Feature or benefit?

I bought a new pack of crew socks tonight. When choosing, I considered price, quantity per package, color choices and size. All things you might expect.

Upon trying to open the package, I noticed in white letters: resealable bag. This notification left me pondering, "who finds it a benefit to be able to reseal the bag your socks came in?"

Top 5 Reasons to Send an eNewsletter

In my early days in public relations, I'd spend hours writing, designing and overseeing the printing of corporate newsletters that were distributed by snail mail to the company’s staff and to our customers. As I picked up the crisp, colorful stack of freshly printed newsletters and stuffed them into envelopes for shipping, I often wondered if they were actually being read. Today, with eNewsletters, we don't have to wonder. We know.


Here are the Top Five Reasons to send an eNewsletter to your clients or employees next month:

1. Feedback. We can track how many readers open the email, which stories they read, if they watch a video, click through to your website or forward to an associate. With a traditional newsletter, this type of feedback is not available. With feedback we can gain insight into what messages resonate with your audience and if our strategy is effective.

2. Cost-effective marketing. With no printing and low delivery costs, eNewsletters are a cost–effective way to stay in touch with your customers. For a penny or two per reader, you can deliver the same message to one or a million customers, host the graphics and videos online and provide tracking reports.

3. Visibility. In a tough economy, those companies that make efforts to remain visible to clients and customers that come out on top when the market turns back around. eNewsletters are a convenient way to remain “top of mind.”

4. Accessibility. The format of an eNewsletter fits into today’s busy lifestyle. Executives can take the newsletter "on the go" to read later on smart phones, PDAs or laptops.

5. Connection. eNewsletters offer a regular connection that helps to strengthen the relationship between a company and its clients or staff.

Don't get me wrong, beautifully printed magazines, brochures and annual reports still have a significant place in the marketing mix. So when clients ask if it is better to go digital, in most cases the answer is yes.

CHASE Doesn't get it

Have you noticed the CHASE commercial where the wife walks in looking terrific and the husband says, "Hey, let's use our rewards to take a trip."

She replies, "we can't."

Not getting it, the husband says, "Sure we can, the points don't expire and you can use them on whatever you want."

She then preens like a proud cat and with a sly smile says, "I know."

The lights finally go on when the husband realizes she used the points on a designer dress. He gives her an admiring smile.

Okay, so in what world would a husband give a dumb smile when he realized his wife just spent all their reward dollars on a dress? Certainly not mine. I would NEVER hear the end of that one.

Putting that fantasy aside, I have to ask if CHASE is aware of the state of our economy and of the average consumer? Do the marketing executives at CHASE have any clue that the unemployment rate was at 10.2% across the U.S. in October, according to the U.S. Department of Labor? They certainly must be aware of the flood of foreclosures and bankruptcies sweeping across the nation.

It seems fairly obvious that if you want to encourage consumers to start spending again, telling them to indulge on luxury items is not the place to start.

A recent study by Kelton Market Research shows that 114 million consumers are more cautious about their spending and are cutting back. They are sacrificing on a smaller budget and trying out new brands they might not have considered before. To attract this majority of today's consumers, marketers need to communicate about the value of and necessity for the products they are selling. They need to create a need for their product in the prospect's mind and eliminate the potential guilt of unnecessary spending.

It may be that CHASE wants to reach a more affluent audience who is not phased by the recession. Nevertheless, this campaign is most likely alienating a large number of account holders in the process.  Marketers and advertisers should review their current campaigns and consider if the message is still relevant in today's climate and economy. Marketers must consider the implications the chosen message or campaign may have on all audiences who are exposed to it.

Considering how American's attitudes towards credit has soured in the past few years, CHASE is not doing itself any favors with this current campaign.

Giving it Away For Free

Marketers have long known the strategy of giving something away for free to entice consumers to buy the product. Free trials are a great way to introduce a new product and gain exposure. But this strategy can backfire when you attach "strings." If your product is something consumers will find of value, giving it away for free will only entice people to come back for more while building positive  brand awareness.

But if you have to hook people in with a free giveaway facade and then turn a bait-and-switch tactic on them asking them to pay for their "free" product you are not building an affinity for your brand, just putting a bad taste in your consumers' mouths.

I am still trying to get rid of that bad taste from encounters with two brands this month. First, in a HARO post from Peter Shankman he announced that fitness "expert" Dustin Maher was giving away a free fitness CD to HARO subscribers. Trying to get rid of my pregnancy pounds and find a program that works, I clicked the link only to find that my "free" CD would cost me nearly $10 in shipping and handling fees and I would be automatically joined in a monthly DVD club that costs $39.95 per month. Gimme a Break! First of all in this digital age all he needed to do was offer a video download and incur no shipping and handling costs. Secondly, the USPS has a media mailer option that only costs $2.38 to ship a CD. Secondly, I have never heard of this guy so before I sign up for some monthly club I'd want some proof that he knows what he is talking about. So he had wasted my time with his false offer of a free CD and left a bad taste in my mouth about his business practices.

Next, I heard a radio ad for a free two week sample of some diet shakes from Right Size Smoothies. Again, when I called to see about the "free" offer I was told I needed to pay $18.95 in shipping and handling fees and if after the first week I decided I wanted to keep the cans, I would pay $100! If not, I simply ship the rest back at my expense. These shakes are supposed to curb hunger, but doesn't SlimFast make the same claim at about $5/week? When I told the sales person I was unsure, his response was even more offensive and brand damaging. He actually said "So I see you are not prepared to really make a change in your life and lose your unwanted weight. When you think you are able to commit to getting healthy, give us a call." You condescending little snit! I am not going to pay you $100 every two weeks for some worthless shakes, but that has nothing to do with how dedicated I am to being healthy.

Obviously, these snake oil salesmen know they need a gimmick. So if you use the free sample strategy in your marketing plans make sure what you are selling has value and then really give it away free. Seth Godin, author of  Ideavirus  distributed the first part of his manifesto as a free eBook with the permission to post, e-mail, print and pass it along at will. The book's success can confirm if you give it away and it is something people want, they will come back for more.