cji report

Are yourcustomerslosing theirway?

www.delineo.com

Sales Promotion Customer Journey Assessment

1 Executive Summary

2 Methodology2.1 Introduction

2.1:1 Hypothesis

2.1:2 Evaluation

2.1:3 Research sample

2.1:4 Research goals

3 Key Research Findings3.1 Research highlights

3.1:1 Awareness via sales promotion – stage 1, customer journey

3.1:2 Online marketing research – stage 2, customer journey

3.1:3 Sales promotion online brand connection – stage 3,

customer journey

3.1:4 Purchase options available to the customer – stage 4,

customer journey

3.2 Case study examples

4 Findings4.1 How effective is the offline sales promotion?

4.2 How effective are the sales promotions using online marketing tools?

4.3 Does the sales promotion brand connect across offline and online

media platforms?

4 .4 How effective does the website display purchase options relating to the

sales promotion and are there any incentives offered to the customer?

5 Summary

6 About Delineo

2

For your free customer journey assessment email [email protected] 3

4

1

5For your free customer journey assessment email [email protected]

Executive SummaryOnline marketing is now thedominant form of marketingcommunication in terms ofexpenditure within the UK, havingovertaken traditional broadcastadvertising in 2009. The growth in online marketing is likely tocontinue its upward trend for years to come, fuelled by factorsincluding the pressure on costs, ROI, accountability of onlinetechniques and the communicationpreferences of people.

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In addition, the IPM* reports an overall £36bn was spent on sales promotion lastyear, driven in part by customers becoming more demanding and using the webto research their purchases. Furthermore, research suggests offline advertisingdrives two-thirds of online search queries**.

However, whilst online and digital marketing are increasingly important, it stillaccounts for less than 30% of marketing expenditure and people continue to beexposed to, and influenced by other communication media across multipleplatforms. After all, people will continue to travel, shop, visit and congregate inphysical environments, not just virtual environments.

In the large majority of cases, people working within agencies and marketingdepartments fall into different camps – those who understand digital marketingand those who don’t, those who understand traditional marketing and those whodon’t. As a consequence, the customer journey across offline and online mediais often plagued with inconsistencies, undermining a fundamental requirement ofeffective marketing communication.

Interestingly, research*** carried out in 2009 looked at marketing in the B2Bmarkets, with digital communication methods remaining the most effective.However, one-third of marketers were not using digital marketing channels intheir B2B communications a great deal, if at all, due to lack of understanding.Furthermore, a mere 16% of B2B marketers felt they were well informedregarding advances in digital marketing techniques, however, budget constraintsand the understanding of digital integration with offline marketing were stated asthe biggest challenges facing B2B marketers.

As a thought leader in the marketing field, Delineo commissioned research toexamine the disconnect across offline and online sales promotion communicationand the impact this has on a new style of customer journey. The researchfocuses on sales promotion activities related to B2B and B2C campaigns,identifying best and worst practice in the field of online and offline marketingcommunication integration, and assesses whether the customer journey isconsistent, logical, intuitive and free flowing across the different media platforms.

Using a balanced scorecard consisting of 19 metrics, Delineo followed 50 customer sales promotions journeys across the IT/comms, retail, andtravel/leisure sectors.

The study assessed each sales promotion in terms of customer proposition,search engine utilisation, brand connection across offline and online channels, andthe purchase options available to the customer. Each brand was given a CustomerJourney Index (CJI) score based on the performance across all metrics.

*Source: Institute of Promotional Marketing, formally Institute of Sales Promotion (£36bn includes other promotional activity)**Source: iProspect Offline Channel Influence on Online Search Behaviour Study***Source: Gyro:HSR, Mavern Research - B2B Marketing Insight 2009


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MethodologyDelineo commissioned this researchto examine the disconnect acrossoffline and online sales promotion, as the IPM reports an overall £36bnwas spent on sales promotion lastyear, driven in part by customersbecoming more demanding and usingthe web to research their purchases.

2.1 IntroductionThe objective of this research is to identify best and worst practice in the field ofoffline and online sales promotion communication integration, assessing whetherthe customer journey is consistent, logical, intuitive and free flowing across thedifferent media platforms.

2.1:1 HypothesisCustomer journeys across offline and online sales promotion are disjointed.Customers are losing their way in the transition between offline and online mediaplatforms (creating confusion and frustration), which may cause customers tolook elsewhere for information.

2.1:2 EvaluationBy using a balanced scorecard consisting of 19 metrics, Delineo followed 50 customer journeys of sales promotions across the IT/comms, retail andtravel/leisure sectors.

Each sales promotion customer journey was rated (scale of 1-5, 1= poorperformance, 5= excellent performance) in terms of customer awareness,search engine optimisation, brand connection across offline and online and thepurchase options available to the customer. Each brand was given a CustomerJourney Index (CJI) based on the performance across all metrics listed in figure 4 opposite.

The findings from this analysis are summarised within this report. Specificdetailed results pertaining to a particular brand sales promotion will only bedisclosed to the originating organisation.

Results in this report are expressed as a percentage of the total scorecardmarks and weighted averages by market sector.

10


KEY METRICS – SCALE USED 1:5GROUP

Clear singleminded sales

promotionproposition

Clear, easy tofind online

signpostingto sales

promotion

Salespromotion

has a strong,clear brandproposition

Strong, clearsales

promotion –compelled tofind out more

online or in-store

Easy to findsignpostingto store/call

centre to findout moreabout the

salespromotion

Awareness via Sales

Promotion

Usingcompany orbrand namein the search

terms –appears top of first page

listing

Using genericsearch termsrelating to the

salespromotion –company orbrand nameappears firstpage listing

Salespromotion

links to socialmedia

networks –Linkedin, FBand Twitter

The companyor brand

name links tothe sales

promotion viasearch engine

results

OnlineMarketingResearch

Online branddesign (logo,colours, font,characters)matches theoffline salespromotion

Online tone of voice

matches theoffline salespromotion

Brandexperience is

consistentbetween theoffline and

online mediaplatforms

SalesPromotion

Online BrandConnection

Clear onlinesignposting

to non-ecommerce

route relatingto sales

promotion


toecommerce

route relatingto sales

promotion

Stated onlinereason to

shop online –incentiveoffered ifpurchaseproduct/

service online

Stated onlinereason to

shop offline –incentiveoffered ifpurchaseproduct/

service offline

Takesadvantage of

potentialcustomer’s

onlinepresence in

order tocommunicate

about thesales

promotion


to salespromotion

Potentialcustomer can start

engaging withthe sales

promotiononline

immediately

PurchaseOptions

Offline andOnline

Figure 1: Customer journey metrics and performance criteria

2.1:3 Research sampleDelineo followed 50 customer journeys of randomly selected sales promotions aslisted below:

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Table 1: Sales promotions

Company/Brand Name*

Absolute Windows & Conservatories

Aerlingus

Alexander windows

Arighi Bianchi

Bang & Olufsen

Barratt Homes

bmibaby

Boots

British Gas

Canadianaffair.com

Cheshire Life

Cleopatra

Clinique

Countryside Properties

Cupboard Love

Design 2 Fit Kitchens

Fentons Solicitors LLP

Flybe.com

Go Travel – MEN

Grimshaws

HSBC

Jet2

Junkshop

LateRooms

Lebara Mobile

Leonis

Lovefilm.com

Newmarket Travel – MEN

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Opticians (free second pair of glasses from £75)

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Flights to Toronto £139, Vancouver £149

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April offer - 10% discount

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Lunch special £4.95, 2 course meal £7.95

Two free cinema tickets to see a blockbuster film –when sign up for a 30 day free trial

2-3 day breaks in London with different sightseeing options from £89

Sales Promotion

2.1:4 Research goalsThe aim of the customer journey study is to:

• Prove or disprove the stated research hypothesis (see page 10, 2.1:1)• Identify and evaluate good and bad practices in relation to the integration of

offline and online communication• Provide examples of good and bad practice in relation to the integration of

online and offline communication• Identify key market sectors with high CJI scores, therefore, have a consistent

sales proposition between offline and online media platforms• Highlight key leading brands that have consistent, logical, intuitive and free

flowing sales promotions across the different media platforms


Company/Brand Name* Sales Promotion

O2

O'Neill's Decorating Centres

Onyx Group

Pets at Home

Pizza Express

Premier Inn

Printerbase

Ramada Jarvis

Ready Steady Store

Red Letter Days

Robert Harding World Imagery

Sainsbury's

Simon Boyd Interiors

T-Mobile

Tesco

The Beaches Hotel

Timberland

Virgin Media

Vistaprint

Vodafone

Winfields

Your Choice

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Workplace recovery solutions for as little as £16 p/m

Free puppy parties

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Up to £75 cashback or free 3 year on-site warranty withBrother colour laser and LED printers

Three night breaks from just £99

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15% off

One Price – Same print cost regardless of size until 30th April

Better than 1/2 price on Milka chocolate bars

Up to 50% off RRP – curtain fabrics

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*Listed in alphabetical order

14

314

For your free customer journey assessment email [email protected] 15

Key Research FindingsThe following provides key findingsfrom each stage of thecustomer journey.

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3.1 Research highlights• IT/comms is the best performing sector with an average CJI score of 68%,

followed by travel/leisure (67%) and retail at 56%

• T-Mobile, Virgin Media, Ramada Jarvis and Premier Inn all have high CJI scoresof �78% indicating a strong connection between the offline and onlinemarketing communication. When examining the sales promotions provided bythese brands, the customer journey across the different media platforms isconsistent, uncomplicated and engaging, making it very easy for the customerto obtain more information in order to make an informed buying decision. In most cases, these brands adopt good practice across the metrics, but what makes these brands stand out from the crowd, is the clear, singleminded sales proposition which is communicated succinctly throughout thecustomer journey

• Major brands performing poorly with a CJI score of �53% include Tesco,Countryside Properties, Timberland and Pets at Home as the customerjourney for these sales promotions across offline and online wasdisconnected, confusing and frustrating which can lead customers to lookelsewhere if information is not easily accessible

• 60% of the brands included in the research achieved CJI scores of �60%, of which 46% scored �70%

• Although some major brands achieved high CJI scores, all brands should look toimprove their sales promotion communication integration (some more thanothers) to ensure a consistent, logical and intuitive customer journey across offlineand online media platforms. Brands should evaluate how they are performingacross all metrics and adopt a ‘best practice’ in all areas listed below:

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Offline salespromotion

✓ Clear, single mindedsales proposition

✓ Stated incentive,compelling reason tolook further

✓ Easy to find andclear onlinesignposting

✓ Easy to find andclear signposting tostore/call centre tofind out more aboutthe sales promotion

Online salespromotion

✓ Company or brandname easy to find viaa search engine

✓ Sales promotion iseasy to find using ageneric search term

✓ Sales promotion hassocial media links sothe customer canfind it on theirfavourite networks

✓ The sales promotionis easily found as itappears in thesearch engineresults

Sales promotiononline brandconnection

✓ Online brand designis consistent with theoffline design

✓ Both offline andonline tone of voiceis consistent

✓ Brand experience isthe same

Sales promotionpurchase options

✓ Easy to find and clearsignposting to non-ecommerce andecommerce routes

✓ Stated, clearincentive to shoponline and/or offline

✓ Takes advantage ofmy online presencein order tocommunicate withme

✓ Easy to engage withthe sales promotionimmediately

Figure 2: Best practice – Sales promotion communication model

Consistent, logical and intuitive customer journey – free flowing across offline and online media platforms

3.1:1 Awareness via sales promotion –stage 1, customer journey

The first part of the customer journey assessment related to the customersoverall awareness of the sales promotion. Here we assessed 5 key metrics:

• Does the sales promotion have a clear, single minded sales proposition?• Is there a stated incentive and compelling reason to look further?• Does the sales promotion have clear, easy to find online signposting

(i.e. to the website)?• Does the sales promotion have clear, easy to find offline signposting

(i.e. contact number to store/call centre)?

The average CJI score across all market sectors and metrics is 3.69 and theRamada Jarvis’s sales promotion (3 night breaks from just £99) is considered‘best in class’ with a CJI score of 4.80. Its score exceeds the market average asthe sales promotion has a clear single minded proposition, it engages with theaudience immediately and clearly displays call to action options to the customer.

The retail sector achieved the lowest CJI score of 3.60 with major brands suchas Clinique (free treat with any foundation sample) and Sainsbury’s (better than 1⁄2price on Milka chocolate) displaying poor practice. In comparison, the IT/commssector achieved the highest CJI score of 3.90, with Vodafone (free HTC legendsmartphone for £25 p/m for business customers) adopting best practice.

Overall, brands lost scores due to:

• Confusing sales promotion proposition – mixed messages, thus leaving thecustomer unsure of what’s on offer

• Lack of engagement with the audience – there is no compelling reason toresearch further

• Call to action – contact information (i.e. website address, store/call centrecontact number) is not clearly displayed (if at all), leaving the potentialcustomer unsure of what to do next


Table 2: Awareness via sales promotion scores*

Retail

IT/comms

Travel/leisure

Market sector

Best CJI

score

5.00

4.00

5.00

3.79

3.00

4.00

3.00

1.00

2.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

3.40

4.17

4.13

1.00

4.00

3.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

3.80

4.17

4.13

1.00

3.00

3.00

4.00

4.00

5.00

3.41

3.50

3.80

2.00

2.00

3.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

3.76

4.50

2.60

1.00

4.00

1.00

Clear single minded salespromotion proposition

Clear, easy to find onlinesignposting to sales

promotion

Sales promotion has astrong, clear brand

proposition

Strong, clear salespromotion – compelled to

find out more online

Easy to find signposting to store/call centre to

find out more about thesales promotion Overall

best inclassAverage

CJI score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

RamadaJarvis(4.80)

*Mean scores by market sector

3.1:2 Online marketing research –stage 2, customer journey

Online research is now an integral part of the customer’s buying behaviour,therefore, it’s critical that a brand’s sales promotion is found via a search engineto allow the customer to research the product or service before making apurchase decision. As a result, 4 metrics were assessed to evaluate a brand’ssales promotion online searchability:

• Using the company/brand name in the search terms, does it appear top of first page listing?

• Using generic search terms relating to the sales promotion (e.g. car insurancediscounts), does the company/brand achieve a first page listing?

• Does the sales promotion link to social media networks?• Does the company/brand name link to the sales promotion via search engine

results?

Of the brands assessed, 49 (or 98%) appear top of page in the search engineresults category (via Google, Bing, Yahoo) when using the company/brandname. However, the average CJI score for using a generic search term relatingto a sales promotion is 3.40, suggesting that brands assume customers will usebrand-based key words when researching online, rather than more generickey words.

The IT/comms sector adopts best practice when conducting online searches viathe company/brand name (i.e. top of page listing) and when using generic searchterms (i.e. first page listing), as all brands scored 5.0. In contrast, the retail sectorperformed poorly relating to generic search terms, with a CJI score of 2.65,possibly driven by the level of competition for other key words in the industry.

The use of social media as a means to interact with customers/communities hasdramatically increased over the last 2 years with 65% of companies in the UKusing Facebook as part of their marketing strategy, while Twitter marketing hasjumped from just 3% of companies in 2009 to over 49% this year.*

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Table 3: Online marketing research scores*

Retail

IT/comms

Travel/leisure

Market sector

Best CJI

score

5.00

5.00

5.00

4.86

5.00

5.00

1.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

2.66

5.00

4.07

1.00

5.00

1.00

5.00

1.00

3.00

1.34

1.00

1.53

1.00

1.00

1.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

1.90

3.00

3.60

1.00

1.00

3.00

Brand easy to find via search engine

Sales promotion is easy to find using

generic search terms

Sales promotion has social media links

Does the brand link to current sales

promotions via searchengine results

Overall best in class

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Red Letter Days,Ramada Jarvis

(4.50)



*Source: Econsultancy/Guava UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report, April 2009

However, a recent social media study (sampled 100 companies) conducted bydotCommerce revealed that 26% of companies studied have a Twitter accountwhile 24% market their brand using a Facebook page, although a very smallproportion regularly update their accounts.

This research suggests that while companies have taken the plunge into socialmedia marketing, they are not consistently maintaining their presence across allof its channels. These findings are reflected in the customer journey CJI scores inthis report, as a mere 14% of brands used social media to communicate thesales promotions under investigation. These brands include Ramada Jarvis,Premier Inn and Clinique.

Furthermore, considering the potential market of customers accessing Twitter,Facebook, LinkedIn and internet blogs coupled with the lower costs (i.e. incomparison to traditional sales promotion marketing) associated with creatingand maintaining these networks, brands are missing out on the opportunity tobuild communities around their product/service offers, therefore, potentiallylosing income in the process. As Forrester Research, Social Computing states:

‘Social computing is not a fad. Nor is it something that will pass you oryour company. Gradually, social computing will impact almost everyrole, at every kind of company, in all parts of the world.’

The final metric assessed in this category evaluated whether a company and/orbrand name linked to the relevant sales promotion via the search engine results.Most brands fell short here, as the average CJI score across all market sectors is2.54.

The search engine analysis revealed that a high proportion of company/brandnames either linked to a broad range of promotions or do not link to the currentpromotions. Major brands adopting best practice (i.e. CJI score 5.0) includeRamada Jarvis, Premier Inn, Red Letter Days, Lebara Mobile and BootsOpticians, as their sales promotions featured in the search engine results.

Furthermore, sales promotions offered by Red Letter Days and Ramada Jarvisoverall outperformed all brands achieving CJI scores of 4.50, clearly indicatingstrong online searchability.

Table 4: Sales promotion online brand connection scores*

Retail

IT/comms

Travel/leisure

Market sector

Best CJI

score

5.00

5.00

5.00

3.60

4.50

4.07

1.00

2.00

3.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

3.52

4.17

4.07

1.00

3.00

3.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

3.34

4.33

3.87

1.00

2.00

3.00

Online brand designmatches the offline

sales promotion

Online tone of voice matches the offline

sales promotion

Brand experience is consistent between

the offline and online media platforms


AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Boots Opticians, HSBC, Clinique, Virgin Media, Premier Inn, bmibaby, British Gas, Lebara Mobile

(5.0)

3.1:3 Sales promotion online brand connection –stage 3, customer journey

Brand connection across offline and online media platforms is another criticalaspect to ensure a free flowing and consistent customer journey. Integrating thesales promotion efforts can strengthen the brand experience as it helps thecustomer find what they need, when they need it. As a result 3 metrics wereassessed:

• Does the online brand design (i.e. logo, colours, font, characters) match theoffline sales promotion?

• Does the online tone of voice match the offline sales promotion?• Is the brand experience consistent between the offline and online

media platforms?

The average CJI score across all market sectors for this category is 3.60, with ahandful of brands scoring 5.00, including Boots Opticians, HSBC, Clinique, VirginMedia, Premier Inn, bmibaby, British Gas and Lebara Mobile. Adopting ‘bestpractice’ for all 3 metrics in this category ensures a consistent customer brandjourney across offline and online platforms.

The retail sector achieved the lowest marks in this area, with an average CJIscore of 3.40, which falls below the industry average. Brands lost marks due to inconsistent messages and the overall look and feel of the sales promotion(i.e. inconsistent design, tone of voice, font) across both media platforms, thusdiluting the brand connection and experience for the customer.

3.1:4 Purchase options available to the customer – stage 4, customer journey

This is the final stage of the customer journey analysis and is the most critical, asonce on a website the customer will either leave the website and searchelsewhere, request more information, or make a purchase offline/online.

20


Surprisingly the average CJI score across all market sectors is 2.31, however,Virgin Media and T-Mobile exceeded the market average with a CJI score of 3.57.

Once on their website, Virgin Media and T-Mobile ensure their customers canfind their sales promotions easily and can engage with the offers immediately.Both brands take advantage of the customer’s online presence by requestingdata to communicate with them about current and future sales promotions.These brands achieved CJI scores of 5.0, with the average CJI score of 3.0 forthese metrics.

Overall, brands performed poorly across all 7 metrics in this category, inparticular metrics relating to stated reasons for shopping offline and online (CJIscores of 1.28 & 1.40). This can cause confusion as the customer is not clear onhow to action the sales promotion.

Typically, brands do not provide incentives to customers to shop offline or online, with the exception of British Gas, Ramada Jarvis, bmibaby and BootsOpticians. Clear and concise purchasing options are featured on these offers to help incentivise customers to make a purchase via the ecommerce or non-ecommerce route.


Table 5: Purchase options available to the customer*

Retail

IT/comms

Travel/leisure

Market sector

Best CJI

score

5.00

5.00

4.00

2.07

2.50

2.33

1.00

1.00

1.00

5.00

5.00

4.00

1.69

3.00

3.13

1.00

1.00

1.00

4.00

1.00

4.00

1.20

1.00

1.60

1.00

1.00

1.00

4.00

3.00

5.00

1.48

1.33

1.27

1.00

1.00

1.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

3.31

4.17

3.67

1.00

3.00

1.00

Clear online signposting to non-ecommerce route

Clear online signposting to ecommerce route

Stated online reason to shop online –incentive offered

Stated online reason to shop offline –incentive offered

Takes advantage of potentialcustomer’s online presence

in order to communicateabout the sales promotion

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Retail

IT/comms

Travel/leisure

Market sector

Best CJI

score

5.00

5.00

5.00

2.41

3.17

3.60

1.00

1.00

1.00

5.00

5.00

5.00

2.21

2.83

3.47

1.00

1.00

1.00

Clear online signposting to sales promotion

Potential customer can start engaging

with the sales promotion immediately


AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Best CJI

score

AverageCJI

score

Worst CJI

score

Virgin MediaT-mobile

(3.57)

*Average scores by market sector

3.2 Case study examplesT-Mobile is one of the leading brands adopting best practice across most CJImetrics, as highlighted below:

22

Figure 3: Best case example

Company/brand name: T-MobileIndustry sector: IT/commsSales promotion proposition: Freephone, 300 minutes & unlimited internet

from £20 p/mOriginal sales promotion source: Print AdCJI Score: 79%

• Clear, single minded sales proposition with acompelling reason to find out more

• Easy to find offline and online signposting –customer knows exactly where to go to find outmore information

• Strong brand proposition, based on strength ofbrand and sales promotion

• Overall sales promotion provides enoughinformation for the customer to make aninformed decision to whether further research is required

Offline sales promotion

• Using the sales promotion terms, Googleprovides a variety of search results. This isexpected as the mobile phone market is highlycompetitive with brands, retail outlets and onlinestores listing different promotions

• T-Mobile appears on the first page, ranked fifth• The brand also links to other sales promotions

via the search engine results

Search engine research

• Data capture through registration and thepurchasing funnel

• Online brand design and tone of voice mirrorsthe print ad

• Clear signposting to the sales promotion so thecustomer can engage immediately

• Clear signposting to ecommerce and non-ecommerce (bottom of page) routes

• Consistent transition between offline and onlinemedia platforms

• Social media links relating to the sales promotionare not displayed, however, majority of brandsfall short in this area

Sales promotion onlinebrand connection & purchase options

28% of the brands included in the research achieved CJI scores of �50%indicating inconsistent, confusing and frustrating customer journeys.


Figure 4: Worst case example

Company/brand name: Pets at HomeIndustry sector: RetailSales promotion proposition: Free puppy partiesOriginal sales promotion source: In-store flyerCJI Score: 49%

• Front of flyer – clear, single minded salesproposition with a compelling reason to find outmore (i.e. if you have a puppy)

• Clear strong brand proposition• Images used appeal to puppy owners• No clear offline and online signposting to the

sales promotion• 2 contact numbers listed on the reverse of the

flyer relating to the veterinary surgery andgrooming salon

• No immediate ‘call to action’ if customer requiresfurther information about the free puppy parties

Offline sales promotion

• Using the search terms reveals a variety ofresults relating to puppy parties, however, Petsat Home is not listed

• The online shopping brand ‘Latest Gifts’ appearstop page listing when using the search terms(i.e. puppy parties)

• Social media is not used to promote its currentsales promotion

Search engine research

• Overall brand experience is the same, however,the sales promotion is not featured, therefore,customers are unable to engage with the salespromotion online

• Store details can be found using the ‘storelocator’ option

• In order to obtain more information about thesales promotion, customers need to call theirnearest store

• The website encourages potential customers tosign up for pet care information, newsletters,etc, but does not take advantage of acustomer’s interest relating to thesales promotion

Sales promotion onlinebrand connection & purchase options

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FindingsThe following analysis providesgreater insight into eachcustomer journey metric forthe brands investigated.


4.1 How effective is the offline sales promotion?

The first step of the analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of the offline sales promotion in terms of overall customer brand awareness. 5 metrics were assessed:

• Does the sales promotion have a clearly defined sales proposition? Or does it confuse the customer as to what is on offer due to the mixedmessages displayed?

• The online signposting is clearly visible on the sales promotion allowing thecustomer to quickly go online to research the promotion further

• Does the sales promotion engage with the customer so they are compelled to find out more? Are they excited by it?

• Brand strength – does the sales promotion have a clear brand proposition, or is it confusing to the customer?

• The offline signposting is clearly visible to the customer, so they can visit a nearby store and/or phone a call centre to research the sales promotionfurther

On average, brands achieve higher scores for metrics relating to the strength of brand and a clear sales promotion proposition.Although the industry average is ‘3.92’ and ‘3.76’ for thesemetrics, some major brands are considered best in class,scoring ‘5’ for both metrics including, Boots Opticians, Vistaprint,Premier Inn, Ramada Jarvis, Aerlingus, Jet2 and Timberland.

Bombarded with sales promotions on a daily basis, customersquite often ignore promotional materials, therefore, it’s importanta sales promotion engages quickly with the customer by offering an incentive tocreate interest or desire.

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Figure 5: Scorecard* for overall brand awareness via offline sales promotion across five key metrics

*Overall mean score for all market sectors

Clear sales promotion proposition – 3.76

Easy to find online signposting – 3.74

Clear brand proposition – 3.92

Clear sales promotion, compelled to find out more – 3.54

Clear signposting to store/call centre – 3.50

0 1 2 3 4 5

The retail sector adopts worst practice in this field with an average score of 3.40.The sales promotions in this sector lack personality, provide little differentiationand offer underwhelming reasons to research further. In comparison, thetravel/leisure sector adopts best practice with an average CJI score of 3.80.Brands such as Ramada Jarvis and bmibaby exceed the industry averagescoring 5.0.

The leisure/travel sector performs best in class for the clearsingle minded sales promotion proposition metric. In particular,brands such as Ramada Jarvis promoting ‘three night breaksfrom £99’, Premier Inn promoting its ‘rooms from £29’, or ‘cityand sun getaways from £19.99’ promoted by Jet2, clearlyengage with the customer by offering a compelling reason andincentive to look further offline/online.

Clearly displaying the website on the sales promotion is a criticalcall to action measure to ensure the customer is able to researchthe promotion further. The IT/comms sector adopts best practice in this area, with an average score of 4.17, in particular, the bestperforming brand in this sector is Vodafone, scoring 5.0.

Other major brands with a CJI of 5.0 for clear, easy to find onlinesignposting include Jet2, Aerlingus, British Gas and Vistaprint. The retail sector performed poorly in this area with an average CJI of 3.40, with several major brands scoring 1.0.

In addition to online signposting, sales promotions should clearlydisplay a contact telephone number to call for more information, as somecustomers prefer to speak to a physical person versus researching theproduct/service online. However, of the brands investigated several assume allcustomer journeys are the same, as both purchasing options are not displayed ontheir sales promotions.

The overall average score is 3.50, with the IT/comms sector adopting bestpractice with a CJI score of 4.50. In comparison the travel/leisure sector has thelowest average CJI of 2.60. Several major brands in the travel/leisure sector donot display store/call centre contact numbers, which can lead to frustration forthose who do not use the internet or may not be able to obtain access to theinternet. This may lead customers to look elsewhere for product/service offers.


4.2 How effective are the sales promotions using online marketing tools?

The objective of this exercise is to evaluate whether sales promotions are foundeasily when using specific (i.e. company/brand name) and generic search terms(e.g. cheap flights to Spain). Google was used for this analysis, as onlineresearch suggests 90% of online searches are via this search engine. Keymetrics assessed include:

• By using the brand name, the sales promotion appears top of page listing• By using generic search terms, for example ‘cheap flights to Spain’, the brand

achieves a first page listing• Social media (Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube) is used to promote

the sales promotion

As expected, all brands are easily found when using company/brand names inGoogle search terms. However, several major brands fall short (including BritishGas, Pets at Home, Go Travel, Timberland, Your Choice, Countryside Properties,Tesco and Sainsbury’s’), scoring ‘1’ when using generic search terms relating totheir sales promotions.

The above brands assume the customer will search online by brand name only,rather than the sales promotion term (e.g. cheap flights to Spain). The ‘searchterm’ used by the customer may reveal competing brands sales offers and,therefore, could lead the customer searching elsewhere for product/serviceoffers. The IT/comms sector adopts best practice here, as all brands achieved aCJI score of 5.0, thus exceeding the overall market average of 3.36.

From the social media analysis, the results indicate that 84% of brands do nothave a social media strategy in place to support their sales promotions. Theaverage CJI score is ‘1.36’, however, regional lifestyle magazine; ‘Cheshire Life’adopts best practice here with a CJI score of 5.0 (2+ social media networks

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Figure 6: Scorecard* for sales promotion online searchability


Company/brand name appears top of page listing – 4.92

Generic search terms appears of first page listing – 3.36

Links to social medianetworks – 1.36

Links to sales promotion via search engine results – 2.48

0 1 2 3 4 5

feature its sales promotion of ‘12 issues for the price of 10’). Overall, thesefindings are not surprising as research conducted in this area highlights similar conclusions.

Research conducted by the consumer agency Skywrite and Vanson Bourneindicates that 2 out of 3 customers investigate products further upon arecommendation on a social media platform, and 1 in 4 went on to make apurchase. Therefore, companies need to harness the social media potential inorder to promote their brand as well as current promotional offers.

In addition, according to the Digital Consultancy, Beyond, almost a quarter ofconsumers would prefer to receive information (e.g. offers/discounts, news, to gain better customer service) from a brand through Facebook rather than itswebsite, indicating a need for a more integrated strategy from sales through tocustomer service.

Although several organisations have started to use social media in order topromote their brand name, the profiles do not include current sales promotions,do not target a particular online community and do not display regular liveupdates, therefore, it seems the profiles have been created without a real purpose.

Interestingly, a recent report from Digital Brand Expressions (DBE) andR2integrated (R2i) indicates that companies are diving into social media without aplan, as they remain unfamiliar with its practices and principles.

Furthermore, a majority of marketing professionals and company decisionmakers view social media as essential to their business; however, most of these professionals/decision makers have not made any money using it. Theresearch compared the 35% of companies that reported increased revenue or profit using social media with the companies that did not report growth.Those benefiting were:

• About twice as likely to have a formal social media strategy• Almost twice as likely to have a dedicated headcount for managing social media• About twice as likely to rate themselves as “proficient” or “expert”• Almost three times as likely to have read a book on social media


Major brands attempting to use social media networks to engage with theironline community to promote their sales promotions include Premier Inn,Ramada Jarvis, Red Letter Days, LateRooms and Clinique. Facebook or Linkedinare typically used, however, these brands are not using Twitter (which is thefastest growing network) to promote their offers.

4.3 Does the sales promotion brand connect across offline and online media platforms?

Brand design (i.e. colours, hues, fonts, characters, images, text), tone of voiceand brand experience are measured to establish whether the sales promotion is consistent and seamless across the media platforms.

Tight online/offline brand integration tells the customer they are on the correctsite, lends credibility to the sales promotion offer and encourages further clicksdown the purchasing funnel. Therefore, inconsistent brand integration can cause confusion, which may lead customers to look elsewhere forproduct/service offers.

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Figure 7: Scorecard* for sales promotion online brand connection

Consistent online brand design – 3.80

Consistent online tone of voice – 3.74

Consistent brand experience – 3.60

Premier InnRooms from £29

CliniqueAnti-Blemish Solutions


0 1 2 3 4 5

Ramada JarvisBreaks from £99

The overall CJI score for brand connection of the sales promotion across offlineand online media platforms is 3.60. The IT/comms sector adopts best practiceacross all 3 metrics, with an average CJI score of 4.33. Virgin Media and LebaraMobile are the best performing brands in this category, scoring 5.0 for allmetrics, indicating strong, succinct and consistent brand connection acrossoffline and online media platforms.

Worst case examples for all metrics can be found in the retail sector, withaverage CJI scores of 1.0. In most cases, local brands scored the lowest marks,due to the lack of continuity between both media platforms.

4.4 How effective does the website display purchase options relating to the salespromotion and are there any incentivesoffered to the customer?

Based on research conducted by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR), onlineshoppers spent £38bn in 2009, accounting for 10% of total retail sales in the UK.Moreover, the centre predicts online sales will hit £42.7bn by year-end,achieving a greater share of overall retail trade.

It is evident from CRR’s research that a high proportion of customers still preferto shop in-store or via the telephone, although there is an upward trend tocustomers purchasing products/services online.

Taking into account the CRR’s research, customer buying behaviour and ourneed to research products/services online, it’s critical that a sales promotionfeatured on a company’s website adopts best practice.

To assess best practice in this category, 7 metrics were evaluated to ascertainwhether brands communicate purchase options and incentives effectively,whether the customer can engage with the sales promotions immediately andthe overall effectiveness of the data capture process:

• Does the offer display clear online signposting to the sales promotion?

• Does the offer have clear online signposting to ecommerce and non-ecommerce routes relating to the sales promotion – does it list contactnumbers, store/office locations clearly?

• Is there a stated incentive to shop offline and/or online? Is it clear to the customer?

• Data capture – does the website take advantage of the customer’s presencein relation to the sales promotion?

• Can the customer engage with the sales promotion online immediately?


The average CJI scorecard across all market sectors is 2.30. This CJI score issurprisingly low, as this is the final stage of the customer journey before apotential purchase. Brands lost marks due to:

• Contact information – unsure of how to find out more information about theoffer, as the contact details are not displayed/or hard to find

• Disjointed offers – sales promotion is not featured/or hard to find. This can leadto confusion as the sales promotion is not reflected online

• Incentive – no clearly defined reason to shop online/offline – if brands areadopting an offline/online strategy, incentives should be offered to entice thecustomer to purchase via the desired route

• Data capture – one way of building a contact database and community is toask the customer to register their details/preferences online in order tocommunicate with them about current/future sales promotions

Overall, brands do not clearly signpost their sales promotions ecommerce ornon-ecommerce routes to the customer, which can be frustrating if looking tomake a purchase and/or require more information. In addition, customers areexpected to navigate around the website in order to engage with the salespromotion, and in some cases, the sales promotion is not featured on thewebsite. Best case examples here include T-Mobile, Premier Inn and Go Travel,with major brands such as Pets at Home, Timberland, Vodafone and Tesco asworst case examples.

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Figure 8: Scorecard* for purchase options


Clear online signposting to non-ecommerce route – 2.20

Clear signposting to ecommerce route – 2.28

Stated incentive to shop online – 1.28

Stated incentive to shop offline – 1.40

Data capture – 3.50

Clear signposting to sales promotion – 2.86

Engage immediately – 2.66

0 1 2 3 4 5

A handful of brands provide an incentive to the customer to either shop offline or online. Clearly displayed incentives for the following brands’ salespromotions include:

Online strategy• bmibaby• British Gas• Flybe• Ramada Jarvis

Offline in-store strategy:• Boots Opticians• Bang & Olufsen

The majority of brands do not take advantage of the customer’s online presencein terms of capturing data relating to the sales promotions. However, capturingdata is an art form, as most people are distrustful of handing over data to awebsite. If the data capture is done correctly it can improve the overall website’sROI, however, it needs to be defined and targeted to achieve the overall aims ofthe business strategy. Brands adopting best practice (i.e. scoring ‘5’) for onlinedata capture relating to the sales promotions include Virgin Media, T-Mobile,Lebara Mobile, Lovefilm.com, Go Travel, Premier Inn and Red Letter Days.


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SummaryFrom the research, it is evident thatbrands need to significantly improvethe customer journey process acrossoffline and online sales promotioncommunication. While the researchhighlights some brands are excelling in some areas (for example onlinebrand connection and offline salespromotion awareness), performanceacross all 19 metrics is inconsistent,and therefore, the customer journey isnot free flowing, logical and integrated.

A handful of brands are considered best in class across the CJI metrics,however, T-Mobile, Ramada Jarvis and Premier Inn are top of the game scoring�78 indicating a strong connection between offline and online marketingcommunication.

When viewing the sales promotions provided by these brands, the customerjourney across the different media platforms is consistent, uncomplicated andengaging, making it very easy for the customer to obtain more information inorder to make an informed buying decision. In most cases, these brands adoptgood practice across the CJI metrics, but what makes these brands stand outfrom the crowd, is the clear, single minded sales proposition which iscommunicated succinctly throughout the customer journey.

Table 6 on the opposite page identifies the brands considered best in class foreach CJI category.

Although T-Mobile, Ramada Jarvis and Premier Inn have high CJI scores, theresearch indicates that brands need to make a conscious decision to evaluate allsales promotion metrics to enhance the customer journey across offline andonline platforms. Furthermore, the research highlights two specific areas wherebrands are consistently performing poorly:

• Social media (overall CJI score 1.36). Improvement in this area (active,targeted social media strategy) will help to build an online community and fanbase, thus providing a platform to highlight current promotions and increasebrand recognition

• Clearly displayed incentives to shop online or offline (overall CJI scores of 1.28,1.4), thus pushing customers down a specific purchasing route

From a market sector perspective, the findings reveal a wide range of CJIperformance scores, with the IT/comms sector adopting best practice, and theretail sector with the worst performance scorecard. However, the retail sectorhas a difficult task in providing consistent, free flowing customer journeys, asretailers offer multiple product/service offers promotions to the customer.

With more and more customers using the web to research their purchases and£36bn* spent on sales promotions annually, there needs to be a significant shiftin mindset to integrate traditional and digital marketing to ensure customers arenot losing their way across offline and online media platforms, and salespromotion spend is not being wasted.

In addition, different customer groups clearly adopt different ways of researchingand purchasing products and services, therefore, brands need to considerengaging with a customer about promotions offline and online, ensuring thecustomer journey at all times is consistent across both media platforms.

36

*Source: Institute of Promotional Marketing, formally Institute of Sales Promotion (£36bn includes other promotional activity)

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Table 6: Best in class by CJI category

Customer journeycategory

Best in classoverall Sales promotion

Average CJI scoreoverall

Awareness via salespromotion

Online marketingresearch

Sales promotiononline brandconnection

Purchase optionsoffline & online

Ramada Jarvis

Ramada Jarvis

Red Letter days

Boots Opticians

HSBC

Clinique

Virgin Media

Premier Inn

bmibaby

British Gas

Lebara Mobile

Virgin Media

T-Mobile

Three nights breakfrom just £99

Three nights breakfrom just £99

15% off

Opticians (freesecond pair ofglasses from £75)

Mortgage to suit first time buyers –fee-free 90%mortgage

Free treat with anyfoundation samplepurchased

£11.50 p/m TVpackage

Rooms from £29

Every seat fromManchester is £10

Goodbye estimatedbills – save up to£150 p/y

£10 call credit whenyou top up with £20

£11.50 p/m TVpackage

Free phone, 300mins & unlimitedinternet fro £20 p/m

4.80

4.50

5.00

3.57

*The CJI categories account for 19 metrics. Mean CJI scores are shown

If you would like to know how your sales promotion performs across the customer journey metrics and whether your customers are losing their way please email us at [email protected]

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Delineo is a full service marketingagency comprising strategic,analytical, left brain thinkers (who we call considerists) and intuitive,lateral, right brain users (we callthem inspirationalists).

About Delineo

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Together we find the uncommon in the familiar to create genuine points ofdifference and achieve results that inspire. Delineo is the agency to talk to whenyou want to:

• Build brands for market differentiation and competitive advantage• Increase sales of products and services• Capitalise on existing and emerging channels to market• Improve communication with stakeholders• Use design for competitive advantage

Now in the top 8% of marketing agencies in the region according to both Crainsand Business Link, Delineo is the agency to talk to when you want to make thingshappen, supported by our core values of:

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Privileged to be the lead or roster agency for a number of leading UK brands,we've spent the last three decades delivering inspired results and supportingclients with a passionate, can-do approach. We work with clients in a variety ofways, to suit their particular needs and circumstances.

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Campaign elements - digital, eDM, partner workshops

Our Work

The Co-operative Travel - clienttestimonial ‘magazine has madea big impact on its audience’

Campaign elements - brandcommunication, internal comms

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Campaign elements - brandcommunication, sales promotion,internal comms

The Co-operative Travel - positive response to a dual message campaign

Campaign elements - point of sale, advertising, DM, sales promotion


ASA - recruitment targets exceeded by significant margin

Campaign elements - digital, DM, sales promotion

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JP Juices - positive feedback to bold brand makeover

Campaign elements - brand communication, digital

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Campaign elements - brand communication, digital, DM, advertising


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Campaign elements - digital, advertising, sales promotion

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Campaign elements - brand communication, digital

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Campaign elements - brand communication, digital, advertising


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Campaign elements - advertising, point of sale, sales promotion

Pannone - distinctive advertising campaign

Campaign elements - advertising

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The Co-operative Enterprise Hub - increased web traffic by over 200%

Campaign elements - digital

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Campaign elements - advertising, digital, DM, sales promotion, brandcommunication


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cji report