Isuzu Taps Database, Gets Big Results
Sorry Experiences in direct mail almost turned American Isuzu Motors Inc. off to the medium in mid-1997.
Earlier that year, the Whittier, CA automaker’s campaign for the Isuzu Trooper resulted in a cost per sale of $1,000. But a July ’97 effort targeting a reformatted database of Isuzu Rodeo owners and prospects moved 4,000 Rodeos at a cost per sale of just $225.
Ranking customers was the key to the program. But first, data spread throughout prospect files, independent dealer lists, and warranty and owner databases had to be centralized. Using the newly compiled file, M\S Database Marketing LLC of Los Angeles designed an outreach program.
The 2 million resulting records were ranked by inclination to buy a new vehicle, vehicle purchase history, demographic and psychographic data, and credit scoring.
Two hundred sixty thousand prospects were then broken out into four segments, including a control group of 10,000 current owners who were sent nothing. Of the remaining quarter-million, approximately 85% were current Isuzu owners or lessees.
The 50,000 best prospects were sent a letter, followed by two teaser postcards, and then a package consisting of an eight-page brochure for the Rodeo and an incentive for a test drive. The idea was to remind recipients of the launch every three to four weeks, starting in July and leading up to the SUV’s Sept. 15 release. These individuals bought Rodeos at a rate two-and-a-half times higher than the control group.
Another 100,000 preferred prospects were sent the letter, two postcards and a scaled-down version of the brochure, which contained the same test-drive incentive delivered to the “best” group. In a way, these individuals outperformed the so-called best prospects: Their mailing cost half as much as the one the “best” group received, yet they bought two times more Rodeos than the control group.
The remaining 100,000 prospects were sent only the initial letter. Some 15,000 responded and were moved into the preferred category.
Customers were tracked through the use of unique key codes, which were printed on business reply cards or requested by inbound call centers. Those wishing to receive information on the Rodeo through a special page on Isuzu’s Web site had to supply their number; they were then given directions to the nearest dealer.
To the surprise of Isuzu’s national manager for relationship marketing Tony Harkey, customers who purchased vehicles two years earlier were more likely to buy a new Rodeo than prospects who owned their vehicle for five or six years. He plans to test mail to those who have owned a new vehicle for a year. Harkey also intends to stagger his communications, re-scoring customers on a quarterly basis regarding their likelihood to purchase.
Harkey’s satisfaction is matched both by Isuzu-which has given his department the responsibility of generating 12% of the company’s domestic sales-and M\S Database Marketing, which captured the National Center for Database Marketing’s 1998 Excellence Award for the campaign.
