IQ Interactive's Tony Quin reports on how rich media enabled newsletters can reach an otherwise elusive audience.
In my previous column, I likened email to a Golden Goose, a magical animal with the ability to produce unlimited value in the form of inexpensive two-way customer communications unlike anything we had seen before. We also talked about how this promise had been damaged and abused by companies who spammed their own customers. However, as we saw with the advent of IBM's video newsletter, "ForwardView," three years ago, new approaches made possible by broadband can revive moribund newsletter programs and breathe new life into the Golden Goose.
Royal Caribbean Explorer
A recent consumer example of a rich media approach to newsletters is the Royal Caribbean Explorer video newsletter.
After diving into rich media waters in 2005 with the website for its new ship, www.freedomoftheseas.com, and its Travel Planner rich media email, Royal Caribbean was so excited by the results that it decided to upgrade its HTML newsletter to a rich media experience. This is a consumer brand that is all about the experience of cruising, and it was clear that people responded to being immersed in the sights and sounds of cruising adventures from the rich media work the cruise line had already done. Royal Caribbean's Explorer video newsletter features video stories that bring the excitement and adventure of cruising to life. Targeted at a five to seven-minute experience, the video newsletter works in the same way and on the same platform as the IBM newsletter.
Viewers first see an introduction that teases the stories in this issue. They then get to select and play the story of their choice. At the end of the story, they are invited by the host to find out more or watch another story. It's a simple formula that works like an interactive TV show, complete with a set-up by the host at the beginning and teasers of what's coming up throughout. The technology platform is even designed to include interstitial advertising, which can be programmed to run before, after or even during stories, just like TV. It also produces an enormous amount of data showing who looked at what for how long. This amounts to a huge ongoing research study, which is very valuable in its own right.
Who needs it?
Companies in B2B and B2C need to look closely at their customer and prospect communications and make sure that what they are doing is going to work in a broadband world. Internet viewers are already getting used to a higher level of experience on the web. That's why companies must now present an engaging and immersive experience if they want people to pay attention. With all the competition for attention in the market and with how fickle and fleeting audiences have become, we cannot ever make the assumption that it's enough just to be there.
Our marketing communications need to be entertaining, relevant and original. That's why rich media video newsletters can play a critical part in any company's CRM strategy. Since it is always cheaper to keep a customer or a relationship once acquired than get a new one, it makes good economic sense to give customers a compelling, engaging reason to stay connected to your company in between buying events. So if you can create a compelling content-driven, thought-leadership based communication, your brand or company will always be top of mind when that customer or prospect is ready to buy. It then becomes like having your own proprietary marketing channel directly to your prospects, where you don't have to pay the big bucks for carriage rights for your message (read advertising)-- you only have to pay to produce the message itself.
Imagine that
Imagine your brand or company with a huge database of past customers and prospects who open your video newsletter every time you send it because the stories are engaging and relevant, not just self-serving ads. Now imagine that when that magic moment comes and they are ready to buy, you're already there, with a powerful perception of thought-leadership, a brand preference and an open line of instant communication to your market. How much do you think that Golden Goose might be worth?