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Email Marketing
Award Winners 2006
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Email Marketing Award Winner
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Best Cover Sheet:
Gold Consumer (tie)
Sprint Welcome Experience


Brand/Client Side Team:
Stephanie Wilroy, Kristen Barletta

Vendors/Agencies
Tequila, Digital Impact

MarketingSherpa Summary - Why They Won:
We like the way the copywriters for this campaign put themselves inside the mindset of a new customer. Instead of thinking about "What does Sprint want to communicate?" they thought, "What do new customers at this stage in the relationship want to know?" Brilliant copy equals great results metrics.

From Their Nomination Form:
The Sprint Welcome Experience is a series of three emails that drives to a content-rich microsite. The campaign is targeted to new customers who have just purchased a Nextel phone from Sprint (currently, the campaign is only applicable to new Nextel customers). The ultimate objective of the campaign is to drive customer loyalty by welcoming new customers to Sprint and providing the information they need to become familiar with their new phone. The three emails are sent bi-weekly over a six-week period. Each email covers a different set of tips to support the overall objective of the campaign: 1. 'Get to Know Your Phone' provides new customers with basic information about their phone, such as how to set up voicemail, store contacts and use the unique Nextel Walkie-Talkie feature. 2. 'Get to Know Your Bill' educates customers on what to expect from their first bill. It also provides information on how to proactively manage their account and payments online. This section was included based on learnings that customers are at risk of dropping their Sprint service after receiving their first bill since the bill typically includes the first two months of service instead of just the first.3. 'Get to Know Your Options' includes tips on how to personalize their phones with downloadable ring tones and wallpapers, as well as information on text and multimedia messaging. This section was included in an effort to build awareness of all the features and benefits customers have access to beyond just phone calls. The interactive nature of the web was leveraged to include flash animations in order to demonstrate both the value and ease of use of these services. Each email includes a detailed left-hand navigation bar that's organized into three sections, which corresponds to the three email themes. This allows the customer to refer back or jump forward to additional information at their own pace and convenience, regardless of which stage they're at in the Welcome Experience. The Welcome Experience campaign was developed with the intent to break the 'welcome experience convention'. Instead of sending the traditional single form letter, Sprint's Welcome Experience is a series of emails that targets customers during a period in their lifecycle when they are most likely to open emails. A new cell phone comes with an overwhelming amount of features and unique rate plan details. We attempted to avoid running the risk of information overload by delivering relevant and valuable information in a logical order (e.g. most basic information first and more advanced last). >From a design perspective, the efficiency of the Welcome Experience lies in the unique way the significant amount of information is organized via a series of emails and landing pages. Bulleted lists are used to cater to the 'scanning tendency' of most email readers. Copy is concise, clear and to the point. The layouts use an optimal mix of white space and imagery to avoid being copy heavy or overpowering. The design not only helps with readability, but also underscores the ease and simplicity of the message we are delivering.

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