Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Quiznos Email Stumble

Yesterday I received an email from Quiznos with a couple of coupons, which I quickly ignored and focused on the main portion of the email. The email was set up well with the main tie in above the fold and strategically it does a good job of tying into the current TV spot. The execution of the other hand left me confused and sad.

I don’t particularly care for the strategy behind the TV commercial with the creepy talking stove. I do have to give them credit for continuing it and bringing into this personalized email. Immediately I tie the stove to the TV commercial and there is a shared benefit. Then I saw the speech bubble and laughed. The speech bubble is entirely too large for the amount of type that fills it. The attempt at personalization is awful. Worst of all, this portion of the email doesn’t offer me anything new.

I understand the need for a speech bubble but does it really need to take up so much space, while the type inside takes up so little of the bubble? During the TV commercial the oven speaks, and the only way to convey that in a stationary picture is to have a speech bubble. Makes perfect sense, but please don’t waste so much space. There is a time and place for white space and it can be used very effectively. This is not one of those times. The space would be much better used giving me a reason to get a Torpedo.

Personalizing an email is a good way to avoid the dreaded spam label. I had registered with Quiznos during a previous promotion, so they had my name and email. The logical thing to do is use my name in the speech bubble as the oven is talking to me. But if you are trying to talk to me like we are friends, don’t assume things you don’t know are for sure. The oven says it is waiting for me to try its “greatest creation”. How does Quiznos know if I have tried the Torpedo or not? Maybe I have tried the Torpedo and loved it. They would be better off greeting me and moving on to tell me something about the sub.

Which brings me to the worst part of this email, which is that it does nothing. The email brings nothing new to my attention. There is a coupon which is a good start, but the coupon lies below the fold and if I wasn’t looking at this email as a critic, I would have closed it and moved on with my life. All the speech bubble does is repeat the price, which is already given to me at the top of the email and in the TV commercial. I am a captive audience right now. I’m sitting at my computer reading the email. Instead of going into why this sub is the oven’s “greatest creation”, they just tell me the same information I already know.

What do you think about this email? Does it do anything to make you want to get a Torpedo?

-Dennis

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