Hello toast305-ga!
Companies are using various strategies to increase communication with
customers and create greater affinity. I have highlighted a few
examples for you.
Excerpts from "Building Online Loyalty." Kasina.
http://www.kasina.com/whitepapers/affinity/affinity1.html
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Highlights American Airlines and some Mutual Fund companies.
Excerpts follow:
I. What is an Affinity Program?
In 1981 American Airlines became the first company to offer a frequent
flier program. AAdvantage, as it was called, rewarded loyal customers
who flew American Airlines frequently with extra benefits such as
discounts on hotels and free flights. It helped American build loyalty
among its best customers and develop its brand image, thereby
increasing sales and market share.
Brand image and customer loyalty have been even more emphasized on the
Internet than in the offline world. Amazon.com tolerates sustained net
losses in the hopes of building brand equity and developing customer
loyalty.
Affinity programs can be classified into three categories:
Points programs
Contest programs
Cash payment programs
In this article, we will review these various programs, referring to
examples of affinity programs in the mutual fund industry.
Read the rest of the article to read about the other customer affinity
programs employed by various top companies.
"Loyalty Marketing: Choosing the Right Program," by Kurt Johnson.
http://www.relationshipmktg.com/Free%20Articles/rmr080.pdf
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Highlights various companies.
Excerpts follow:
The Affinity Program
"The word affinity implies a strong relationship with mutual
interests. The affinity program seeks to increase the lifetime value
of customers by building strong relationships with them, without the
use of rewards.
** Value is added to customer relationships through
information-intensive communications, value-added benefits and
recognition. Examples include the Mighty Dog Club, Fox Video Club and
Burger King's Kid's Club.**
"In these examples, the brands themselves represent strong consumer
interests or lifestyles, whether in pets, movies or kids. Affinity
programs are applicable only where the brand represents a strong
lifestyle. The members of an affinity program need to be acutely
interested in your product and willing to invest time in learning more
about it. Examples of brands that represent lifestyles include
Volkswagen cars, Harley Davidson motorcycles, North Face outdoor
clothing, and Versace clothing. Brands or products that do not
represent a lifestyle include Chevrolet cars, Target Department stores
and most telecommunications and financial offerings."
"Affinity programs can endear a customer to your brand, but their
success may be more difficult to measure. Unlike a program with
rewards, there is no measurable direct response on which to base the
costs allocated to the program and the returns resulting from
incremental purchase activity. Microsoft has claimed that the members
of its Advantage Gold program generate 111 percent more revenue than
non-members. ("A hard drive for software," by Robert Dwek, in
Marketing, August 29, 1996) The question left unanswered is, "Did
Microsoft change purchase behaviors, or did it simply identify its
most valuable customers?"
(Read entire article for a complete overview of marketing strategies
to attract customers)
"Affinity Marketing," by Jaqueline Emigh. Computerworld (9/27/1999)
http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/ebusiness/story/0,10801,37078,00.html
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A good general overview of the concept, with examples from Quote.com,
and other online companies.
Though the article focuses primarily on ways to attract customers, the
following quote is applicable to your question:
"Companies that develop strong relationships with their customers
through personalization are also in the best position to drive
affinity marketing, according to Alan Warms, Participate.com's
president and CEO. "And the most effective means of creating loyalty
is to learn about your customers, he says."
"Sample Success Stories." Fulfillment Plus.
http://www.fulfillmentplus.com/success.asp
*******************************************
Partnering with a customer service company can increase customer
communication and affinity.
The following example is excerpted from the Fulfillment Plus website:
The Problem:
"AMFMi, a nationwide conglomerate of over 350 radio and television
stations, wanted to increase its affinity with listeners by selling
branded products online. AMFMi did not have the fulfillment or
customer service capabilities necessary to build customer rapport with
listeners. The company also did not to want to invest valuable time,
money and resources to add these services to its core business
capabilities."
The Solution:
"Fulfillment PLUS offered a one-stop outsourcing solution by
designing, integrating and managing a custom fulfillment and customer
support program that included:
Integrating Fulfillment PLUS’ computer systems with the client’s
systems.
Training Customer Service Advocates on the features and benefits of
the client’s branded product line.
Providing phone and e-mail post-sales support through our Customer
Care Center.
A Merchant Advocate to manage and be accountable for all program
components: Customer Care Center, fulfillment capabilities, and
valuable Market Intelligence."
The Benefits to AMFMi:
Streamlined client’s efforts and investment.
Maintained client’s professional image in the marketplace.
** Enhanced client’s relationship with listeners.**
Allowed client’s to focus on what they do best - run their own
business.
(Read further examples of New Basics and Pacific Bell)
"E-Mail Marketing: Refining communication Tactics to Increase Customer
Value." Jupiter Research
http://www.nyecomm.org/Misc/docs/mar01-v01.pdf
**********************************************
Companies can increase communication and affinity with customers by
using E-mail marketing according to customer's needs and desires.
Excerpts follow:
"E-mail marketing spending will grow to $9.4 billion in 2006, with
retention-based e-mail constituting the largest portion of the
industry.....Companies should maximize selling opportunities by using
their house list......"
**"In addition, marketers should allow consumers to set the parameters
of communications they expect to receive from the company; in this
way, marketers can avoid alienating many current and potential
customers."**
Read Executive Summary for more information pertaining to this
particular means of creating customer affinity.
"E-Mail Marketing - So Who Should Be Allowed to E-Mail Your Database?"
by Gavin Sinden. UNIM13
http://www.wnim.com/issue13/pages/emaillists.htm
********************************************************************************
Excerpts follow:
"Regular coordinated communications to people that know who you are
and have a positive view of your brand or product will bring you the
highest return on your email marketing."
"This is neither new nor surprising but few people at the moment are
really looking at how to move their customer communication strategy
from one off email blasts to a coordinated approach."
"This ongoing communication strategy then gives a potentially endless
number of opportunities to convert the prospect customer into value
for your organisation. Offline marketing, which costs between £0.30
and £25+ for each customer contact, does not lend itself to constant
regular communication to prospects that are not actually generating
value currently or are very unlikely to in the near future. But the
low cost of email communication means that it is now cost efficient to
maintain contact so that when the consumer enters the market or
receives a proposition that makes them understand the benefit of the
product they will buy from the company who has maintained the
relationship. This kind of ongoing customer communication strategy
allows the client to try multiple propositions to the same consumer.
"To Increase Sales to Boomer+ Customers Consider Developing a Customer
Loyalty Club," by Jim Gilmartin. Coming of Age, Inc. (2002
http://www.comingofage.com/Articles/articledocs/How_to_Create_a_Customer_Club.pdf
********************************************************************************
Loyalty, or affinity clubs, are a means that companies are employing
to develop relationships with their customers. The article contains a
lot of information about the value of establishing customer loyalty
clubs, and the feel of increased communication and affinity that the
customer develops.
"Members of loyalty clubs value their membership. They believe in the
host company, their products, their services ... and the people who
serve them. They feel a special sense of "belonging" to something.
Communication to these "best" is read, saved and acted upon."
Read the entire article for the full concept.
"Increasing Cardholders and Strengthening Ties with Customers."
http://www.saisoncard.co.jp/card/ci/ecorporate/operation/focus01.html
*********************************************************************
Highlights the Japanese Company Credit Saison’s efforts to increase
customer affinity and communication.
Excerpt:
"Customer Relations Management (CRM) has gained growing attention as a
means of improving the retention of existing cardholders in the
mature, competitive credit card market. Credit Saison’s fundamental
marketing policy is to provide products and services closely matched
to individual customer needs through analysis of its customer
database, including card usage patterns."
"Consequently, we have significantly increased test marketing that
focuses on specific issues, such as raising the frequency of card use,
increasing the revolving balance and securing superior customers. In
the current fiscal year, we will expand the scale of areas that proved
successful in test marketing and begin full-scale CRM measures."
"Efforts to enhance the functions of our call center will enable
direct, accurate collection of customer responses."
** "We are deepening communication with customers and building a solid
relationship with Saison cardholders."**
Additional Reading
********************
"Customer Retention is not Enough," by Stephanie Coyles and Timothy C
Gokey. The McKinsey Quarterly, 2002 Number 2.
http://www.customerfocusconsult.com/articles/articles_template.asp?ID=6
I hope the above information gives you a good start! Please let me
know if you need further help or the links do not work before rating
this answer!
umiat-ga
Google Search Strategy
+company examples AND customer affinity
increasing communication AND customer affinity |
Request for Answer Clarification by
toast305-ga
on
14 Feb 2003 15:14 PST
Hello. The information you provided is focused on clubs, points,
etc., and does not fit with my need. I am looking for
affinity/relationship building programs that can be generated from the
communications department of a leading insurance company in the
midwest. They're trying to enhance the relationship between
"corporate" and the customers. Even though the customer is "served"
by a sales representative, many times the reps. leave, go to a new
territory, etc.. In addition, about 40 percent of this company's
customers are "orphans," i.e. have no representative.
Sample approaches would be traditional things like newsletters and
anniversary letters. What other ideas are out there beyond CRM stuff.
Maybe it's email campaigns, interesting direct mail, feedback
surveys, hotlines, some sort of communication through their Web page.
I looked at your reviews, and it seems that you are quite good at this
type of research. I am hopeful that based on this additional
information, you can have a go at it again. Any help is deeply
appreciated.
To answer your question, it is definitely not an online company. In
fact, they are a very traditional, dependable life insurance company,
with millions of customers across the country. The customer: college
educated, $70K income, buys insurance at "trigger" events (births,
etc.), married, 70 percent male.
The company is interested in enhancing communication efforts with
current customers, but potential customers are also of interest.
Unique programs may be of interest too. For instance, I was thinking
about the sponsorship of collegiate basketball in one of their
territories. C
Look forward to your next try. And will be happy to pay more for good
stuff.
|
Clarification of Answer by
umiat-ga
on
14 Feb 2003 22:30 PST
Hello, toast305-ga!
Your original question was:
"What are leading companies doing in the way of enhancing customer
affinity. I'm talking about programs beyond CRM programs that track
usage and sales. I'm looking for communication-focused efforts."
While I certainly understand your comments in the clarification, I
believe I answered your original question as stated. Had you stated
these additional points in your initial question....that you were
concerned with an insurance company, in particular, and promotional
ideas like surveys, and even sponsoring collegiate basketball games, I
would have turned my focus in that direction.
In your clarification, you suggested:
"Sample approaches would be traditional things like newsletters and
anniversary letters. What other ideas are out there beyond CRM stuff.
Maybe it's email campaigns, interesting direct mail, feedback
surveys, hotlines, some sort of communication through their Web page."
I did, in fact, highlight two articles in my answer that dealt
specifically with e-mail communications:
E-Mail Marketing: Refining communication Tactics to Increase Customer
Value." Jupiter Research
http://www.nyecomm.org/Misc/docs/mar01-v01.pdf
**********************************************
"E-Mail Marketing - So Who Should Be Allowed to E-Mail Your Database?"
by Gavin Sinden. UNIM13
http://www.wnim.com/issue13/pages/emaillists.htm
Your clarification also pointed out that:
"I am looking for affinity/relationship building programs that can be
generated from the communications department of a leading insurance
company in the midwest."
I also touched on affinity programs in the article:
"Loyalty Marketing: Choosing the Right Program," by Kurt Johnson.
http://www.relationshipmktg.com/Free%20Articles/rmr080.pdf
However, you must understand that since your original question
mentioned nothing about a specific type of company, but asked,
instead, "What are leading companies doing......," I had no means of
getting specific in my response. I had to take a general approach.
If your original question had been more specific about the
particular type of company and types of communications you were
seeking, I could have been more direct with my answer. I could have
been more efficient with my response, and saved your some time as
well. Since you never responded to my clarification from several weeks
ago, so I could only proceed to answer with the information provided.
I am certainly capable, and certainly willing, to pursue this angle
more directly, with the new information you have provided. However, I
believe you have increased the information to such an extent that it
goes beyond the scope of the original question and focuses on some
different areas.
You stated:
"I am hopeful that based on this additional information, you can have
a go at it again...Look forward to your next try. And will be happy
to pay more for good stuff."
In all fairness,as you have stated that you have added "additional
information," I think you have created a new question with somewhat
different, and more concrete expectations. I am more than happy to
answer your new question with the extra information you have provided.
If you want to post another one, asking for this new information in
greater detail, I would be more than happy to pursue this topic
further. If you would like to direct the question to me, you may say
"for Umiat" in the post and I will certainly give it my best.
Thanks!
umiat
|
