HomeServe: Needs Better Cobranding

The first direct mail campaign I managed was an offer for The Practical Blue Hen, an informal guidebook I wrote for new students at the University of Delaware. At the time, I was a student there and partnered with a student organization to obtain a list incoming freshman. I composed a solicitation letter, had a local printer print it, and offered pizza to anyone in the dorm who would help me stuff them in envelopes printed with the University of Delaware and Resident Student Association logos. I figured that every freshman and their parent would open mail when their college is in the return address, and many of them would buy the guidebook. 

I was right -- the mailing had a 40% response rate! 

WorryFree Example

That entrepreneurial experience taught me more lessons than any college course. One of those lessons: Never underestimate the value of cobranding.

Someone at American Water Resources (AWR) also learned that lesson. They partnered with the New York City water board to sell water and sewer line protection services. That partnership allows them to use the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP) logo -- familiar familiar to New Yorkers. NYC DEP collects trash and recyclables, manages some of the local utilities, and bills homes for water use. Someone who gets a letter from the NYC DEP is going to at least pay attention to it.

Sometimes their mailers include logos from both AWR and NYC DEP, and sometimes only NYC DEP. 

AWR Examples

Recently, I recently received a solicitation from HomeServe that tries to copy the AWR approach but merits Fails for Targeting and Content. The return address leverages a logo from PSEG, a utility that most New Yorkers would not know. PSEG serves New Jersey, not New York. In some parts of Long Island and a small part of Queens, they operate under the name of PSEG Long Island. But PSEG by itself -- nah, in mainland Queens, we haven't heard of them. The cobranding effort is wasted.

In contrast, AWR mailers effectively leverage their partnership by giving a a bit of an official feeling to the envelopes. They include a call to action with a respond-by date, giving some urgency. They also include mention of an incentive right on the envelope. Smart -- who doesn't want a $50 credit? But WorryFree doesn't do that. Their lead-in is, "A message from PSEG," which seems pretty soft. No color, no message, no urgency. I'd love to run an A/B test comparing AWR's envelope style to WorryFree's, but if I couldn't, I'd go with AWR's. It motivates action.

Lessons:

1. Cobranding can be highly effective when the cobrand is relevant to your target audience.
2. Cobranding and compelling messages on an envelope can get past mailbox clutter and motivate action.

Catera Investors: You Gotta Know the Territory

I received this self-mailer from Cetera Investors.

It looks like one of the typical acquisition lead generation mailers for an independent financial services firm. The offer is typical: nice dinner, lessons on making the most of one's wealth, presentation about services the firm can provide. There would likely be some selling, maybe soft sell, maybe hard sell -- that depends on the firm. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

Dinner Event in Bellmore, NY

But the dinner was located in Bellmore, NY. From my home in Forest Hills, that's 28 miles as the crow flies and 45 - 100 minutes in weekday afternoon traffic. One cannot reasonably expect a potential customer to travel that far and long for a dinner presentation, which is why I consider this a Fail for Targeting.

My first thought when I read through this was a song from The Music Man, "You Gotta Know the Territory." Maybe the wealth managers were from out of the area? But no, they work in the Westbury office so they should know that New Yorkers hate to shlep and we love location convenience. If they want business from people in Queens, they need to feed people in Queens. We have plenty of great Italian restaurants here that would gladly host an event. 

Mr. Roth, the wealth manager from the mailing, likely worked with a third party to obtain the mailing list and send the mailer. I hope he selects a tighter geographic radius next time so he can preserve his wealth.

Also, of concern: The self-mailer is addressed to "Mr. Marc Davis Jr." I'm not a junior and I don't have a son. Minor Fail for Targeting.

Lessons:

1. Geographic targeting should be tightly aligned to your location and how far people are willing to travel.
2. Name hygiene is important. Don't use name suffixes unless you're sure they are accurate.

Venmo: Reminds Me of My Mother

My mother meant well. When I was a college freshman, she meant to send me a care package. But life was so busy for Mom, working full time while taking care of two younger children. No worries for me, though -- if I wanted snacks, my dorm was just a short walk from 7-11.

When I was a sophomore, then a junior, still no care packages. Somehow, I got by on healthy cafeteria food.

Then, senior year -- the day before final exams -- a small box showed up at my apartment door. It was filled with assorted snacks and a note from my mother. I called her up to thank her and asked why she’d sent it during my last week of my last year of school. She replied, “I didn’t want you to say I never sent you a care package.” Aw, Mom, so sweet -- but a bit late.

Did you know that April was Financial Literacy Month? Even though it’s been recognized in the United States for over 20 years, apparently Venmo remembered it just in the nick of time: It was the theme of an email they sent me 40 minutes before the end of the month.

I suppose they didn't want me to think they'd forgotten to share some financial money tips during Financial Literacy Month. Or maybe the content managers had planned to send this content earlier in the month but were too busy? Fail for Timing.

Lesson: 
Be relevant early, not late. 

Merrell: Oops, They Did It Again

Four years ago, I shared a recommendation that Merrell include a clearly communicated offer expiration date on their postcards. 

In October, I received this postcard. 

Their offer of $25 off a $100 purchase was good through 11/16/24; however, you need to point a magnifying glass at the very small disclosure* to discover that: 

Disclosure with Expiration Date
(Enlarged for readability)

So, what happened? I thought about buying my wife a new pair of hiking shoes for Christmas. I set aside the postcard, and came back to it after Thanksgiving. I tried to make a purchase using the promo code on the postcard; however, alas, the offer had expired. This is Merrell's Fail for Content.

An expiration date motivates action. Action means response. Response means sales. The lack of an expiration means fewer sales for Merrell. 

So why not put some urgency around the offer? Merrell could simply add, "Use your coupon code by November 16, 2024, to enjoy your discount" in a readable font size -- like you know, 12 or 14 point. Without increasing production costs, the message could appear in the white space below the picture of those cool Wrapt hybrid shoes or on the address panel above the name.

Lesson -- same as four years ago:
Your call to action should include a clearly communicated, definitive offer expiration date.

* Many people mistakenly refer to small print associated with marketing communications as a disclaimer, when in fact it is a disclosure. According to dictionary.com, a ‘disclaimer’ is “the act of disclaiming; the renouncing, repudiating, or denying of a claim; disavowal” while a ‘disclosure’ is “the act or an instance of disclosing; exposure; revelation.” ‘Disclose’ is defined as “to make known; reveal or uncover” From a Marketing standpoint, a disclaimer is an admission that the headline is false – otherwise why renounce it? However, a disclosure provides secondary but relevant facts of an offer. So the only reason an offer or marketing communication would require a disclaimer is if it was misleading from the onset.

Why Does Mail Fail, Revisited

When I started this blog 15 years ago, my intent was to share direct marketing lessons using real-world communications as examples. While I have been able to focus on my professional passion by writing these posts, I also hope you enjoyed reading and learning from them.

My goal of this blog hasn't changed over a decade and a half, but direct marketing jargon has -- so I'm updating the categories I use to classify Mail That Fails. 

• 
  Targeting: The use of data and information in determining to whom to communicate. Is your target audience going to be interested in your communication? Are you optimizing for number or sales, profitability or both?
  
  
• Offer: What you present to the target audience. Does it align with your targeting? Is it interesting? Is it relevant? Will it motivate action? Is there an appropriate incentive? Does the offer have a clearly communicated expiration date? 
  
  
• Content: Method of communication; layout; design; words; visuals; explanation of the product, service or offer. Does it quickly convey the message? Is it engaging? Is it motivating? Is it free of errors and inappropriate slang? Does it communicate to the customer? Is it adequately personalized?
  
  
• Timing: When it is sent and when a customer is meant to receive it. Is it relevant at that time?

The terms may have changed, but these basic principles applied 15 years ago -- and they're still important for both physical mail and email. 

Email deployment tools are continuing to be more sophisticated and more complex. Marketers need to start with the basics such as target audience and desired outcome to drive their messaging approach. We need to stay relevant by executing cleanly and on a timely basis.

Sometimes there are circumstances beyond a marketer's control, so not every campaign can be successful. But by keeping core marketing principles in mind, we can avoid producing Mail That Fails.

ASPCA: Dedupe for the Dogs

 I recently received on the same day two of the exact same solicitations to donate to the ASPCA. 

Make the puppy happy.
Clean up your mailing list.

This is a classic Fail for Targeting. All mailers should go through list cleansing steps, including removing duplicates. I like this advice from Strata: double check your mailing list by hand. This is also known as eyeballing a list -- sometimes that visual inspection will reveal something that the most sophisticated software will miss.

Lessons:

1. Dedupe your mailing list.
2. In addition to systemic steps, review your mailing list directly.

Discover Bank: An Email from Discover, Or Is It?

I recently received an email from Discover Bank (probably) about adding a layer of security to my account -- and about some other basic ways to keep my account secure.

Email from Discover Bank (probably)

The email itself is informative enough. The subject line reads, "Marc, do you know how to keep your account safe?" The subhead reads, "Learn how to spot bad actors before they spot you." And the body of the email includes all the typically scary Be-Careful-And-Don't-Trust-Anyone-Else language.

But...

The footer includes a reminder to "Add DiscoverBank@bank.em.discover.com to your address book to ensure delivery of these emails." 

The email was not sent from that email address or even from the discover.com domain. The sender is dfscorpor-Unbranded2 <dfscorpor@dfscorpor-2.rsys5.com>. Now, maybe that is a legitimate email address managed by Discover, but it seems like one of those scammer email addresses your father warned you about -- and that undermines their intended message of trust.

So, maybe if you're trying to create trust with your customers, you don't start by making them paranoid.

Lesson:
Consider what you are using as your send email address, especially when sending emails about account security.

GE: UltraFast Postcard Fail

I recently received a postcard from GE that merits several Fails for Content. 

The front shows an androgynous person in a high-end walk-in closet doing laundry. She is smirking at her laundry machine while either preparing to put towels in or recently having removed them. "This is not just laundry," cries the headline, "This is One & Done."

On the address side is a picture of two laundry machines -- presumably run by an app. There is very little copy on this side, only, "Wash + Dry with the UltraFast Combo," with a Call to Action to visit a specific appliance store.

As executed, this postcard has multiple Fails. Let's break down why it was a waste of money.

Confusing Audience

The front of the postcard shows someone in a combination utility room and expensive closet, with more athletic shoes than you can count. The room looks pretty expensive, like it is in the house of a one-percenter. It certainly doesn't look like this is a typical person using a typical machine. So a typical consumer might look at the person and room and think they couldn't afford whatever the postcard is advertising.

Misleading Product

The address side shows not one, but two machines, visually suggesting that this is a washer-and-dryer combination set. It isn't, through, the picture is actually of two of the same one-piece washer/dryer appliances -- one has a stand. A typical consumer would have to look and think hard to recognize this, but they wouldn't bother. They'd likely look at the postcard fore about three seconds, then toss it.

Uncompelling Benefits, No Urgency

The communicated benefits appear to be the ability to wash and dry by using an app. Maybe that's enough to motivate a consumer to visit a website in the comfort of their own home, but it is not compelling enough to get a consumer to schlep to a store. After all, this is a low-interest category for a major purchase. Why not include an offer, such as $100 rebate for this $2,899 machine if the consumer brings in the postcard within 30 days? Even a modest incentive with a reasonable offer expiration date supports some action.

Incorrect Location

Finally, this postcard gets the store location wrong. The Hoing's Appliance location near me is in Forest Hills, not the Bronx physical address shown on the postcard. In fact, the web address on the postcard is for Forest Hills location, while the Bronx location has a different URL.

Lessons:

1. Explain your product. Clearly communicate its benefits.
2. Support your mail with online content to explain your product benefits.
3. Give the customer a reason to take action soon.
4. When directing a customer to a physical location, share the nearest location.
5. Check every URL listed in your mail.

7-Eleven: Wing Wednesday After Dark

Last Wednesday, I received this email from 7-Eleven touting “Wing Wednesday” with an offer for cheap wings. Is this Mail That Fails?

With a subject line of “It is Wings Day, my Dudes,” it seems like there is a special price on wings that particular day. That impression is bolstered by text saying, “Celebrate with some wings for less.”

Wing Wednesday email

Plus, the picture prominently displays, “WING WEDNESDAY” in the background and body copy touting, “You made it mid-week!” These both suggest that the 5/$5 Bone-in Wings is available only on, well, Wednesday.

But the email was sent to me at 10:25 pm on Wednesday, and no matter how much I might love wings, that seems a bit late in the day to be prompted for a mid-week wing order. So is this a Fail for Timing?

Maybe not. Down in the Disclosures, we learn that the wings offer is valid “thru” 1/9/24. So, it appears that I could enjoy these 5/$5 wings on a Thursday or on any other day over the next few months. Perhaps this is a bit of a Fail for Creative because it might mislead readers into thinking the offer is valid only on Wednesday -- putting a damper on responsiveness.

Finally, is 7-Eleven using “thru” rather than “through” to be informal and relatable? I don’t know.

Lessons:

1. Align the timing of your emails to your message.
2. Consider when and where it is appropriate to use informal language.

Numerix: Your Excitement Is My Boredom

I recently received a B2B email announcing “exciting news,” and it piqued my interest in all the wrong ways -- meriting a Fail for Content and perhaps even for Targeting.

First of all, the email is from someone at Numerix I don’t know and who I’ve never met, contacted, or connected with, and at a company I’ve never heard of. Yet this person sends me an email that opens with “Exciting News.”

Then, the email uses so much financial jargon that even I can’t figure out what it means -- and I work in the financial industry. What does Numerix do? What can it do for me or my employer? I don’t know, but I guess the acquisition helps them address a bunch of stuff I don’t care about.

I guess this is exciting for Numerix but, without any value proposition, this is simply a press release with several typos.

Lessons:

1. Do not assume your reader knows your company.
2. Do not assume your customer understands your jargon.
3. Avoid acronyms.
4. Use every sales and promotional contact to reinforce your value proposition.
5. Proofread your communications.