Hats off to ExactTarget agency partner, Customer Portfolios for the terrific work they are doing to help Dunkin’ Donuts roll out its new Dunkin’ Perks™ customer loyalty program.

As reported by Amy Johannes in the January 23rd online


As reported by Amy Johannes in the January 23rd online edition of PROMO P&I, Dunkin’ Donuts will use permission-based email to keep customers enthused, engaged, and most importantly . . .  coming back to its stores and its website to take advantage of special offers.

In the article, Joahannes notes that customers who opt-in for the Dunkin’ Perks program will receive e-mails twice a month with product news, store locations and special in-store and online offers. Members get offers throughout the year specific to their local market.

David Tryder, Dunkin’ Donuts manager of interactive and relationship marketing said, “We want to continue building relationships with our customers by sending them targeted communications and offers.”

Localized Promotion

One of the things I like about this program is that many of the promotions Dunkin’ Donuts sends will be specific to the Dunkin’ Perks™ member’s geographic location. I think franchise owners will love this! As I am reminded when I click on the “Perks FAQs” menu item (See My Perks Profile page below), “It's the easiest way for Dunkin' Lovers to keep up to date with everything happening at Dunkin'.”

And just in case a consumer needs help finding a Dunkin’ Donuts store where they can get their DD fix, a handy store locator makes it easy for me to find one.

The Dunkin’ Perks™ program was piloted in Albany, NY last year and went very well according to Nick Godfrey of Customer Portfolios.

As to how the one-to-one marketing program works, Godfrey said, “As customers use their Perks card, all transaction data is captured so we know what they are spending per visit, how often they are visiting their Dunkin’ Donuts store, and at what time of day they are visiting. This enables us to target customers with relevant, just out of reach offers. When customers change their behavior, they are rewarded. Everyone is happy. To that end, we consistently see over a 50% open rate for Perks’ emails!”

Godfrey added, “To ensure customers become accustomed to receiving and recognizing their regularly scheduled Perks email, all emails carry the same subject line: Dunkin' Perks Alert.”

The Agency Behind the Dunkin’ Perks™ Program

Customer Portfolios is the agency behind successful database marketing programs for many brands including Johnston & Murphy, Hat World/Lids, Unicef, World Travel Holdings, and Baskin-Robbins.  The firm’s “Lights-Out Marketing” solution enables organizations to execute highly targeted and triggered email marketing programs that are based on such specifics as the customer's segment, life cycle stage, and purchasing behavior.

I am seeing more and more examples of how smart marketers are using email for customer service. And with today’s generation of APIs (Application Program Interfaces), it’s easier than ever to integrate email technology with database technology to deliver fully automated customer service messages – that are personal and timely – and require no human intervention.

Why more companies do not use email to deliver subscription renewal, billing reminders and other “alerts” is beyond me. It’s just good customer service. And for those companies that do, it is becoming a huge competitive advantage. I don’t have the metrics to support my opinion, but I believe we are getting closer to seeing just how important email is in building relationship equity which in turn builds brand equity.

Here’s a good example.

Last week, I received an email from my 23 year old son, Chris, who is typical of today’s “digital media” consumer who prefers the speed and ease of email. His recent experience with an insurance company serves as a good example of what can go wrong when email is not used to alert customers when their policy is about to expire. Here’s his story:

“I came into the office this morning and realized that my car insurance expired on December 23rd. No email was sent to me from (my auto insurance company) alerting me to the fact that my policy was due to expire and inviting me to renew. This caused me to think about how great it would have been to receive an email with anything in the subject line alerting me to my policy's impending expiration.

This leads to two conclusions about email, one fairly obvious.

1. Subject lines are more important in 2008 than ever. We are inundated with email, and subject lines are being skimmed more and more. There's no longer the necessity to entice the recipient with subject lines, you now must communicate the gist of the message in the subject line.

2. This leads me to my second and slightly less obvious point. No longer is it a perk for us to receive emails alerting us to special offers or information that is timely (like policy expiration alerts)…we now expect it. I have paperless billing for everything. I now expect that when I need to be alerted about something -- of interest or importance -- that I will be informed of via email. In fact, I have come to expect this.

Those of us who work in the field of online marketing understand that today, it’s all about ROI. Is there a better way to generate positive ROI than by retaining an existing customer? For two cents - or whatever the going rate is for email - (my auto insurance company) could have made $960 (I can't wait until I'm 25 for cheap insurance!). I'm not a math wiz, but spending two cents to generate a $960 insurance renewal seems like a pretty good ROI!”

As reported in eMarketer Daily on Tuesday, October 30^th, the Direct Marketing Association is reporting that spending on direct marketing commercial e-mail in the United States will hit $600 million in 2008. That number represents an increase of nearly 25% over 2007.

That statistic is impressive until you consider that – according to the DMA -- spending on non-e-mail Internet direct marketing—such as search and display—is expected to hit $23 billion! Are you kidding me?

Why more marketers are not locked and loaded with email is amazing -- especially when you consider two other findings – also courtesy of the DMA:

• "E-mail produces the highest response rate for lead generation—especially for house campaigns—of all direct mail methods we have studied," according to Anna Chernis, Senior Research Manager.
• Commercial e-mail's ROI will hit $45.65 for every dollar spent in 2008. By comparison, direct response newspaper advertising ROI is $16.86, non-catalog direct mail ROI is $15.60, and telemarketing ROI is $8.61

I have been – and will continue to be – a staunch advocate of multi-channel marketing. But at a time when marketers are being hammered to produce "more juice for the squeeze" from the dollars invested to drive new and repeat sales, many need to seriously re-consider how their marketing dollars are being invested.

If you were fortunate enough to attend DMA '07 in Chicago last week, you could not help but notice the significant increase in the number of sessions (10) devoted specifically to email marketing. And judging by the attendance at these sessions, email is clearly receiving more budget and is fast becoming the “workhorse” of one-to-one marketing.

Traffic in the exhibit hall at McCormick Place was also heavy. More than 79 exhibitors were listed in the show directory as providers of Email Marketing Services, including ExactTarget and agency partner, Aspen Marketing Services.

As a long-time attendee of this annual gathering of direct marketing professionals, I can tell you it is great to see email marketing embraced by the DMA as a legitimate direct marketing channel. The recent union between the DMA and the Email Experience Council is further evidence that email – and specifically permission-based email – has become a vital component in multi-channel marketing strategies for customer engagement, retention and growth.

And the Email Experience Council is already having an impact on the DMA! There is plenty of interest in the upcoming Email Evolution Conference which will be held in San Diego February 12 – 13. If you’re looking to get more juice for the squeeze from your email marketing strategy, you cannot afford to miss this conference.