Unless you are on holiday on a desert island, without access to TV or the internet, you will have heard about BA's (& BAA's) difficulty in getting passengers and luggage through the new terminal 5 at Heathrow.
Traditionally, many brands facing similar levels of negative PR would cancel marketing communications activity and start again in a more 'favourable climate'. I was interested to see that BA sent me an email this morning saying '..there's no better time to book your next holiday'. This might be true. But is it with BA?
Why would BA send this email out now? Possibly because:-
- they believe the problem is over - unlikely
- they don't agree with the view 'don't advertise during a PR disaster' - brave if true
- email is different to conventional advertising so traditional rules don't count - this is often true but I am not sure I agree it applies this time
- email is low cost so it doesn't matter - dangerous as it ignores the effect on consumer's perception
- no one told the email team to stop advertising - possible
- email is a low cost / low risk way of testing the water - most likely for me but not without risks
- something else I haven't thought of!
Email marketing to customers or opt-in prospects can be a powerful, fast and cost effective way of web marketing. But like all marketing communication, it is important to understand what the target audience is thinking and what you would like them to think. Right now, the 'elephant in the room' is missing baggage and cancelled flights.
I wonder if a BA competitor sent me an email saying 'Book a flight with us to the USA and the bags come too!' what my reaction would be?
Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.
Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.
No comments:
Post a Comment