• by Staff Writers , September 6, 2007

Savvy marketers need to use targeting and offer quality content to convince consumers to open e-mail messages.

* WINNER *
BRIDES.COM
Brides.com Weekly Newsletter

Pam Quandt, Executive Director, Marketing and Creative Services; Jen Gaonach, Online Marketing Director

Brides.com, a web property of Conde Nast Bridal Media, offers original content, as well as features aggregated from its print publications like Brides and Modern Bride.

The accompanying subscription-based e-mail newsletter goes out on a weekly basis, delivering brides-to-be (and their family members, friends and grooms) articles on timely topics - like how to have a "green" wedding for Earth Day.

The newsletter also invites users to join the Brides.com community forums, and features tools and tips from brides at every stage of the wedding planning process. As a result, the e-mail campaign averages a 30 percent open rate, with a 50 percent clickthrough rate on links, articles and sponsored items.

SPUNLOGIC/WISEnKLEIN
Coca-Cola North America

Spunlogic: Lisa Clark, Shannon Delaney, Jay Juhn
WISEnKLEIN: Lynn Klein, Johanna Blood
The Coca-Cola Company: April Jordin, Allyson Park, Randy Donaldson

Spunlogic's task was a relaunch of Coca-Cola North America's internal e-new letter, CCNA Direct- with increased frequency and a streamlined design - and on a limited budget.

Spunlogic increased the frequency of the newsletter from once a month to bi-monthly, and cut the number of stories from more than 20 per issue, to 7-8. In addition, the agency changed the newsletter's design to highlight 3-4 "Top Stories," included seasonal features like employee recipes, as well as a new option for Blackberry users.

Post relaunch, CCNA saw a 65 percent increase to the newsletter's supporting Intranet site, and a 9 percent increase in Blackberry subscribers. SpunLogic also completed the tasks on the budget of one-time fees for research and design.

THINDATA
Air Canada

ThinData: John Vavaroutsos, Creative Director; Denis Chernyavsky, Web Developer; Tomo Kato, Designer; Matthew Ma, Designer; Gail Forrester, Production Manager

Thindata's task was to redesign Air Canada's weekly webSaver e-mail newsletter (after three years of success). In addition to the goals of increased clickthroughs and a reduction in unsubscribe requests, Air Canada also wanted to add more personalization to the newsletter.

ThinData embedded "customer choice tools" into the newsletter, links that allowed subscribers to continuously refine the kinds of info they received - be it trip specials, new attractions at their "Preferred Destinations," or details on upcoming trip accommodations with "My Hotel" and "My Car Rentals."

Post relaunch unsubscribe rates fell by 60 percent (three times Air Canada's goal of 20 percent), and clickthroughs increased by 21 percent (Air Canada's goal was 10 percent). Tracking data also showed increased use of the customization tools.