Comments on: CEO Explains Why Crutchfield Will Weather the Economic Storm

By: Boosting the Value Proposition With Media Mentions | Get Elastic

Boosting the Value Proposition With Media Mentions | Get Elastic — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:51:55 +0000

[...] in late October, I blogged about Crutchfield CEO Bill Crutchfield’s open letter addressing the credit crunch and why Crutchfield is a safe place to shop. Embedded in the letter [...]

By: nwt

nwt — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:18:45 +0000

This message caught my eye in the inbox too. Here were my thoughts..

I think the occasional non-sales email can be cool. Especially a note from the top. I like how he explains how it’s important to choose who you purchase (peeps that will be around for a long time to service you) from and reasons Crutchfield is in a good position to be around for a long time.

I don’t like how at the end it’s sort of a plea to purchase. This email’s informative and non-sales based, keep it just that, informative and non-salesy. The end was kinda weak.

All in all I think it was 2/3’s smart, original, could’ve been a liiiittle better.

By: Michael Straker

Michael Straker — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:46:40 +0000

Chad,

True enough, the link would have to be carefully worded for the reasons you mention. I just don’t think “an important message” is specific or compelling enough.

I for one would assume the “important message” would be marketing fluff and wouldn’t bother.

By: Chad White

Chad White — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:46:04 +0000

I’m a big fan of specificity in subject lines, etc., but it seems like there are real dangers in using a headline or CTA that specifically mentions the crisis. “There’s ‘No crisis at Crutchfield’? Why is that? Are people saying there’s a crisis? I heard there wasn’t a crisis at Lehman and look what happened.” People might start to draw conclusions before clicking through to the message–or worse, may draw conclusions and never clickthrough to the message. It’s a delicate thing to be sure.

By: Michael Straker

Michael Straker — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:53:24 +0000

Or perhaps, “An important message regarding the financial crisis”

Then visitors would KNOW the message was going to be timely and relevant…

By: Michael Straker

Michael Straker — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:48:17 +0000

The letter is excellent, but the link to it could have been better. “An important message from Bill Crutchfield” is vague.

It is, in fact, a very timely and relevant message. So why not give visitors a hint at its contents? Words to the effect of, “No Crisis at Crutchfield. Why we’ll always be here for ongoing support.”

Similar links could also appear on the product pages.

By: CommerceStyle

CommerceStyle — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:15:30 +0000

A very nice communication, but as Linda pointed out, it needs a presence on the product and landing pages as well.

I would have suggested making a video of Mr. Crutchfield reading the letter, posted the video on the homepage linked to via icon from product pages.

By: Carolyn Gardner

Carolyn Gardner — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:21:20 +0000

Great post Linda and you are so right when you say:

“Now Crutchfield needs to find a way to communicate its value proposition on product pages — not only because a person is closer to making a buying decision but also because not everyone lands on your site on the home page or reads your emails.”

Messaging optimization – knowing what to say and when – is really what it’s all about. Dynamically changing messages as a visitor clicks through your site is critical in terms of creating relevance and ultimately earning consumer confidence. Understanding whether they are first time visitor or a repeat visitor is also important. First timers especially need to have confidence in your site and if they don’t feel it right away wherever they land, they’ll be gone! At Sitebrand we tackle this head on with our Segment&Serve personalization platform (http://www.sitebrand.com/products).

How are others tackling the challenge?