andHow To Reach Women

Effectively Marketing Choice

We've written alot lately about consumers' increasing influence and control over how brands interact with and market to them.  Time Magazine's selection of The Individual as their Person of The Year underscores that with double red lines.  But many companies are wondering: how do you open up your brand without giving away the store? 

One terrific example is Crate & Barrel's partnership with DonorsChoose, a website founded by a Bronx teacher in 2000, which allows teachers from 17,000 schools in 10 states to post their need for classroom items like art supplies and books.  According to an article in yesterday's WSJ (reg required), Crate & Barrel sent out 18,000 gift certificates to customers, asking them how it should spend charitable contributions.  The program was such a success the company plans to repeat it in coming months.  Who wouldn't like to see these metrics? (as reported in WSJ):

• 11% of gift certificates were redeemed (compared to the 2% average for direct mail)
• 82% of customers who redeemed the gift certificates were "very likely to consider Crate & Barrel for their next home furnishings or accessories purchase" vs. 76% of a control group who did not receive certificates
• 75% of gift certificate recipients perceived Crate & Barrel as "community minded" while just 21% of the control group did
• More than half of gift certificate redeemers said they told someone else about receiving the gift certificate

Here's the real brilliance of the partnership

• the DonorsChoose program allows consumers to direct funds to their local area, and feel the power of making that difference ("because of me, kids in my area will have art supplies this year")
• Crate & Barrel retains some control over the choice - the entire site is focused on helping schools, which aligns with Crate & Barrel's values and those of their customer base.  They're not giving free reign to customers to direct donations anywhere, avoiding all sorts of land mines that could have them supporting issues or organizations that they wouldn't otherwise choose and diluting the effort so much as to not have a bigger collective impact
• It stands out among cause-marketing programs as it is not purchase dependent.  Many companies are donating a portion of proceeds (think the RED campaign) from sales of particular items.  While this is also a wonderful strategy the C&B partnership takes it a step further by not asking the customer to spend any of his or her own money to participate 

To See The Big Picture, You've Got To Let Go

When an executive from one of  the biggest consumer products manufacturers in the world advises "letting go" control to consumers, you have to acknowledge that the game has changed.  As reported in DM News, P&G's Kent Oldham, speaking at the 2006 National Center for Database Marketing Conference at the Caribe Royale Orlando Resort, gave fellow marketers the following advice (which, incidentally, dovetails nicely with our most recent post):

“Now more than ever, consumers are owning our brands, and we not only have to understand that they are owning our brands. But we also have to embrace that idea and understand the implications of [it].”

Mr. Oldham went on to talk about the key trends influencing this change as well as the opportunity for marketers to glean information from consumers at every touch point, leveraging this access to feedback to increase relevance (and sales).  "Letting go" also helps to build trust among an increasingly skeptical audience and encourage consumer feedback and participation.  According to the article:

Another point Mr. Oldham made was that the implication of not learning from every touch point a consumer has with your company or product or service can be costly.

“No matter how much great brand-building work you do, and how much equity your brands have, all it takes is one negative consumer experience to destroy all of it.”

Are you ready to "let go" and learn the good, bad and ugly about your brand?  It's not too late to start engaging your customers and make them partners in your growth and success.  Means you have to make an even bigger commitment to satisfying them.  But you already knew that, right?

It's My Life: Marketing Financial Services To Women Done Right

We've written about marketing financial services to women a few times because its an area so ripe with opportunity and many of the missteps are relatively easy to correct (don't sell fear, make sure women know what you have to offer, etc.).  This week I had an example delivered to my mailbox of someone doing it right.  Here's the thing - I'm not sure who.  Let me explain.  I went to a small private college my freshman and sophomore years and though I graduated from another university, said college still considers me an alumnae, mostly due to the hope that this unofficial alumnae status may pull my heart strings (which, the theory goes, are directly connected to your checkbook strings).  At any rate, recently I received a letter from them letting me know that they had an alumni exclusive offer for me from New York Life.  Several smart things about the offer caught my attention:

• They had calculated the Monthly Preferred Plus premium based on my current age
• The content of the letter focused on why life insurance is important for women vs. people in general
• The situations they listed based on different life stages were rooted in common sense and life realities vs. the typical "if you don't do this you're screwing your family over and leaving your kids homeless and begging in the streets you selfish..." messaging.  Their example of single mothers was done especially well, acknowledging that tight budgets, not lack of concern for the welfare of their families, is often the reason this segment of the women's market doesn't purchase life insurance:

Single mothers may be on a tight budget and, regardless of need, often feel they can't afford life insurance.  With the lowest initial rates we've ever offered, Life for Life can help you to provide for your children's futures.

• My family can also take advantage of  their offer, including my parents and siblings

It's not clear to me if this was a New York Life template that they offer to universities or if my almost alma mater should be credited for the smart approach but for the purposes of this blog, it really doesn't matter. The most important information to be gleaned is that for your offer to be attention getting make it personal, acknowledge the validity of purchase barriers and how your product addresses them and create an easy way for customers to refer family and/or friends.   Now that's a compelling reason to get out your checkbook.