A Pink Panther Intimates rich media e-mail campaign is expected to boost sales of the MGM Consumer Products teen intimate apparel brand at participating retailers.
MGM Consumer Products is sending nearly 60,000 RadicalMail e-mails to girls 13- to 17-years-old in the Southern and Southeast United States, culling addresses from its MGM database, as well as from teen sites Alloy.com and Seventeen.com.
The campaign started March 9 and will finish on April 8.
The e-mail allows users to click to view a short Pink Panther video clip or click to obtain a free gift voucher for trying on the line at Parisians, Carson Pirie Scott and Younkers stores. At stores, they present the voucher to cashiers after trying on Pink Panther Intimates and receive a free gift. Within the e-mail, users can also click to download the Screenmate, a screensaver that includes a graphic of the Pink Panther walking across the screen.
With a limited marketing budget, one of MGM's primary goals in using the targeted e-mail is to “get the most bang out of our buck,” according to A.J. Rhodes, coordinator, worldwide marketing, MGM Consumer Products, while implementing a creative campaign. The bright, flashy e-mail ties-in with the creative elements of MGM's Pinkpanther.com and the “spirit of Pink Panther,” Rhodes said. “Online exposure and directed e-mails…are a vital part of any new millennium marketing campaign,” Rhodes said.
“The goal of the campaign was to do a targeted campaign, crossing as many platforms as we can, including direct mail, online and in-store,” Rhodes said. The campaign includes in-store signage with the Pink Panther URL and the words, “Your World Just Got a Whole Lot Pinker.” Nearly 100,000 direct mail postcards also urged teens to visit the stores. One card read, “Visit the Parisians Intimate Apparel department and slip into smooth new styles in Pink Panther undies, bras, camisoles and tees.”
The multi-faceted campaign has already resulted in “real strong sales,” Rhodes said, but he doesn't have specific results. “I think [the success] is a combination of everything: direct mail, in-store and online,” Rhodes said.
Other goals of the campaign are to raise brand awareness and increase traffic and sales at Pinkpanther.com. A viral aspect allowed viewers to send the Free Gift Voucher e-mail to up to three of their friends.
Since this is MGM Consumer Products' first rich media e-mail campaign, the company wanted to test it on a regional scale, Rhodes said. After another similar test in California in the third quarter, MGM Consumer Products executives will evaluate rolling out a national campaign.
MGM is also adding features to Pinkpanther.com with more “fun things” for juniors, such as a Top 10 list of “what you can do with Pink Panther Intimates” and graphics of the Pink Panther walking across the screen. “Whatever we do, whether it's print or retail or whatever, we try to get traffic up on the site,” Rhodes said.
