After handling its 5 million-plus e-mail database in-house for years, British Airways, London, is outsourcing some of its e-mail marketing functions to e-Dialog, Lexington, MA.
“E-mail has become an increasingly important channel for us. For our customers, it is their preferred channel … particularly high-frequency travelers,” said Stuart Beamish, senior manager of relationship marketing for British Airways.
Though the airline also is increasingly focused on other technologies to communicate with customers, including mobile marketing and personal messaging on its Web site, www.ba.com, British Airways executives want to perfect e-mail before mobile and other solutions, Beamish said.
To that end, it recently hired e-Dialog, which also handles e-mail marketing for Tesco, Marks & Spencer and American Eagle Outfitters, to handle e-mail marketing to its Executive Club members and passengers who sign up to receive e-mails on its site. British Airways wants to use e-Dialog's analytics to make e-mails more relevant to customers.
“As we're managing messages across all of the different channels … we want to get the right message at the right time,” Beamish said.
E-Dialog also will help British Airways with delivery through its relationships with ISPs and give the airline the technology to “fully exploit the channel,” Beamish said.
Christine Blank covers online marketing and advertising, including e-mail marketing and paid search, for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
