At one time or another, you’ve spammed an audience with direct mail, e-mail, or another tactic. It’s ok, me too. By spamming, I mean direct contact that interrupts someone’s day with a less than stunning, relevant message.
We love the measurability. “2.3% redemption! It paid for itself.” Even the CFO’s happy. But is it the whole story?
I suggest we learn how to quantify the impact on the 97.7% that tossed us in the trash. Are they annoyed? Do they consider us intrusive? Are we less likely to be noticed next time, when we actually have something to say? It’d be a useful metric to have when the budget gets carved up, and people testify as to “what works”.
So, the loofah’s. Like you, I get a legal sized discount card monthly from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They undoubtedly pay for themselves in redemption. Then again, you’d have to live under a rock to pay full retail there. And the years of deep discounts make me far less likely to stop by for a gift. I bet my 500 thread count pillow case it’s killing brand equity and long term sales.
For a funny, NC-17 take on BB and B, here.
Matt Jones
Agreed. BB&B has essentially trained me to never go there unless I have a coupon. There’s no branding involved… no point of difference… it’s just a new way to add hassle to shopping (you feel like an idiot if you buy something there full price). That said, if this is just about driving volume, it seems like it would make more sense to do this twice a year — make it something customers actually look forward to — oh, and by the way they’ll still shop with you the rest of the year, because you have stuff they need. With Linen’s ‘n Things out of the picture, this is a no-brainer.
i hate discount cards; i always forget about them until i’m standing on line behind someone smart enough to bring it with them. as for gift shopping, sale or no sale, i’d much rather support local retailers than a chain like BB&B. ok, i’ll go back under my rock now.
I hate discount cards too, until my dog ruins my favorite bedspread. Suddenly, I am actually keeping a watchful eye on the mail because I just KNOW that my daily coupon card will arrive. But it doesn’t and I am forced to pay some sort of retail price for my new bedding. It only builds up resentment toward the next wave of 6 x 9 postcards that fill my mailbox. Damn them to hell!
There’s something to be said for using less, not more, as a direct email marketing tactic. If I’m inundated by a particular sender, they get less of my attention – not more. I’m not one who discriminates. If someone sends me an email every week, they usually end up in my SPAM bucket. In some cases I don’t filter out those senders. Unfortunately my brain comes with a built in SPAM filter of its own. Most of the time I don’t even notice email from my most frequent senders. I become trained to ignore them so I can find more important messages.
As for B&BB, I didn’t realize how often they’ve been sending me discount cards. That’s because I’ve become an highly efficient discount tosser. I don’t even realize I’m doing it anymore. When I see something about 20% on a post card, I do a toss while looking at the next piece mail.