple of weeks ago, I shared lessons related to Wells Fargo’s in-store brochure for their Propel 365 card.  One month later, the retail branch is presenting a new brochure for another product. This one is for their other AMEX offering — the Wells Fargo Propel World American Express Card.  

Unfortunately, this brochure has the same Fail for Creative as the Propel 365 card brochure — it describes the features of accruing points but gives no benefit statement about the value of points. When you’re playing a video game, earning points is important as a goal in itself. However, with a rewards program, the points themselves are not the goal. Instead, the goal is to get what the points can bring — such as a trip to visit Grandma, fun electronics, or extra cash for the holidays.

Inside

The Wells Fargo Propel World American Express Card brochure does mention their front-end benefits, such as hotel upgrades, airline fee reimbursement, and concierge service. This would support the headline message of “Upgrade your travel experience.” The cover photos suggest aspiration, with the moving ghostlike Wells Fargo Wagon graphic on the credit card and a happy couple on a gondola, presumably in Venice.

The brochure also has a disconnect in the call to action. While the cover directs customers to talk with a banker to apply for the card, the inside of the brochure directs customers to visit a website or call a phone number for more information. You can sell only one thing at a time — and that also applies to motivating a customer to action. Having two distinct messages in this manner dilutes interest.

Lessons:

1. Marketing communications should communicate a benefit. Points are not a benefit — they are a vehicle of earnings toward a benefit.
2. Keep your call to action consistent, and reinforce it whenever possible.

Wells Fargo: What’s the Point of Points?

Front

Normally my comments are limited to marketing communications shared directly with consumers via direct mail or email, but this in-bank pamphlet merits a potential Fail for Creative.

Inside

Wells Fargo uses its retail branches as an opportunity to cross-sell products and services. Every bank teller window has a brochure holder for a customer to read while transacting with the teller. The brochures appear to rotate about once a month. This month, the brochures are for the Wells Fargo Propel 365 American Express Card.

The two-page, two-panel brochure touts the card as one that “earns you accelerated rewards and so much more.” More what? The brochure describes the accrual rate of points but gives no indication of the value. The only suggestion is on the cover -- in the form of a lifestyle photo of someone driving an expensive convertible. Now, that would be a nice “so much more,” but the brochure doesn’t mention that as an option.

Back, Disclosures

Also, as I write this, the URL listed inside the brochure, wellsfargo.com/getpropel, does not appear to work. After a search through the website, I found this mention of redemption options such as gift cards, unique travel experiences and exclusive offers, and credit to qualifying Wells Fargo credit product.  

Credit card rewards benefits range from the practical to the aspirational. Wells Fargo’s credit card appears to have both -- if you can find information about them.

Lessons:

1. Marketing communications should communicate a benefit.  Points are not a benefit.  They are a vehicle of earnings toward a benefit.
2. Ensure all your website match the URLs listed in your marketing communications and are properly functioning.

Edit: As of this evening 5/28/14, the landing page wellsfargo.com/getpropel appears to be functional.

Tax Day Fail for Turbo Tax & Wells Fargo

Postmarked 4/8/13, arrives on Tax Day

My monthly Wells Fargo statement included an advertisement for TurboTax. The offer is mentioned only on the outer envelope, not in any inserts. The fine print mentions that the offer is valid only through April 15, 2013. The Fail is that the envelope was mailed on April 8 and arrived in my mailbox only today. Having a response window of only one day is a Fail for Timing.

The copy on the back of the envelope could also use a few touch-ups:

• The phone number shown includes both a vanity number and the actual digits.  Communicating a vanity phone number can be useful in mass media or social media -- where the customer is expected to memorize it before dialing -- but on a static medium such as paper or email it is not necessary. Listing both the vanity and non-vanity number is a distraction.
• This phone number is oddly capitalized. ‘WFB’ is in all-caps but ‘Open’ is not. This makes it a bit more difficult to read.
• The use of periods at the end of statements is inconsistent. The headline does not include a period. The first statement in the call to action includes a period at the end of the URL. However, the last sentence on the second line is missing a period after the date.

 Lessons:

1. Give customers an adequate amount of time to respond to your offer.
2. When communicating an offer by mail or email, provide the actual phone number rather than some vanity number.
3. Proofread even the small print.