Luxury Retail Emails: Do Impersonal Messages Cheapen the Brand?

patrick_y · 2020-04-15T10:48:05Z

Explore the impact of impersonal luxury watch and jewelry store emails on brand perception, with insights from collectors on effective vs. ineffective CRM strategies.

patrick_y

WPS member · Horological Meandering forum

23 replies2686 views2 photos

Patrick_y's original post delves into the pervasive issue of impersonal luxury retail emails, questioning their effectiveness and impact on brand perception. He argues that such generic communications, often churned out by CRM systems, cheapen a brand's image and reveal a transactional rather than relationship-focused approach. This discussion remains highly relevant as luxury brands continue to navigate the balance between digital outreach and maintaining an exclusive, personalized customer experience.

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Ever feel like a fish? I get impersonal watch and jewelry emails on a regular basis. They're like little pieces of bait, and they're all hoping I'm a fish who will take the bait!

There are times in the retail industry where it's just obvious that a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system has churned out an impersonal email. Having worked in sales before for large companies and having directed such sales and marketing operations, I personally try to avoid this at all costs, ESPECIALLY in LUXURY RETAIL.

I find emails like these to:

1. Cheapen the brand and the retailer's image. Brands and retailers invest a tremendous amount of time, effort, and money into their design and construction (architect/designer Peter Marino is ALWAYS expensive). But do they invest enough on their personnel?

2. Shows how desperate and transaction the brand/retailer can be. This email is so impersonal that it's basically a fishing expedition... Then again, I suppose if you send this out to a thousand fish, there may be one fish who will bite the bait. You can fool some of the people all the time. You can fool all of the people some of the time. But you cannot fool all of the people all the time.

3. They use visual imagery that looks unappealing to some which hurts their brand. In the picture below, the model is dripping in branded jewelry. This look is unappealing to me, sometimes a little less jewelry is better. I try not to over-accessorize. Sometimes less really is more!

I just received this one and it's pretty bad. 1, message is totally impersonal and overly commercialized "I will be happy to assist you... and place an order" is so for Bulgari's benefit; 2, model is over accessorized (necklace with pendant, two rings, bracelet, and a watch) and polarizing; and 3, this looks like something synthetically generated by a CRM computer and sent with little attention nor thought to a mass email list. Bulgari needs to find better bait for their fish! Especially for the Big Tunas and Whales that Bulgari is looking for!

What are the worse ones you've gotten lately? Any big blunders?

Key Points from the Discussion

Impersonal emails, while seemingly cost-effective for brands, can cause significant collateral damage by diminishing brand esteem among sophisticated clients, making them less likely to engage with the brand in the future.
There's a debate on whether these 'fishing expedition' emails are truly ineffective, as a small percentage of recipients might still 'take the bait,' generating a return on investment for the brand despite alienating others.
Some collectors, like 'vitalsigns,' wonder if a segment of the population genuinely responds positively to mass-market luxury emails, suggesting that marketing research might validate such strategies even if they are distasteful to a more discerning audience.
A truly personalized luxury retail experience, such as a personal shopper offering home closet inventories or curated outfits, adds significant value and fosters long-term client relationships, contrasting sharply with generic email blasts.
The discussion highlights the distinction between unsolicited mass emails and targeted, value-added communications, with some users receiving highly personalized offers from retailers, indicating varying levels of CRM sophistication.

The Discussion

amanico

Apr 15, 2020

I put them directly in the trash, without reading them. I find that kind of message totally disgusting. [nt]

patrick_y

Apr 15, 2020

I normally do too...

This is the first one I've gotten in a while. Maybe because all the other ones go straight to the junk mail? Yes, this one I thought was pretty bad. I expected more from Bulgari!

amanico

Apr 15, 2020

Indeed, a pity... for them. [nt]

vitalsigns

Apr 15, 2020

I don't have any saved examples (straight to the virtual circular file), but I agree that your example is atrocious.

But then I wonder if there truly is a segment of the population that responds to this type of bait. I like to imagine this group (WPS) as sophisticated, knowledgeable and able to easily discern like from dislike, so we aren't pulled by marketing to the same extent as the general public, but maybe the marketing research bears out and this type of bait is successful. I just don't know. I do personally find it distasteful, though... Cheers, John

patrick_y

Apr 15, 2020

You bring up an excellent point John! I think you know more than you realize!

I think you're right. While the vast majority of people who are on Bulgari's list are probably too sophisticated to fall for something like this, there's probably a very small percentage who will "take the bait." So one could argue that the email (which costs Bulgari virtually nothing to send out) does generate a return on investment. But what Bulgari doesn't realize is that the collateral damage of the thousands of people who were put off by the brand when they actually received this email. My

vitalsigns

Apr 15, 2020

Fully agree with your point.

Brands must always balance the desire for more sales (and the methods to achieve more sales) with the longer-term damage to brand image. Sales are easily seen and measured, but longer-term damage to brand image is very hard to track.

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