lifting the lid on communication channels in the digital age: the real story
TRANSCRIPT
Lifting the lid on communication channels in the Digital Age: the real story.
A completely new way of looking at mail• New independent research reveals how to reach
customers and influence them to consider a purchase, and to actually purchase.
• Produces insights into which communication channels are actually most effective.
• Debunks a common view that email and SMS might work better than ‘old hat’ paper-based communications
• Personally addressed, paper-based communications by mail remains among the most effective tools available to reach and influence customers and the outcomes business wants.
Research MethodologyQualitative
• 32 in-depth interviews with senders of communications
• 8 focus groups with personal and business communication receivers
Quantitative 1,550 computer-aided
telephone (CATI) interviews
Australia wide
4 respondent groups
– personal receivers
– business receivers
– senders to personal
– senders to business
Media Channels StudiedWe included 11 key media channels in the research that represent most marketing communication activity and spending in Australia:
Paper Electronic & Telephony
Mass/ Traditional Media
Other
– Personally Addressed Mail
– Generic “To the Householder”Addressed Mail
– Catalogue / Brochure
– Telephone
– SMS
– Television
– Radio
– Newspaper
– Magazine
– Door-to-Door
Channel Attributes
• Easy to reject
• Enjoyable
• Trustworthy
• Informative
Communication channels were compared on the basis of the following attributes
• Convenient
• Acceptable
• Entertaining
• Reliable
• Appropriate
• Objectionable
• Annoying
• Time consuming
• Difficult to ignore
• Disruptive
Two PerspectivesSpoke with both Receivers and Senders of Marketing Communications
− Consumer segment− Business segment
Are there mismatches between what receivers prefer and what senders think receivers might prefer?
Perceptual Map of Communication Channels and Their Attributes – Receivers in the Consumer Segment
TV
House Letter
SMS
Door-to-door
objectionable
difficult to ignoredisruptive
informative
Phone Catalogue
Radio NewspaperMagazine
convenient
entertaining
reliable
appropriate
annoying
time consuming
acceptableenjoyable
trustworthy
-0.35
-0.25
-0.15
-05
0.05
0.15
0.25
0.35
-0.9 -0.7 -0.5 -0.3 -0.1 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9
▲easy to reject
Perceptual Map of Communication Channels and Their Attributes - Senders in the Consumer Segment
EmailSMS
Door-to-door objectionable
difficult to ignore
informative
Phone TV
House Letter
Catalogue
Radio
Newspaper
Magazine
convenient
entertainingreliable
appropriate
annoying
time consuming
acceptable
enjoyable
trustworthy
-0.55
-0.35
-0.15
0.05
0.25
0.45
-0.9 -0.7 -0.5 -0.3 -0.1 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.90
▲easy to reject
Perceptual Map of Communication Channels and Their Attributes - Business Receivers
TVSMS
Door-to-door
difficult to ignore
informative
Phone
Work Letter Brochure
RadioNewspaper
Magazineconvenient
entertaining
reliable appropriate
objectionable
annoying
time consuming
disruptive
acceptable
enjoyable
trustworthy
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 10
Perceptual Map of Communication Channels and Their Attributes - Business Senders
TV
SMS
difficult to ignore
Phone
Work Letter
Brochure
Radio
Newspaper
Magazine
Door-to-door
convenient
entertaining
reliable
appropriate
objectionable
annoying
time consuming
disruptive
acceptableenjoyable
informative
trustworthy
-0.4
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Part Two: A Designed Experiment• Why - to assess the relative effectiveness of media
channels for:• Promotional offers• Transactional communications
• How - created two credible hypothetical sales propositions, both of which might reasonably be promoted through any or all eleven media under consideration
• Who• Current customer (25%)• Current non-customer (75%)
Designed Experiment – Consumer Scenarios
Scenario 1: Superannuation Promotion (50%)
Scenario 2: TV Product Information (50%)
Scenario 3: Mobile Phone Bill (100%)
Designed Experiment (cont…)Scenario 1: Superannuation Promotion (50%)
Imagine that a superannuation provider wants to communicate to you a promotion where new members of a particular fund are charged no fees for the first 12 months. Over the last ten years, the fund has returned an average of 7.5% per annum.
Scenario 2: TV Product Information (50%)
Imagine that a department store wants to communicate to you information about a new wide-screen plasma TV. The TV is not expensive, 42 inches (105cm) wide and capable of displaying high-definition images.
Designed Experiment – Business Scenarios
Scenario 1: Temp Agency Promotion (50%)
Scenario 2: Portable Projector Information (50%)
Scenario 3: Catering Invoice (100%)
AttitudesWelcome, Pleasant
Purchase IntentionAct on the offer
InterestConsider, Investigate
Outcomes for hypothetical scenarios
Personal Receivers
– Enjoyable– Entertaining– Reliable– Appropriate– Not objectionable
Purchase
Consider purchase
Pay bill on time
Attributes that increase business results when sending to PERSONAL RECEIVERS
Purchase Intentions of Receivers and Senders by Channel – Personal Receivers
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
Newspaper DM media Mass Media
Phone Email SMS
Reg
ress
ion
Co
effi
cie
nt
Receivers Senders
Channel Matrices – Personal Receivers
*Channels highlighted in blue are paper-based channels
Most Effective Less Effective Least Effective
Seek further information
- Radio- Magazine Ad- Newspaper Ad- Catalogue / Brochure
-Personally addressed letter- Television
- Door-to-door
- Generic addressed letter
- Telephone call at home
- SMS
Consider as a purchase option…
- Newspaper- Radio- Magazine- Catalogue / Brochure
-Personally addressed letter- Television
- Generic addressed letter
- Email- Door-to-door- Telephone call at home
- SMS
Purchase… - Radio- Newspaper- Magazine- Catalogue / Brochure
-Personally addressed letter- Television
- Generic addressed letter
- Email- Door-to-door- Telephone call at home
- SMS
Pay bill by the due date…
- Personally addressed letter - Email - SMS
Business Receivers
• Convenient
• Acceptable
• Appropriate
• Not disruptive
Attributes that increase business results when sending to BUSINESS RECEIVERS
Purchase
Consider purchase
Pay bill on time
Purchase Intentions of Receivers and Senders by Channel - Business Receivers
-2
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
Magazines Newspaper DM media Mass Media
Phone Email SMS
Reg
ress
ion
Co
effi
cie
nt
Receivers Senders
Channel Matrices – Business Receivers
*Channels highlighted in blue are paper-based channels
Most Effective Less Effective Least Effective
Seek further information…
- Radio- Magazine - Personally addressed letter- Brochure
- Television- Newspaper- Generic addressed letter- Door-to-doorl
- Email- Telephone call at work
- SMS
Consider as a purchase option…
- Brochure - Personally addressed letter- Radio- Television
- Magazine- Newspaper
-Door-to-door
- Email- Telephone call at work- Generic addressed letter
- SMS
Purchase… - Radio- Personally addressed letter - Television - Magazine
- Newspaper - Generic addressed letter - Door-to-door
- Telephone call at work- Email
- SMS
Pay bill by the due date…
- Personally addressed letter- Email
- SMS
Major findings• It cannot be assumed that a
communication channel is more effective because it is used more.
• Age is no barrier - regardless of age, mass media, personally addressed letters, catalogues / brochures and generically addressed letters outperform email and SMS.
• Disruption or ‘cut through’ does not influence business outcomes in this study
Understanding the Effect of DisruptionCase Study:
A respondent explained that he had recently defected from a mobile service provider to an alternate supplier.
As the end of his mobile phone contract neared, the mobile service provider sent him an SMS message to encourage contract renewal.
Sometime later and without a reply, another SMS message was sent with a similar message. These messages continued intermittently as the contract neared its end.
Despite being a satisfied customer of the provider, the respondent decided not to renew his contract because he had been “annoyed” by the SMS messages.
Senders beliefs of which channels are best for different communications
Senders to Consumers Senders to Business
Promotional Comms
Branding Comms
Operational Comms –
bills/invoicesPromotional
CommsBranding Comms
Operational Comms –
bills/invoices
Mail 29 15 75 35 17 69
Phone 2 0 0 4 0 1
Email 16 4 20 17 5 28
Web 5 3 4 3 2 1
TV 20 41 0 14 34 0
Catalogue 4 2 0 3 3 0
SMS 2 0 0 0 0 0
Radio 4 5 0 2 3 0
Newspaper 9 18 0 7 17 0
Magazine 2 6 0 5 8 0
Door-to-door 4 1 0 8 3 1
Other 5 6 1 3 7 1
Effectiveness of PaperPaper-based communication:
• is the preferred channel for transactional communications - far ahead of SMS and email.
• produces very positive outcomes for senders to both personal and business receivers, be they marketing or transactional communications.
• Payment of a bill on time more likely
• Product / service purchase more likely
Personally / generically addressed letters outperformed email for all business outcomes
Summary of Outcomes
SMS / email
• Lags behind paper via mail on delivering business outcomes
• Email unable to match paper’s reliability, trustworthiness, tangibility
• SMS rated unfavourable against paper on all dimensions
• Produces lower purchase intentions
Mass Media
• Performs very well against SMS, email, telephone
• Generally equivalent to paper-based media
Paper-based via mail
• Performs very well against SMS, email, telephone
• Receiver is “in control”
• Paper is tangible, trustworthy, reliable
• Delivers superior business results compared with digital channels
Questions