Today I am going to rant about something related to customer insights. Or rather something related to the lack of customer insights. What is one of the most annoying things that marketers do to get your attention? I am sure you can think of many, but the first thing that came to my mind was mailing out circulars to people. You know what I am talking about. You go to check your mailbox. A couple of bills, maybe a note from Mom or Dad, and three circulars! One from Best Buy, one from Mr. Gatti’s, and one from a collection of stores. And as we approach the holiday season, you can only expect circulars such as these to come more frequently. Why? Don’t they know that they are basically saying, “Here, take this, and please throw it out for me.” Because that is exactly what I do.
So why do companies send these out? Well usually they are filled with so-called deals, great savings, and new product information. Best Buy’s circular often promotes the best deal on a television, the hottest new DVD, and an assortment of other things they want you to buy for Christmas. I used to work for a record label, and I saw first hand how companies will pay lots of money just to have their latest CD prominently featured in such circulars. How many CDs sell as a result? No one could tell you. It is true that any exposure is good exposure, but don’t you think that the cost outweighs the benefit?
Most circulars are year round. I can’t tell you how often I get a Steinmart or Old Navy one in the mail. I have never shopped at Steinmart, and couldn’t tell you where one is around Austin. The last time I shopped at Old Navy had to be Junior year of high school. So why me? I think the truth is many of these circulars are sent out based on a randomly selected address database. It is easy for companies to get their slimy hands on addresses and names. A simple computer program can slap John Doe’s name on a circular, with his address below, and have their advertisements out in a matter of a couple days. As a result, you get some of the least personalized advertising ever. Worse, once you have it, you must do something with it. Billboards, commercials, in store promotions – these are all things that can be ignored. But circulars become your problem when you receive on in the mailbox. And with the new green trends, you have to guess that this has an effect on the environment.
I haven’t read a circular since last holiday season when visiting my family in Houston. Holiday season may be the only appropriate time for such marketing techniques, since many people are looking or deals on things they can buy for a large and diverse group of family and friends. But even then, I still only am interested in a very limited amount of circulars I actually receive. So what needs to change? The easy answer is stop. But this will never happen, because as long as one company is doing it, every other one will feel the need to in order to stay competitive (see political campaigns: robo-calls). It is common knowledge people hate to receive this stuff. But it happens regardless.
A better solution may be to customize such circulars. Why should Steinmart spend money on advertising to me? They shouldn’t. In this age of information, when companies have huge databases of purchases based on credit card transactions, don’t we all have individual buyers’ profiles? So use it! Why not create a variety of circulars based on different interests. Let’s say Best Buy looks at my transaction history and sees that I purchase a lot of music. They also notice a video game here and there, with some television accessories. So they could group me in a category that shares similar purchases, and send me a circular that focuses on my customer needs and interests. If I see the cover of a Best Buy ad that shows the latest version of Rock Band on the cover, I may glance through it. But if you send that same ad to a childless middle aged couple, they would probably throw it away. Change the image to a big screen TV, with all sorts of bells and whistles, and maybe you hold their interest.
Wal-mart is a prime example of a company who could use a more personalized circular. No other company has as much information about their customers as Wal-mart. And because they offer such a diverse range of products, why not cater to customer interests in the circular. On the cover page, envision a headline, “John’s Personal Wish List – Catered to Your Needs.” That might strike a consumers interest more than “Check out ALL of our great deals!”
Obviously the more types of circulars you print, the more expensive it becomes. So companies would need to find a balance between offering a diverse grouping of similar interests among customers and keeping cost efficient. But I think that if some money is spent gaining insights about customers, a personalized form of circulars may have greater effects on purchasing.
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