Very Sneaky-Clever Warner

I see it as a way for them to continue building a relationship with you. Call it graded levels of commitment (GLC), upselling, or a customer loyalty program. They are just trying to provide more of what they offer to the world. I don’t know of a successful business that doesn’t do it.

iTunes tells Chris (a current customer) they have more to offer. Chris tells us (his non-paying readers) that he provides blog outreach programs – see his previous post. Both entities are making an attempt to inform potential clients about their offerings. Both are trying to strengthen their relationship with a captive audience.

Is there a huge difference?

If they contact you only this first time, I’d say clever. From the second time on, it’s exponentially annoying.

It is most certainly clever using your preferences and suggesting more to you. At least that was based n something you already purchased rather than a search term or a website you visited.

If you buy a suit, the salesman suggests a nice tie to go with it.
If you subscribe to a magazine, you’re guaranteed to get promos for other titles from the publisher.
Geez, even McDonalds asks if you’d like fries with that?
You got something from them, regardless of the fact that it was free, it would be naive to think that they wouldn’t want to build an ongoing relationship with you.
Are there any site operators out there who have given out free e-books and then not followed up with the individual to keep them coming back?
This really isn’t anything new.

If you buy a suit, the salesman suggests a nice tie to go with it.
If you subscribe to a magazine, you’re guaranteed to get promos for other titles from the publisher.
Geez, even McDonalds asks if you’d like fries with that?
You got something from them, regardless of the fact that it was free, it would be naive to think that they wouldn’t want to build an ongoing relationship with you.
Are there any site operators out there who have given out free e-books and then not followed up with the individual to keep them coming back?
This really isn’t anything new.

Cleaver – and quite honestly expected and just good 1:1 marketing. As the people I shop with learn about my likes and dislikes I appreciate and welcome their suggestions.

Clever! Greatly reduces the annoyance factor that it’s a sales ad. Just building on contact with existing clients.

Chris –

As a guy who spends his day thinking about Email Marketing (I work at Email Service Provider, Bronto), this is exactly they type of data all marketers should be using to their advantage, IMHO. On our blog, on the phone, (sometimes to my wife), I preach that email should be timely, relevant, targeted, etc. This email certainly hits on all 3. Timely in that you’ve just purchased. You’re already thinking about Dark Night (upsell). Relevant in that they already know you own the movie, therefore it makes sense to offer you complimentary products. Targeted in that this is a one-off email, not a blast…one of my least favorite terms.

I say that whoever is helping iTunes with their email marketing strategy nailed it. Do you mind sharing the from name (iTunes?) and subject line of this email? Also, you clearly opened the email, but did you click on any links? Did you purchase anything else as a result?

dj

–
DJ Waldow
Director of Best Practices & Deliverability at Bronto

Chris –

As a guy who spends his day thinking about Email Marketing (I work at Email Service Provider, Bronto), this is exactly they type of data all marketers should be using to their advantage, IMHO. On our blog, on the phone, (sometimes to my wife), I preach that email should be timely, relevant, targeted, etc. This email certainly hits on all 3. Timely in that you’ve just purchased. You’re already thinking about Dark Night (upsell). Relevant in that they already know you own the movie, therefore it makes sense to offer you complimentary products. Targeted in that this is a one-off email, not a blast…one of my least favorite terms.

I say that whoever is helping iTunes with their email marketing strategy nailed it. Do you mind sharing the from name (iTunes?) and subject line of this email? Also, you clearly opened the email, but did you click on any links? Did you purchase anything else as a result?

dj

–
DJ Waldow
Director of Best Practices & Deliverability at Bronto

I think relevant is the word you are looking for. Not rude. Not clever.

No the big question is, what if Kat bought you a digital download as a joke? Say, a digital version of “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ?” Would you be getting some rude offers now?

On another note, has anyone found your footer that says, “This site runs on WordPress with a Thesis theme framework pimped out by Chris Pearson.” to be rude? “Pimped” may be used on MTV and in certain social circles but it is not a professional word to be use in business settings.

Chris,
Nevermind what we think about, you were the target, what do you think about? And that’s really what it’s all about right? To Apple and Warner Brothers you are a highly qualified and engaged digital video customer. Did you purchase another digital movie? Did you preview any? If so the ad paid off. If not but you clicked or passed on the ad, then it was still effective.
This goes to a larger theory about advertising. People claim to hate advertising, yet they don’t mind it if the ad is from a brand or for a product they’re interested in.
As others have also mentioned, they’d be fools not to take advantage of the data they collected.

Chris,
Nevermind what we think about, you were the target, what do you think about? And that’s really what it’s all about right? To Apple and Warner Brothers you are a highly qualified and engaged digital video customer. Did you purchase another digital movie? Did you preview any? If so the ad paid off. If not but you clicked or passed on the ad, then it was still effective.
This goes to a larger theory about advertising. People claim to hate advertising, yet they don’t mind it if the ad is from a brand or for a product they’re interested in.
As others have also mentioned, they’d be fools not to take advantage of the data they collected.

For the record, I think it’s super clever. It’s what we all want, isn’t it? We want people to advertise to us the things we might actually want. That mail was rife with links that I wanted to click. I went to the Apple store and I did look around. It was exactly what it should be.

@Tim Street – hmmm. I guess you’re right. Inside the code, by the way, on the side you can’t see, there’s also the “Big Ass Save Button.” Mebbe I’ll shift that language a bit, once I find it.

I think it is marvelous. Targeted, conversational, relevant, not a magaphone screaming, 800 BUY CARS!, over and over for 60 seconds of our life. Classier than Amazons graphics although no one knows me better, from a consumer standpoint.

I think it is marvelous. Targeted, conversational, relevant, not a magaphone screaming, 800 BUY CARS!, over and over for 60 seconds of our life. Classier than Amazons graphics although no one knows me better, from a consumer standpoint.

To think this is anything but clever – lets go farther – lets call it expected. Web 2.0 is about conversation and responding to knowledge. In my thinking if they really do have more things you might be interested in looking at the would not be doing you justice by keeping it to themselves. I think it is more like an obligation. They have your contact information, they know what you have done why not try to engage you further – more companies should be doing this – * large asterisk here – as long as there is an opt out and they adhere to the opt out if asked.

I actually have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, if you got this ad from them, you’re obviously already an iTunes customer, otherwise you would’ve chosen the windows media player format. So in this way, are they just preaching to the choir?

On the other hand unless you opted in to receive the advertisement, they may be crossing some boundaries. My local pizza delivery has recently decided that because they have my phone number (which is used for account identification/address lookup when you call) they feel they now have the right to call and advertise to me. Yes, I’m a customer, but this is outside of what I have permitted as well.Email advertisements such as the one above can fall into that same area of grey.

I actually have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, if you got this ad from them, you’re obviously already an iTunes customer, otherwise you would’ve chosen the windows media player format. So in this way, are they just preaching to the choir?

On the other hand unless you opted in to receive the advertisement, they may be crossing some boundaries. My local pizza delivery has recently decided that because they have my phone number (which is used for account identification/address lookup when you call) they feel they now have the right to call and advertise to me. Yes, I’m a customer, but this is outside of what I have permitted as well.Email advertisements such as the one above can fall into that same area of grey.

So apart from obvious the privacy concerns, it seems that most people here actually want to receive adverts?

Yeah, it’s really clever. About as clever as me ringing you up and asking if you want to buy double glazing…

You mention ‘the community’ a lot. Which community is it – marketing bought our souls?

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Yeah, it’s really clever. About as clever as me ringing you up and asking if you want to buy double glazing…