Targeted data was sourced by Emailcenter of 80,000 opt-in records of females between the ages of 18-34 who use feminine pads with the objective of raising awareness and trial of the new Kotex Ultra Thin, Ultra Quiet Pad.

Emailcenter designed the HTML email to send to this list with calls-to-action to a bespoke landing page where recipients could register for a discount voucher.

The email message

The message design used the existing Kotex® branding and was aligned to the UK Kotex® website, Kotexfits.com.

Upon clicking on the main call-to-action to receive a 50% discount voucher the recipient was taken to a landing page where a form pre-populated with their name and address was displayed. To complete their registration the recipient simply had to specify whether they would like to use the voucher at Tesco, Sainsbury’s or Boots.

From previous research, Emailcenter have found that the use of pre-populated forms that save recipients having to type their personal details out will lead to twice as many forms being completed.

As a secondary role, the email also captured valuable market research information. An additional call-to-action to win a luxury break at a health spa led recipients through to a microsite where there was a competition entry form and a series of questions about purchasing preferences.

Two email messages were created for the campaign. The first was to be sent out on a Tuesday afternoon, the second on a Friday. The Friday message used a different subject line after analysis of the first email suggested a change was required.

The original subject line of ‘Turn down the volume, lap up the luxury!’ was deemed not to give the recipient sufficient idea of the contents of the email, and therefore recipients were perhaps less likely to open the message. However, this was rectified in the second send by using a combination of ‘Kotex’ as a ‘From’ name and a subject line of ‘Shhh! Half Price Voucher!’

Results

The average click-thru rate on an email to a rented list is between 1% and 6%. However, the overall click-thru rate was 9.7% with 3% of all recipients registering for a discount voucher.

By making the amendment to the subject line and by sending on a Friday the second send was far more successful than the first. The number of unique opens increased by 30% (a 10% open rate increase) while the click-thru rate jumped from 7% to over 12%.

Benefits of the email campaign

Highly targeted

Renting the targeted list enabled Kimberly-Clark to ensure their message was reaching a very specific target audience. As a result it made it easier to compose the copy and creative as Kimberly-Clark knew the exact profile of the recipients.

Flexibility and control over creative

The ability to change the subject line and timing of the email enabled Kimberly-Clark to achieve a much better registration rate overall. The second email was changed at short notice on the morning of the send, something that cannot be done easily with other communication mediums.

Cost effective

The email was cost effective compared to direct mail in two ways. Firstly the delivery of the message was significantly less and secondly, there was little wastage as only discount vouchers were produced for those that requested them.

Fast creation and implementation

The email campaign required very little planning and scheduling compared with the other promotional vehicles used by Kimberly-Clark. This enabled the turnaround from the decision to run the campaign through to the delivery of the vouchers to consumers to be a matter of only a few weeks.

Easy fulfilment of offer

As the data was collected in an electronic format, all that was required was a simple mail merge to produce the vouchers for the recipients. There was no manual entry of data into databases, which meant that the likelihood of typing errors was reduced.

Reporting

Emailcenter’s Maxemail solution not only ensured a fast and reliable delivery of the campaign but also enabled Kimberly-Clark to track opens and click-thru’s to help them measure the success of the campaign further.

For more information on this case study or for an informal discussion of your email marketing plans please call us on 01327 350921 or visit www.emailcenteruk.com

Kotex® is a Registered Trademark of Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.

© 2004 Emailcenter UK Ltd.