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A few months ago, I blogged on the importance for marketers of understanding how email differs from other media.  To illustrate my point, I used an example from my own inbox of a campaign that demonstrated a poor grasp of the medium.

If you receive enough email, then you know it's not hard to find a marketing message that misses the mark.  I could have chosen my example from a field of many, but ultimately decided to pick on a mailing sent by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) on behalf of their sponsor, KYMCO USA.

That mailing had no obvious connection to my interest in the IndyCar racing series.  The subject line, "KYMCO USA Introduces New Scooters and All-Terrain Vehicles for 2010" meant so little to me that it might as well have read, "Rep!ica W@tCheS."   I only opened it because I was curious to know if the presumed spammers had at least followed CAN-SPAM guidelines.  Only then did I discover the mailing had been sent by IMS, whose mailings I subscribe to.

So in the interest of fairness, having openly criticized IMS/KYMCO for the ineffectiveness that mailing, I should tell, as Paul Harvey said, "The Rest of the Story."

Yesterday, I received a mailing with subject line "Want to Live Like An IZOD IndyCar Driver?‏" from sender "IZOD IndyCar Series."  Now that's a subject that I found curious and relevant.  I opened it to find this:

That's the right way for KYMCO to promote themselves to IndyCar fans.  Instead of just having IMS "blast" their generic ad to its entire mailing list, they actually partnered with the IndyCar Series to create an email campaign that is relevant to racing fans while also introducing KYMCO products and creating some positive association with the IndyCar brand.

Good choice of imagery, too.  Ryan Hunter-Reay is a popular driver, and there's his car; both are recognizable to fans.  Good product placement, too.  I'm still not buying a scooter or ATV, but if I ever did, it would more likely be one of the more masculine-looking models in the second mailing than the featured model with the female rider from the first mailing.  And bonus points are awarded for sending this during the month of May, the one time of year when open-wheel racing is in the national spotlight because of the Indy 500.

As much as I'd like to think that these improvements were made in response to my criticism, they probably arose from dissatisfaction with the open/clickthrough/unsub results of the previous mailing.   And I happen to know that IMS works with a reputable ESP capable of giving them advice on how to improve.   So let this serve as a lesson, that even the most troubled email marketing programs can be redeemed.  If that describes your email marketing, and your ESP isn't consulting with you about making improvements, we'd love to help!

Chris Broshears | Product Development