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.

Amica, Allstate, Wal-Mart: Bad timing on car insurance mail

I received at home mailers for auto insurance last Friday, May 23, from three different insurers. This is a Fail for Timing, albeit an accidental one. What is not accidental is that the mail arrived close to a holiday weekend. Consumers are far less likely to read mail related to low-interest categories on the business day prior to or just after a major holiday. They are more focused on, well, the holiday – traveling, hosting, or just taking a couple days off from the rat race. This is not exactly a typical time to think about saving on your car insurance.

 The three packages I received vary in their approach. Amica uses a conventional solo mail letter, with an easy-to-read Johnson Box that appears through the envelope, an official-looking savings card that reinforces a call to action, a sidebar that summarizes the benefit, smooth flow, and good use of boldface subheads and underlines. The call to action is reinforced several times, with a message of exclusivity in the closing and signator. Finally, the letter includes a postscript that reinforces the call to action and benefit. And, just to top things off, a buckslip is included that communicates popularity along with a reinforcement of benefit and call to action. Richard Benson would be proud.

Not So Free Parking at Newark Airport

Solicitation email

This email offering a free day of parking is a Fail for Creative. 

The email subject line reads “Get 1 Day Free at EWR & JFK”. The content of the email also touts enjoying “1 day of free parking at Newark Liberty & JFK airports!” It is not until the reader prints the coupon that he or she discovers that the free day has strings attached. The customer must park at the airport for 3 or 5 days to obtain the benefit of the free day.

Coupons with conditions

Ideally, the headline of the email should include the contingency of the offer, i.e., “Get 1 Day Free at EWR & JFK when you park 5 days.” If not, then the body of the email should include an adequate disclosure or at least reference the contingency of the offer, i.e., “See coupon for details and conditions,” “Minimum parking stay required,” or a similar message. But, even in the fine print, this email does not include a mention of the minimum parking requirement.

When a business sends offers where the conditions are not clearly communicated, it not only degrades customer trust and brand equity, it is often a violation of Federal Trade Commission rules.

Lesson: When presenting an offer, communicate the requirements for your customers to benefit from the offer upfront and clearly.

Fine print - no mention of minimum parking requirement

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.

AAA Should Stay on the Road

Your ship has come in!

I received this email from AAA promoting Cruise Month while watching the CNN helicopter circle the Carnival Triumph being towed to shore. This is a classic Fail for Timing. Consumers are far less likely to consider going on a cruise when there are scenes on every televised newscast of people sleeping on mattresses above deck and feces on ceilings.

Unlike direct mail, which has a significant lead time between when something is mailed and when something can be received, email is instantaneous. The marketing people at AAA could easily have had the email held for a few days -- or at least until Fox News moved on to a different topic. 

Lesson: Do a final check before every direct marketing effort to ensure that your product and offer are appropriate. Do not send a marketing offer for a product category when there is a high volume bad press about it. #cruisefromhell

Chase: Control Evolution

When a direct mail marketer takes a successful direct mail package and tweaks it, it is often referred to as "Control Evolution". This is often executed one of three ways:

1.       The nature of the offer has changed but the marketer chooses to retain the creative package. Same creative style, same package, new offer.

2.       The new package goes through an A/B test compared to the existing Control. The winner is the new Control.

3.       The marketer chooses to make changes but does not test against it.

In the case of this self-mailer I received from Chase, it appears that approach #2 or #3 applied -- with some notable changes compared to the solicitation package I received from Chase last summer:

Amazon gets ahead of itself

This email from Amazon arrived in the Inbox of a fan on January 7 at 3:18 am, 17 hours before the BCS Championship game celebrating Alabama as the BCS winner:

I guess the Fighting Irish not only had to beat the Crimson Tide, they had to overcome Amazon’s prediction.  Amazon could have waited until the game to end, then send out this type of email a few seconds after the Alabama head coach gets Gatorade poured over him.

Props to Amazon for recognizing their Fail for Timing and sending this apology a few hours later: 

Still, I wonder if the folks in Seattle are right now producing hats reading "Atlanta Falcons - Super Bowl XLVII Champions" and readying those solicitation emails.

Lesson: Be careful when sending opportunistic time-based offers.

Salesforce is so last year

This email from Salesforce.com inviting corporate customers to visit them at CES last week has the incorrect year in the headline graphic.

Some people forget to write the correct year on their checks, others in their marketing communications.



Lesson: Proof every element of your direct marketing communication. 

Facebook sends email at the worst time, perhaps on purpose

DirectMarketing guru Bob Stone once said, “Once JCPenney has its first Christmas Sale, you are done for the year except for giving gifts and charity.” Back then, JCPenney actually had sales and, when he said that, JCPenney’s first sale was typically around November 7. 

A separate direct marketing conventional wisdom is that sending marketing communications too close to a holiday dilutes the likelihood that a customer will read it.  Consumers are focused on preparing to travel or host people -- or perhaps a holiday event -- to read what you send.  And when they return, they are focused on digging through the most important email (or snail mail) to read marketing communications.

These two things intersect when considering that Facebook recently sent this notification of a change in privacy policy to its users at around 11:12 pm on the day before Thanksgiving. That would be a Fail for Timing.

Or perhaps they did not want many to read it – the email was a notice of a change in terms that are not favorable to Facebook's users. Some people have interpreted this change to mean they have to declare their postings off limits while sharing with hundreds of friends, leading to explanations on Snopes and news sites. 

Lesson: If you want people to read your email, avoid sending it too close to a holiday. If you do not want people to read your email, time it to arrive close to a holiday.

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.

Even the best mail can run afoul of a bad wind

Two weeks ago, I launched a direct mail campaign in the northeast offering prospective customers savings on electricity supply. The mail went out Standard Rate with expectations of reaching prospects in 3-5 business days.  

 

Last week, Hurricane Sandy made its way up the East Coast. Based on the timing of when people on the seed list received their mail, I know that much of the mail arrived as people were preparing for the storm or recovering from the storm. Many people in the area targeted by the direct mail campaign lost power for several days. Saving money on electricity is not top of mind when you have no electricity, so it comes as no surprise that this campaign is not performing up to expectations.

Lessons:

1. Develop and use a seed list. A seed list is a group of people who are added to your mailing who are not customers and can note the timing and quality of the mail received. Ideally, they should have addresses that are close to your target market and be fully integrated into the list so your creative agency and mail house treat them exactly the same as your target audience. This article from unsolicitedmarketingadvice.com is a good starting point to learn more about the benefits of seed lists.
2. Stuff happens. More professionally stated: sometimes the best planned marketing effort can be impacted by acts of God. Make the best of it, learn from it, and move forward.