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Retail Email Blog
April 30, 2009: Do This, Do That


From: Please add our new mailing address to your contact list
Subject Line: JetBlue Airways
Date: Thursday, April 9, 2009

I received this email from JetBlue a few Thursdays ago. My initial reaction: "What a gratuitous use of the channel. Overmailers! Why would JetBlue use a valuable send opportunity, asking me to (1) open and read their email, then (2) do some other boring administrative task after that, without giving me anything in return?

But maybe I am unreasonable. I'd really like to hear your opinion. Is this a wasted mail? Should it have been incorporated as a well-pronounced submessage rather than sent on it's own? Or maybe (my opinion) JetBlue should have just pumped up the "add to address book" messaging in their preheader for about a month, adding some language about the address change. Tell me what you think!

Only partially related: If you haven't seen it yet, the new JFK JetBlue terminal is finally done, and it doesn't totaly suck. It's actually quite nice. It's actually so nice compared to the frightening excuse for a temporary teriminal they had going on for a few years there. That was seriously a third-world nation experience. Anyway, if you've been avoiding flying them because of that very scary temporary terminal, avoid no more! Perhaps they should have messaged the new terminal as their primary ;).

Happy travels!

Comments

Hi Lisa

Very interesting - I got that JetBlue email too and came to the opposite conclusion!

After reading this post and on further reflection I think this is a perfect example of how easy it is to fall into the one size fits all approach to email trap. You I and JetBlue are both right and wrong.

This is what JetBlue could/should have done.

- Send frequent flyers or regular openers clickers and ticket purchasers, who really would miss out if their messages got junked, an extra “Please add our new mailing address to your contact list” message

- At the same time do what you suggest and pump up the "add to address book" messaging in their preheader for about a month, adding some language about the address change

DOH!

See you next week


Dela Quist is a genius :)!!!


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