By Susan Breslow Sardone
While many major marketers have switched from sending text to HTML email to engage customers and prospects, "The big trend is the increased usage of rich-media email," says Ben Isaacson, executive director of the Association for Interactive Media, a subsidiary of the DMA.
It's arrived just in time, as responses to standard email missives are declining. The Industry Standard notes: "Over the past year, the average click-through rate on an email ad has dropped by half, to around 5 percent."
"There is more email in the mail box," Isaacson admits. "But response rates for rich-media are increasing. Up to five times [the average rate] in some cases. Of course, it varies from campaign to campaign and reflects permission levels." And talk about viral: "I've heard forwarding rates of up to 75 percent.
"There are four or five big players in the development space and more companies are popping up every day," Isaacson continues. "The leader is Radical Mail [www.radicalmail.com] in Los Angeles, which uses technology to send what looks like a 30-second TV spot." Clients that have deemed the company radically right for their marketing and communications efforts include Microsoft, Nickelodeon, and the Republican National Committee.
Saks Fifth Avenue recently treated its opt-in list to an exceptional rich-media email: a virtual Mother's Day Gift Guide. San Mateo-based Digital Impact [www.digitalimpact.com], which Isaacson identifies as an innovator, was behind the effort for the specialty store. Extending Saks' "Live a Little" campaign theme, it embedded audio, animation, and a Flash movie. A viewer desiring any of the lingerie, fragrances, or other Mother's Day baksheesh displayed in the email could click through to its transaction page on the Saks Web site.
Another Isaacson pick, Pennsylvania-based TMX Interactive [www.tmxinteractive.com] has its own celebrity spokesperson shilling for the company's rich-media email advertising products: Shannon Sharpe, from the Superbowl-winning Baltimore Ravens. Under the agreement, Sharpe wears TMXInteractive logo apparel during his TV and personal appearances. TMX Interactive clients include such high-testosterone firms as Bobbi Brown cosmetics, Calvin Klein, and Armani Exchange.
Gizmoz rich-media emails [www.gizmoznetworks.com] are scoring points on their own. The New York City company helps clients create messages that can hold a variety of media real audio and video, mp3, shockwave, QuickTime - inside a java applet only 14k in size. When a Gizmo arrives, it creates a smart envelope for itself, AKA Gizmoz Collector, on the recipient's desktop. The Collector's eyeball icon blinks to indicate the arrival of subsequent material. Particularly viral, Gizmos can be re-sent via email, through ICQ, and copied onto Web sites.
In May, Toyota dispatched 250,000 Gimzoz to a prospect database that had opted-in for SUV information. The Flash presentation compared Toyota's 2001 models and featured 360-degree tours and links to local dealers and finance information. In June, new Gizmoz launched for Eonline! and CBS Sportsline, whose units will update baseball news and scores. To help media planners stay at the top of their game, Gizmoz' account management center enables clients to track campaign performance through in-depth data and comparative metrics.
Copyright © 2001 Susan Breslow Sardone