Acura Email Marketing
How precision crafted emails revved up performance
Background
Launched by Honda in 1986, Acura holds the distinction of being the world’s first Japanese automotive luxury brand. Since its historic introduction, Acura has continued to excel as both trailblazer and innovator, and the brand’s success has inspired the creation of other automotive luxury marquees over the years including Lexus (Toyota) and Infiniti (Nissan).
Challenge
Acura has long used email as an effective means of reaching current and future customers. Yet while their email marketing efforts were meeting objectives, they wanted to pursue a more strategic approach. Instead of offer-driven emails that simply connected and informed, they needed to inspire their audiences, deepen engagement and create passionate brand advocates.
SERVICES
Email Marketing Strategy, Mobile Email Design & Development, User Experience (UX) Design, Copywriting, Video Production, Motion Graphics
INDUSTRY
Automotive
Solution
Rhythm transformed the brand’s email communications by presenting visuals and content that connected with Acura’s many audiences and subverted their expectations.
No longer just product-focused, today’s story-driven emails are interesting and approachable. A Rhythm-created modular design system also lets Acura share messaging far more quickly than was previously possible.
Transformational Email Marketing
Our strategy was to evolve Acura’s brand perception away from retail/rational (a focus on techs and specs) to one in which emotions played a greater role, particularly for a key audience segment called “Spirited Independents.”
For these individuals, hard data often underpins buying decisions, but their true passion for the brand comes from intangible qualities that transcend the practical.
Identifying Key Audiences
Working hand in hand with Acura’s marketing, branding and CRM teams, Rhythm developed an email marketing strategy levering existing research and segmentation models.
Focusing on the future instead of the past, we identified key audience segments that presented the highest growth potential.
Telling Better Stories
Product-focused communications have their place, but our new content strategy called for the creation of emails with a greater emphasis on emotional engagement.
Instead of corporate and pushy, the new creative messaging continues to be more story driven and personable.
Analysis and Optimization
Designing new emails is just the beginning. After each campaign delivery, a comprehensive analysis always takes place. In addition to the basic metrics of open rate, click-throughs, etc., Rhythm developed engagement metrics to measure content popularity, time spent with content and paths to conversion—really understanding how email drives consumers to the destination experience.
By rigorously testing and learning, we tailor emails to maximize what works and refine what doesn’t. Through our analysis and optimization efforts, we continue to develop content that resonates with Acura’s audience segments and increases brand engagement.
Rhythm has done an excellent job immersing themselves in the Acura brand and ensuring that all communications reflect a tone and attitude that is consistent with our messaging.
Susie Rossik
AVP
Acura Automotive Marketing
