The First 2 Weeks – Sports Apparel: Part 2 of 2
Posted by Nic Winters on July 27th, 2009
Welcome again to The First 2 Weeks, where we analyze 3 competitors’ email marketing strategies when it is most crucial… the opt-in process, welcome message, and first few campaigns as these marketers attempt to establish relationships with subscribers.
In our first edition we evaluated the opt-in process and welcome messages for 3 competitors in the sports apparel segment: Nike, Reebok, and adidas. In part 2 we will now investigate campaigns sent beyond the welcome email and preference editing options.
INITIAL CAMPAIGNS
All 3 competitors sent out additional campaigns beyond the opt-in and welcome within the first 2 weeks. However each of the companies waited a considerable amount of time before deploying the first email. adidas communicated closest to the opt-in date (day 5) and the was the most frequent sender (as they sent 5 messages beyond the welcome). Reebok and Nike waited even longer before sending their first (and only) additional emails, with Reebok’s arriving on day 7 and Nike taking the full 2 weeks – arriving on day 14. Nike should take a cue from a retailer I reviewed in a previous post – Gander Mountain, as they could have benefited from a very quick first additional email, since like Gander Mountain they did not send a welcome email.
All 3 competitors had links to view their emails in a browser at the top of each email, while only adidas and Nike featured reminders to add them to your address book to ensure the delivery of future messages. It turned out to very important that all 3 companies include the view in a browser feature, as all of their emails are very image heavy and include a minimal use of alt tags to provide key information with images off.
Both adidas and Reebok deployed messages that depended upon extremely large images that could frustrate recipients with download delays. Once images are enabled, I found that both companies were holding large amounts of text that was lost completely with images off. Reebok’s email included 3 separate areas that all had different calls-to-action (lost in one large blank area with images off), and adidas chose to contain key text information within an image even though it was not even styled with a non-standard font. Both companies could have benefited greatly from utilizing background images with background colors and holding some of this information with plain text areas instead of holding it all within images. Nike’s email utilized background colors so that the email does appear to have some formatting with images off, however very little of the email’s content is visible with images on since they did not utilize text as well.
Where these companies have failed to accommodate for images being disabled, each had a redeeming value. Nike did a great job of promoting their social media presence while their competitors excelled with personalization. Reebok used personalization to pull in the email address that has been subscribed (to avoid confusion in cases of old email addresses that have been forwarded, etc.), and adidas brought in the store locations closest to subscriber.
EMAIL PREFERENCE OPTIONS
Reebok fails to offer any preference center (only providing you with the ability to unsubscribe at the base of each message), however their competitors have provided subscribers with a few options. Nike does an excellent job of promoting their preference center by not just providing a link, but giving you an idea of what types of options you will have with a preview within their emails. When you click on this area you are taken to a preference page that includes sports and product preferences, promotions and events options, and a shoe size setting. adidas leads you to the same preference page that was offered during the opt-in process, however they do a good job at pulling in your current settings on this extensive page.
Watch for our next edition in the coming weeks in which we will evaluate the campaigns of 3 new competitors!
