“Thank you for your order, which should arrive within 6-8 weeks.”
In my 4-disc combo Avengers set, there was a code for a free poster from Marvel. I redeemed it (plus $3.49 S&H), and got a confirmation email that started with the line I quoted above.
Now, let me be clear: I am not complaining that I have to wait two months to get something free. I am going to comment on the brand/marketing impressions this makes.
Remember: The goal of any free giveaway is to get a) your contact information and/or b) future business. They don’t give you things just because they’re nice.
Let’s start with the shipment time. Is there anything mass produced you order these days that takes almost two months? I mean, it can’t take that long for some factory working to grab one of thousands of posters, shove it in a tube or envelope, slap a pre-generated mailing label on it, and drop it in a truck full of these. Can it?
How excited would you be if it said, “You should have this in two weeks or less!” You might still be watching the movie when it showed up.
Secondly, they started the email with that line. That was their friendly opening. How about one of these:
- Woohoo! You’re getting a free poster!
- Are you excited about your Avengers poster? We sure are thrilled to send it to you.
- Congrats on getting a cool, new poster. We’ll ship it out as fast as we can.
Things like email confirmations are the hidden places companies can be reinforcing their brands and connecting with their customers. Instead, they often go for bland, boilerplate copy.
Marvel email is essentially saying, “Hello, customer. It’s going to take an unreasonably long time for you to get this thing we got you all excited about. Also, I’m a pre-generated email.”
Which company would you want to do business with?
