I received an email yesterday from an industry trade publication that I receive -- and read -- on a daily basis, asking me to "re-subscribe by December 21st." They make it pretty simple to do, but that's not the point. As someone who reads (and therefore opens) this email often or always, there is no reason for this firm to ask me if I want to remain on their list.

Asking users who haven't opened or reacted to your email messages in a long time could, on occassion, make sense (for example, if you are a marketer who is having a hard time maintaining quality list hygiene and suffer from poor deliverability as a result). However, it makes absolutely no sense to force a clearly engaged e-newsletter subscriber to actively go back to the web site and re-subscribe.

Marketers do need to be sensitive about privacy in email marketing. However, they should always prioritize the customer and the customer experience. Being too sensitive, as is the case here, not only will reduce your list size, but can backfire with the folks who never had any intention of opting-out: In the event I missed the re-subscribe email, I would have been dropped from this company's database and would begin to ask myself "where is the newsletter I signed up for?" And then have to sign-up again from scratch. Not good.

At last Thursday's DMA Law and Policy Year in Review conference in DC, Lydia Parnes, Director Bureau of Consumer Protection, FTC gave a keynote address highlighting the success of the agency's wildly popular Do Not Call Registry, and admonished attendees about the lessons the list has for all marketers.

Parnes said "we reached the tipping point in the early 2000's with telemarketing." Not a single consumer sent the FTC a public comment arguing against the establishment of a DNC list. At the time of its inception, many "companies didn't respect internal do-not-call lists and hid their identities." Existing regulation and industry self-regulation "was simply not working," she said.

Mrs. Parnes told attendees that the DNC list holds some important lessons for marketers:

1) Industry did not learn until legislation was inevitable
2) "Success has a thousand fathers and mothers." Many stakeholders banded together in unprecedented fashion to make DNC happen.
3) Consumers demand the ability to opt-out.
4) The government is up to the task.

"Do Not Call has been touted as a model of success," said Parnes, adding that many stakeholders are interested in applying the DNC concept to other types of advertising, such as the recently proposed "Do Not Track List."

***

A few other nuggets from Mrs. Parnes' speech:

- The FTC is close to finishing a report to Congress about this past summer's FTC Spam Summit.
- The FTC is planning a half day summit on Phishing for 2008.
- And, yes, those final CAN SPAM rules are still being worked out, and can be issued -- or not -- at any time.

At last Thursday's DMA Law and Policy Year in Review conference in DC, Mark Wetjen, Counsel and Policy Advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told attendees that, "In my three years [working on the Hill], I've heard less and less about ID theft. Perhaps it's a problem that's becoming less acute." He went on to say that, because there has been less "noise" about ID theft, "Many legislators are probably paying less attention to it."

Meanwhile, Joel Winston, Associate Director, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Federal Trade Commission noted that he "in the past has heard numbers as high as $50 billion," in terms of the total annual financial hit attributed to ID theft. However, the latest FTC study of the problem puts ID theft more in the $15 billion range. Still, Mr. Winston stressed that the methodologies of various studies on ID theft vary, and "regardless of whether it is going up or down, ID theft is still a big problem."

A recent Forrester report finds that while consumers are concerned about making sure the products they buy are environmentally friendly, only about 12% say that they're willing to pay more for these products.

That number seems high, doesn't it? If you could get 12% of buyers to pony up a few extra bucks because a product is "environmentally friendly" wouldn't companies be doing that? And listen to this quote from the author:

"The bottom line in messaging is it's OK to be green, but don't lean too heavily on it because people are cynical about it. And don't ask people to applaud you for it, because you really should have been doing it all along anyway...In perspective, you're not really that green."

Um. What's that? Maybe you should be environmentally friendly, but don't tell people (except for the 12% of people who would PAY YOU MORE to know that.

What exactly is the key takeaway from this? I'll suggest that it's the same takeaway as always: segment your audience and target your messages to speak to them. One message does not speak to everyone (even if it saves paper).

My birthday is coming up in about three weeks from now, and, to my delight, Banana Republic is the first *entity* in my life to send me a birthday card... Banana sends me a lot of direct mail, but this piece stood out: It was in a small envelope... I thought it might be another holiday sale, but no -- it actually contained a birthday card.

"Close your eyes and make a wish" it says on the outside cover
"We had a feeling you'd want one of those" it says on inside on the left
And on the right, I see an orange Banana gift card with "Happy Birthday $15 Off" printed on it.

You bet I'm happy!

The beauty, of course, is that I'll go into one of their stores to redeem it, thinking that I'm going to walk away with a bargain after picking up a single wool hat for $10, but will end up -- as usual -- walking out with lots of other stuff that catches my eye.

This is an example of integrated, cross-channel marketing at its finest. Personal, data-driven communications are being used to reinforce (and further enhance) the customer's relationship with the brand, while at the same time driving immediate in-store or online sales.

The story is also a reminder of why loyalty programs can be such powerful marketing tools: The enhanced trust and, well, loyalty that they engender results in enhanced customer insight (or should if these programs are executed effectively). It doesn't even have to be complicated. Knowing something as simple as your customer's birthday can make a big difference.

In a recent DM News article, Mike Lavoie, Epsilon's EVP of commercial client services explained it perfectly: "The value of creating a deeper relationship comes from the knowledge of who that customer is," he said. "Knowing preferences and other information allows a company to improve the experience of the customer, thereby correlating to a longer-term relationship with the organization."

As the early Baby Boomers (or should I just say people born between 1945 and 1955) come of presidential age, we're sure to hear more politicians admit to having "experimented" with marijuana in their college days.

As if, quote unquote, experimenting makes that OK. Is it OK to "experiment" with grand theft auto? How about "experimenting" with treason? OK, fine, those aren't fair comparisons. And my point here isn't political, but marketing-related.

Too many marketers are using questionable tactics, hiding behind the veil of "experimentation."

Case in point: User-generated content campaigns.

I don't doubt that one large bank that's currently running one of these campaigns will succeed in pulling in a thousand entries. But here's what I'd want to know if I were the CEO, CFO, or especially the CMO:

* Are entries coming from prospects or existing customers?

* How many prospects do we expect to convert to customers?

* What are the up-sell/cross-sell expectations for customers who submit entries?

* What mechanisms are in place to track the impact/success of this effort?

and most importantly...

* What other potential initiatives -- which were not funded -- were deemed less important than this one, and why?

A marketing exec associated with the campaign, said (on another blog) "this is a test, so we’re not certain either how it will turn out, but we feel it's worth a try."

Worth a try based on what? A desire to be one of the cool kids?

What bothers me about this isn't just the lack of economic rationale, but the underlying symptom, prevalent in all-too-many marketing departments: The absence of a rigorous test-and-learn discipline.

I'm all for "experimenting" (in a marketing context, that is). But a disciplined test-and-learn marketing group will establish some key questions that it wants to find the answers to. Understanding whether or not consumers who submit entries into user-generated content contest are candidates for acquisition/cross-sell may very well be a valid question. But I'm willing to bet that: 1) most firms have more burning questions to address, and 2) the bank in question did not establish this question as part of a pre-defined test-and-learn agenda.

Retailers, is it business as usual for you this holiday season? If so, prepare for a bumpy ride ahead. If you want to be remarkable instead, read on.

Consumers are fickle, so how can you ensure cash registers ring this season? Although every company is different, here are a few "last-minute" tips to help you beat the competition this season.

- Be First: Cyber Monday started exactly 1:18 am this morning when I received my first email from JC Penney who offered free shipping. JC Penney was followed by a series of other department stores, the most recent of which was Macy's at 12:07 pm this afternoon. Macy's email included a first time ever offer - free shipping with the purchase of $75 or more for today only. Just goes to show you in a competitive environment where your competitors is one-click away being first matters.

- Be Relevant: Transactional data allows you to predict future purchasing, so let a buyer's actions be your guide this season.

- Be Unique: Highlight exclusive or unique products/offerings.

- Be Bold, Be Buzz-worthy: Create promotional events that add excitement. Challenge your team to find one out-of-the-box or breakthrough idea and own it.

- Be Service-minded: Offer holiday countdown alerts filled with gift ideas or provide pre-ordering capabilities for hot holiday items. Consider wish lists and price-drop and inventory alerts if you don't already. Finally, offer reminders and enable customers to buy and return across channels.

- Be Multi-Channeled: Coordinate your online and offline marketing initiatives such as big catalog mailings and corresponding pre/post email alerts. A recent Epsilon/Gfk study found marketers reported an average increase of 11% in sales when they executed multi-channel marketing efforts.

- Be Loyal: Offer exclusive pre-holiday events or promotions to loyalty program members. A recent study by Epsilon/Gfk found that 62% of retail loyalty program members (those spending more than $1,000) said the program influenced where they shopped.

- Be Thankful: Implement first-purchase welcome messages and don't forget to say Thank You across all your purchase confirmations and shipping notifications.

- Be True to Your Brand: Do what you do well. If you are a value- or price-oriented retailer, embrace it, reflect it in your messaging and deliver on the promise.

- Be Transparent: Only collect information you will use and disclose how you will use it. Provide samples of email communications at sign up.

Finally, be flexible. Sticking to the tried and true will never deliver breakthrough results. Monitor the competition and marketplace and be willing (and able) to change your marketing plans, promotional messaging and scheduling to maximize sales opportunities. Remember it is never too late to be remarkable.

Til Next Time,
Michael

Would you ever allow an advertisement to go out with a typo in it? No? You wouldn't? Because a couple of hundred thousand people would see it in the newspaper and laugh at you, right?

Well, let's start treating our emails the same way. Perhaps the well known company that sent out this subject line last week has learned its lesson: "Prepare for the Holiday's with Great Appliance Offers" Uh, "holiday's"? Their list is probably several million people strong (like placing ads in 10 large newspapers) and while the American public seems to have a rather pathetic understanding of how to use an apostrophe, this is inexcusable. Just because email is quick and reasonably priced does not mean your consumers will excuse typos (typo's) in it.

Seems like everywhere I turn someone is bashing direct mail and talking up word-of-mouth marketing. Most recently, it was at a conference where a speaker was pooh-poohing direct mail for its "low response rates." My initial impression was that simply measuring the effectiveness of DM based on response rates missed the broader impact of the channel.

And thanks to Forrester Research, that impact can be seen from the perspective of consumers themselves. Forrester asked consumers what influenced their apparel purchase decisions across the spectrum of the decision process -- from awareness to preference to action.

What the research firm found was that across each stage of the purchase cycle, more consumers identified direct mail as an influence than any other source. One-quarter of respondents mentioned direct mail as a motivator of their initial interest in their apparel purchases, in contrast to the 14% who mentioned the Web, 10% who said TV, and 8% who cited print ads.

In terms of driving preference -- helping narrow down their choices -- more consumers listed direct mail most as an influencer than any other source. It wasn't until Forrester asked about action -- what motivated the final purchase decision -- that another source was mentioned more often than direct mail. That influence: Previous experience with the brand.

For each stage of the purchase cycle, just 9% of consumers listed word-of-mouth as an influence. The DM naysayers need to be careful about where they put their 2008 marketing dollars.

Bob Garfield gives a looooong overview of his ongoing fight with Comcast -- it's worth a read for any marketer. In short, he had a miserable experience, started a blog blasting the company, then, miraculously, the company started reading the blog and helping every customer who posted his story to it. Done and done.

He also discusses a couple of other companies that have had similar turnarounds (Dell being the primary one), coming to the realization that customers WANT to interact with the company (at least some of them do). I know that most companies' first reaction to this is to clam up and stop answering the phone. But sadly, that's not how it's working anymore. Customers will eithercall you, or they're going to create a blog about it -- and as the article shows, you'd rather be in charge of the conversation.

I was at a conference recently where an employee of an airline was talking about this very issue -- how much they should allow customers to communicate with the company on the website (via message boards). Airlines are conservative entities (that's a good thing when it comes to safety, not so good a thing when you're trying to introduce new marketing initiatives), and old-line staff put the ol' ki-bosh on the idea of allowing customers to post messages on the website. I was sorely disappointed -- EVERYONE talks about airlines and their customer service experiences. Not allowing people to talk about them on your website doesn't mean they'll go away -- it means you'll have no control over the conversation. And that will only come back to bite you. Ask Comcast.