Krishnamurthy (2001) identifies Permission marketing was developed by Seth Godin (1999) detailing that consumers must be contacted and agree to have emails sent to their mailbox from respective companies. Enabling for greater customization of emails, as users will receive emails they have consented and have a particular interest within, as appose to unsolicited messaging e.g. spam. (no consent provided)
Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) are a subsidiary of Sony and have a large online following with over 6million people following their Twitter page and have over 50,000 like on Facebook. Therefore, SCE has a broad audience of consumers who may seek to receive email updates or subscribe to newsletters providing SCE an opportunity to gather personal data to identify customers interests regarding products. However, before any data is collected SCE must obtain consent from consumers agreeing to receive emails/ newsletters failure to do so can lead to email being interpreted as spam. Which although may be cheap and can be distributed to a large number of individuals it is also considered an invasion of privacy. Being labeled as a “spammer” can have detrimental effects on companies brand and reputation.
Brondmo (2002) highlights Amazon were once nicknamed “Spamazon” due to the high amount of unsolicited emails that were sent out to their members. As a result, their members forwarded spam mail to media outlets which resulted in adverse publicity, leading Amazon to change email marketing policies.
The best means to avoid to avoid spam is incorporating opting in and out, two key fundamentals within permission marketing.
Opt-in
Individuals have given their consent for them to receive emails from companies; there are two basic forms of Opt-in- email.
House lists- these are lists of consumers who have opt-in. Lists are generated by companies having received no external support.
Outside lists- which are records of consumers access/consent sold by email marketing companies e.g. Yesmail, Mailchimp.
Chaffey (2013) highlight today users can choose to opt- in through social networks this is effective due to providing users with an increase in communication channels reducing any pressure/ friction. SCE enables individuals to opt in via Social networks which is crucial due to their significant online presence e.g. YouTube, Facebook, etc. Tezinde (2002) highlights businesses can find difficulty in encouraging individuals to opt -in, especially start-ups due to the variety of online relationships already being maintained by users, usually with higher profile companies. However, SEC still entices individuals to sign up to PlayStation Network to receive email updates about exclusive rewards, and competitions. (See image below). Fiore (2001) identifies the best way to to encourage consumers to give permission is to offer incentives such as prizes or loyalty system.
Opt-Out
Allows consumers to unsubscribe or cancel receiving promotional messages from organisations, it is crucial that users can opt out when they seek. Companies need to ensure opting out can be quickly understood and activated. Gaudiosi (2014) highlights PlayStation Network online gaming service was hacked in 2011 putting over 100m users personal data at risk, this hack ending up costing Sony $250m. As a result, consumer faith is likely to have fallen into doubt over Sony’s ability to securely store personal data.
Personalisation is crucial to effective email marketing, as once companies have gained consent from individuals, a relationship is being constructed and like any relationship trust is a core concept of getting to learn more about somebody. (see here for more permission marketing campaign examples) Therefore, trust is a fundamental concept within personalisation. Effective personalization requires users providing personal information to which companies can better understand their interests, leading to the creation of more memorable, consistent messages. Loss of trust is simply loss of personal data. Data can be gathered through “customer profile ” which include relevant details of customers, enabling more detailed and personalized messaging. SEC have allowed for greater personalisation by focusing on PlayStation devices and services to which individuals are most interested about e.g. PS4, PlayStation Video.
Conclusion
Permission marketing is crucial in establishing favorable email marketing reputation due to avoidance of pestering unsolicited messages that don’t consider consumers privacy preventing the construction of trustworthy relationship with customers. However, effective Permission marketing isn’t immune to harming buyer relationships as data protection concerns can result in an instability of customer confidence which may lead to users choosing to opt-out.
References
Brondmo, H (2002) The Eng@ged customer: The rules of the internet direct marketing. London: Piatkus.
Chaffey, D. (2013) 10 permission marketing principles and campaign examples integrating web, email, and social media marketing. [Online] http://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/e-permission-marketing/ [Accessed 4th May 2015]
Gaudiosi, H (2014) Why Sony didn’t learn from its 2011 hack [Online].http://fortune.com/2014/12/24/why-sony-didnt-learn-from-its-2011-hack/ [Accessed 3rd March 2015]
Fiore (2001) E-marketing Strategies. The Hows and Why of driving Sales. Through e-commerce- Sell Anything, Anywhere, Anyway, Anytime, at any price. Indianapolis: Que Corporations.
Krishnamurthy, S (2001) A Comprehensive Analysis of Permission Marketing. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Vol 6, No 2, p5.
Tezinde, T. (2002) Getting permission: Exploring factors affecting permission marketing. Journal of interactive marketing. vol 16, no 4, p28-36.