Database Management | Staples Business Rewards^SM

Staples was looking for a reliable, trusted partner to take on management and administration of their Staples Business Rewards database – no small task, considering the scale of their needs goes well into the trillions of records, and terabytes of data, all of which is highly sensitive.

After an extensive review process, Mercury was chosen to take on the challenge, and has housed Staples’ top corporate customers’ data for the last 8 years in our data center. Currently, Mercury supports Staples database marketing efforts and manages a wide variety of tasks for Small Business Rewards program, including:

• Real-time feeds of transaction data
• Producing trackable coupon codes and offers
• Customizing ad-hoc and exposure reporting
• Performance analysis
• Data queries and list pulls

The Business Rewards program is a complex marketing platform that generates millions in additional revenue for Staples, and would not be possible without Mercury’s technical expertise, attention to detail and top-class data facility.

Consumer Insight | Cigna 'Well-Informed' Program

As part of the health insurance industry’s shift towards encouraging patients to actively manage their own health, CIGNA Healthcare chose Mercury to develop a means of personalizing this message to their nationwide network of members and physicians.

In order to position the tone and overall presentation of this sensitive information, Mercury conducted nation-wide focus groups of CIGNA members who were the target of this campaign.

Key insights about the appropriate tone and messaging of this campaign derived from these focus groups served as a solid foundation for the development of the Well-Informed program - a sophisticated direct mail platform. Each CIGNA member and their physician received a letter that included full-color information and recommendations on health care risk areas that pertained specifically to them, based on their health and claims history.

The Well-Informed program is just one example of a successful Mercury solution – a perfect blend of fully-vetted, practical marketing strategy and flawless creative execution.

Customer Segmentation | Shaws

With a growing consumer database, Shaw’s turned to Mercury to drive brand loyalty and incremental sales by identifying and connecting with profitable customer segments.

Mercury’s Analytics and Data Services teams examined the data Shaw's had collected, and identified several distinct customer segments that could be communicated to in a personalized and relevant way. This data-mining initiative enabled Shaws to craft several lifestyle and product affinity sub-brands that engaged their top customers with messages relevant to their buying patterns and preferences, including:

Shaw's most successful ongoing program, geared towards young families, introduced member referral and optimized offline communications. Mercury was also engaged to develop a recruitment strategy for this program.

Targets active customers who lead a healthy lifestyle. Mercury supported the growth of this program with integrated campaigns, including variable content direct mail campaigns and regional radio spots.

Mercury supported these affinity programs with bold in-store collateral that drove enrollment and awareness of these sub-brands.

These customer programs, coupled with other Mercury initiatives with Shaw's, continue to strengthen the bond with key customer segments through relevant offers and information – driving incremental sales and significant ROI.

Click the thumbnails below to view creative for the different programs.

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Customer Segmentation | Tweeter

Tweeter (also known as HiFi Buys, Sound Advice and Showcase), a high end electronics retailer operating in a highly competitive and rapidly changing market, tapped Mercury to help them establish a deeper relationship with their existing customers, and convert more one-time buyers into repeating, loyal customers.

The process began with a comprehensive assessment and consolidation of several disparate data sources into a centralized marketing database, hosted and maintained in Mercury’s data center. Before proceeding with marketing campaigns to encourage true brand loyalty with customers, Tweeter first had to get to know them – their purchasing behavior, favored products, average spend, etc. Mercury’s Data Services and Analytics teams were able to mine a large amount of accumulated transaction information, and segment the audience based on both customer value and exhibited purchase behavior.

Marrying this new understanding of Tweeter’s customers with the business' goals and desired customer behavior enabled Mercury to develop several dramatically successful marketing campaigns that generated triple-digit ROI.

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Integrated Campaigns | KB Toys 'KB Clubhouse' Program

KB Toys chose Mercury to develop an integrated customer program that would drive increased brick-and-mortar store traffic, create a marketable email/direct mail database and foster a more engaging brand presence.

In just a few short months, Mercury developed and executed the KB Clubhouse, a customer engagement program that kids and adults alike could interact with across multiple channels, and have a consistent and fun experience. Kids could visit the website for games and fun activities, and parents were given access to exclusive savings and information, including tips on party planning, picking the right toys for their child, etc. The program included:

• Consolidating existing customer data and providing KB Toys with a new marketing platform to leverage for future DM and email campaigns
• Simultaneously rolling out a cross-channel program both online via a website and multiple email campaigns, as well as to 600 retail locations nationwide
• Recruiting members for the program on- and offline

The KB Clubhouse was a great success, with customers staying on the site an average of over 3 minutes per visit, and over 60,000 members enrolling within 6 months of launch. With the KB Clubhouse, Mercury gave KB Toys a solid marketing platform for complex, personalized future campaigns that drove store traffic, a permanent avenue for ongoing customer acquisition, and an active, engaged audience with which to communicate.

Click the thumbnails below to view creative for the program.

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Integrated Campaigns | ZOOTS Customer Acquisition

ZOOTS, a high-end, environmentally-conscious dry cleaner, had a problem: their customers loved their service, but they were having trouble locating enough new leads to support their growth objectives. ZOOTS approached Mercury to help them identify new sources of prospects and convert them in order to increase the overall size of their customer base.

Mercury began by profiling the current ZOOTS customer – how far did they typically travel to their local ZOOTS store? What was their average income? Which demographic and geographic traits made them prime candidates for ZOOTS’ services? By leveraging an established picture of the ideal ZOOTS customer, Mercury was able to source and radius-map desirable prospects living within a set distance of several store locations in key test markets.

With the ideal prospects clearly identified, Mercury developed and launched a cross-channel acquisition campaign that included targeted direct mail and a regional radio spot, both of which highlighted the superior convenience and service ZOOTS provides over their competitors.

Listen to the regional radio spot Mercury developed for ZOOTS.

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Segment Of One | CVS/pharmacy Gas Savings DM

With gas prices on the rise, CVS/pharmacy asked Mercury to formulate a strategy to counter increasing competition from big-box retailers. Since the traditional areas of price and variety were both strengths of the competition, Mercury was able to identify convenience of their larger store network as a strong competitive advantage.

To help CVS take their message to a new level of personalization and relevance, Mercury leveraged its marketing strategy, data management and executional capabilities to create this truly segment-of-one communication. Pushing the limits of data and digital printing technology, Mercury developed a data-driven model that mapped the driving distance between a customer's residence and the nearest Target® or Walmart® versus their local CVS. For each individual customer, this figure was used to calculate and digitally depict an aggregate monthly gas savings the individual could achieve by shopping at CVS.

Once the DM was complete, Mercury took the creative concept online; transforming the DM into a targeted email push. Together, these communications became one of CVS's most successful campaigns, and serve as a benchmark for further marketing efforts.

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Segment Of One | CVS Personalized Circular

With newspaper circulation down and printing costs rising, CVS challenged Mercury to make their nationally-distributed circular more engaging, relevant and cost-effective.

Pairing deep understanding of the CVS database with in-house email marketing expertise, Mercury developed an ongoing, personalized email campaign informing customers of their three favorite products on sale that week.

For each send, Mercury efficiently built a product image repository that matches to a regional pricing grid. Business rules then drive the automatic population of email template fields based on customer account data and purchase history.

Once again, Mercury leveraged its marketing strategy, data management and executional capabilities to create this Segment Of One communication. This email has performed extremely well in market – improving customer engagement and driving incremental store traffic and sales.

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