« The Blog: Write a Column Anyone? | Main | Keep Your Marketing Message Honest »
American Express/Delta Skymiles Direct Mail Blunder
By admin | January 9, 2008
OK, I admit my wife and I are not the most frequent flyers. On average we take one plane trip each year and this usually involves a family event. So we don’t rack up the frequent flyer miles that other folks do, yet we still get lots of direct mail promotional material nonetheless.
Well, yesterday we received a Direct Mail letter promoting the new Delta Skymiles/American Express credit card. And the copywriter lost me after three short sentences.
I quote: "We’re writing to share some exciting news. As of September 10, 2007, you have 0 miles in your Skymiles account. Now your next vacation can be closer than you think."
Now I added the bold, red "0 miles" for emphasis. First two lines kill the offer–dead. Period. I didn’t feel the need to keep reading. Wow, 0 miles equals, well, 0. I can’t see how this will get me any closer to anything except, well, 0. The next sentence continues by stating that I can add 17,500 more miles, but if I didn’t have an interest in critiquing direct mail that comes to my mailbox I wouldn’t have continued reading. My initial reaction was I’m being slightly insulted. Poking fun at my lack of airline usage? Sheesh!
By not taking into account prospects who don’t have a respectable Skymile total, this letter alienated a lot of folks.
What the copywriter and the company should have done is create more than one direct mail letter tailored to their target audience’s Skymile totals. Or simply leave out the sentence about the Skymiles total to begin with. In this case, "even though you only have ## Skymiles, your vacation can be closer than you think."
The first few lines of any direct mail sales letter has to hook the reader or the whole package becomes part of my kindling collection for my wood stove. Forethought and organization would have made this lead-in at least workable if not effective.
Topics: Direct Mail, Direct Response, Marketing |