What innovative retail marketers are doing now
Some of the most creative minds in marketing, including some top retailers, were recognized recently when Experian Marketing Services held its inaugural #SuiteLife Awards.
Among the recipients of the #SuiteLife Awards, a play on Experian’s suite of marketing solutions, were American Eagle Outfitters, Neiman Marcus, Bass Pro Shops, Finish Line and Foot Locker. The awards were presented at Experian’s recently held marketing summit attended by more than 1,000 people in Las Vegas.
“The #SuiteLife Awards is a celebration of exceptional brand experiences that add value to the everyday lives of consumers; these are the brands that are making our digital experiences easier and more meaningful,” said Ashley Johnston, senior vice president of global marketing for Experian Marketing Services. “We are proud to have such a distinguished list of brands involved in this program and in our client portfolio. Data and technology are equipping marketers with the tools they need to create and sustain those customer-first experiences, and we couldn’t be happier to be the partner of choice for these remarkable brands.”
The #SuiteLife Awards recognizes marketing programs that create exceptional customer experiences using data, analytics and technology while delivering outstanding business results. The winners included:
Finish Line – 2015 People’s Choice
Finish Line developed a thoughtful and timely marketing campaign that ran in conjunction with the college football season. Hoping to grow the College Fleece Program by 21% through email, Finish Line established a 36-email campaign that supported the sales of College Fleece at various price points. Utilizing MovableInk, SmarterHQ, and Experian Marketing Services to deliver relevant emails by leveraging personal information, geographic data, and on-site browsing behavior, Finish Line was able to surpass their original goal of 21% to 59% through email and establish a 3.25% Program Click-to-Transaction Rate.
American Eagle Outfitters — Best Cross-Channel Marketing Campaign
American Eagle Outfitters created a thoughtful, coordinated and omnichannel shopping experience using mobile as the central touch-point of the campaign. In an effort to appeal to its mobile-first customer base, American Eagle Outfitters wanted the program to give customers the flexibility to shop in any way they choose. For example, customers browsing through the app have the option to reserve and try a product in store and get notified in real time via email or mobile text of the product’s availability.
Boden — Best Real-Time Contextual Marketing Campaign
Boden developed a unique email marketing program that was 100 percent contextual. Real-time contextual data was used to personalize messages based on each customer’s preferences and his or her past experiences with the brand.
Neiman Marcus — Best Innovation Campaign
Neiman Marcus was recognized for its recently introduced mobile app, which improves the customer experience through enhanced personalization and relevancy. The app allows customers to simply take a photo from a magazine, and via a 3D image search Neiman Marcus will find equivalent items available through their website.
MODI Media (of GroupM) — Best “Data for Good” Campaign
By leveraging the power of addressable TV, MODI and its advertiser were able to take a traditional channel (TV) and turn it into an extremely targeted and measurable marketing channel while keeping consumer privacy and data security as the priority of the campaign. The advertiser was able to achieve a 22 percent increase in their customer base, an 18 percent increase in transactions and a 33 percent lift in product sales during that sales window.
Bass Pro Shops — Best “Insights to Interaction” Campaign, Relevant Rewards
Bass Pro Shops revived its email marketing program during Cyber Week 2014 through a campaign to reengage lapsed customers with relevant messages and offers. Leveraging identity technology, third-party data and a sophisticated audience segmentation system, Bass Pro Shops was able to reengage inactive email subscribers using past purchase behavior and preference data. The email campaign provided customers with customized offers and content for activities that they enjoy, such as camping, fishing and boating.
DIRECTV — Best Acquisition Campaign
DIRECTV’s Mayweather/Pacquiao text-to-enter sweepstakes campaign increased awareness, engagement and marketing opt-in numbers of its customer base on the mobile channel. Customers that opted in to the program received deals and ordered programming and executive self-services.
Foot Locker — Best Mobile Campaign
Foot Locker offers a distinctive mobile application that enhances a consumers’ digital experience and makes shopping and interacting with the brand easier by allowing him or her to browse unreleased sneakers, which locations will carry the shoes and when they will be available seamlessly. Most notably, the app offers Shoemoji, the world's first sneaker replica emoticons.
SiriusXM — Best Creative Campaign
SiriusXM created an interactive, rewarding experience that enticed in-trial customers to share music preferences. SiriusXM could then invite those customers to events based on their favorite music decade and convert them into subscribers.
Neiman Marcus photo provided courtesy of Hunter McRae.