SEATTLE, February 17, 2009 — Smith-Harmon, Inc., an email marketing strategy and creative services agency, and Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), the national outdoor gear and apparel retailer, have been named the winners of the Email Experience Council’s People’s Choice Award: Best in Email for their work together on REI’s new member welcome series.
The welcome campaign consists of 12 email messages that are sent to new co-op members over the course of their first year of membership, culminating in a 1-year anniversary message. In addition to creating a dialogue between REI and its newest members, the campaign is also one of the company’s inaugural efforts to leverage membership data to increase relevancy in REI customer communications.
“Selecting a winner for this year’s People’s Choice Award was a simple task,” said Jeanniey Mullen, founder of the Email Experience Council. “Within minutes of opening up voting to the eec membership, this campaign was identified as a winner. The eec received a tremendous number of email messages and notes from those who voted praising the creative and effective approach this campaign used. We were thrilled to award the People’s Choice Award to Smith-Harmon and REI at our annual Email Evolution Conference and hope that this campaign inspires other email marketers to strive for such outstanding results.”
Lisa Harmon, co-founder and principal at Smith-Harmon, said, “When there are still a significant number of marketers who don’t send a welcome email at all, REI’s 12-email new member welcome series is truly remarkable. Focused on engagement through brand messaging and education, it stands in sharp contrast to the highly promotional tenor of most retail emails, and shows that the soft-sell approach delivers higher lifetime value.”
Meg Reynolds, REI’s manager of email programs, said, “REI is delighted with this recognition from the EEC and its members. It’s great to have industry peers acknowledge your efforts as best-of-class. Smith-Harmon translates the REI brand with exceptional skill and nuance in our email communications. It’s a great partnership.”
Each email in the welcome series showcases photography submitted by REI members and focuses on a single topic—whether it’s REI’s environment stewardship, member dividends or educational resources. The images and language highlight REI’s passionate commitment to its members, local communities and the great outdoors, while encouraging new members to take part in the REI community through stewardship, outdoor clinics, gear reviews and more.
View the creatives for the 12 emails in REI’s new member welcome series.
The winner of the eec People’s Choice Award: Best in Email was announced at the Email Evolution Conference, which was held Feb. 9-11 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The welcome campaign consists of 12 email messages that are sent to new co-op members over the course of their first year of membership, culminating in a 1-year anniversary message. In addition to creating a dialogue between REI and its newest members, the campaign is also one of the company’s inaugural efforts to leverage membership data to increase relevancy in REI customer communications.
“Selecting a winner for this year’s People’s Choice Award was a simple task,” said Jeanniey Mullen, founder of the Email Experience Council. “Within minutes of opening up voting to the eec membership, this campaign was identified as a winner. The eec received a tremendous number of email messages and notes from those who voted praising the creative and effective approach this campaign used. We were thrilled to award the People’s Choice Award to Smith-Harmon and REI at our annual Email Evolution Conference and hope that this campaign inspires other email marketers to strive for such outstanding results.”
Lisa Harmon, co-founder and principal at Smith-Harmon, said, “When there are still a significant number of marketers who don’t send a welcome email at all, REI’s 12-email new member welcome series is truly remarkable. Focused on engagement through brand messaging and education, it stands in sharp contrast to the highly promotional tenor of most retail emails, and shows that the soft-sell approach delivers higher lifetime value.”
Meg Reynolds, REI’s manager of email programs, said, “REI is delighted with this recognition from the EEC and its members. It’s great to have industry peers acknowledge your efforts as best-of-class. Smith-Harmon translates the REI brand with exceptional skill and nuance in our email communications. It’s a great partnership.”
Each email in the welcome series showcases photography submitted by REI members and focuses on a single topic—whether it’s REI’s environment stewardship, member dividends or educational resources. The images and language highlight REI’s passionate commitment to its members, local communities and the great outdoors, while encouraging new members to take part in the REI community through stewardship, outdoor clinics, gear reviews and more.
View the creatives for the 12 emails in REI’s new member welcome series.
The winner of the eec People’s Choice Award: Best in Email was announced at the Email Evolution Conference, which was held Feb. 9-11 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.