In the manufacturer of coffee capsules, paper mail was once the main channel of marketing. Today, the brand continues to use it to convey a certain message and maintain a customer relationship, inspired by the codes of luxury. Always in a targeted way.
When Nespresso was created in Switzerland in the late 1980s, as a subsidiary of Nestlé, the brand had no shops, no Internet available. But already a position : that of an exclusive brand, working direct with coffee farmers, bringing together its community of customers within a “Club Nespresso” and not selling its capsules in aluminium at a distance, rather than in the supermarket. “The idea was to say that to speak well of coffee, it was necessary to speak directly to each customer, because the choice of coffee is a very personal choice,” says Nathalie Gonzalez, director of marketing and communication. To inform its customers about “blends” (blends of coffee), prepared by in-house experts, the mark to be sent to them detailed presentations on letter paper. And took then place their orders by phone. Another time…
Thirty years and a digital revolution later, the customers of Nespresso can be informed on online products, order in a few clicks on the site or the app, or visit one of the 650 shops open between-time in the world (including 36 in France). What have shelved the paper mailing ? No : against all odds, the brand has not abandoned. It has even led to, alongside the digital and shopping, a key element of its customer relationships, responding to uses and a strategy for a specific property. “There are a number of things that cannot be expressed well only by paper”, sums up Nathalie Gonzalez.
e-mail for a better explanation… or pamper yourself
such As, for example, important messages, or relatively complex on the Nespresso offer. Recently, for example, customers of the brand have received by mail a presentation of a new coffee shop come to Zimbabwe. “It is helping the revival of the culture of coffee in this country, it is a about a little sharp, which must be explained in some detail, note Nathalie Gonzalez. In this case, typically, it can happen to us send an e-mail.” Ditto when the brand launched, in 2016, his new machine Vertuo, with a new technique for the extraction of the coffee : “This range requires an explanation a little developed, for which the paper is most suitable.”
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Another example : the establishment by Nespresso, in sorting centres, waste in the paris region (as well as in other pilot sites), a device that automates the sorting of aluminum – hence, in particular, the capsules of coffee, in order to facilitate its recycling. “This device, which will be in July 2019 all sorting centres in paris, means that our customers throw their capsules in the garbage to cover yellow. To get this message across, present the system and give instructions of the sort, we decided to use the e-paper. We have discovered that some customers had on their refrigerator or their trash can !”
Finally, the letter is also used to treat the client relationship. In 2018, Nespresso was sent to his most faithful regulars a case of their favourite coffee, personalised to their name. “Instead of the usual name of the variety, the case involved the client, with next to it the whole history of the art of roasting coffee in question,” continues Nathalie Gonzalez. A surprise gift intended to strengthen the link – an effect difficult to achieve with, for example, an e-mail.
The secret : the targeted mailings
The common point between these shipments ? They are never made “in the blind”, to all of the customers Nespresso. The secret of the mark is, on the contrary, the precise targeting, through data available to it. These allow you to customize the letters to the extreme, to refer to a particular geographical area, or even send out a mailing on the machine Vertuo to customers preferring the cafes long, for which she is very fit. “It sends paper when you think that the message of merit and that it will create interest in the client in question, indicates Nathalie Gonzalez. Because the worst thing that can happen to a mail which is to leave immediately in the trash.” The brand also uses this channel to customers having expressly requested, because they do not want to be contacted by other means (e-mail etc).
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In all cases, the paper at Nespresso (only from sustainably managed forests, insists the marketing director) wants to be complementary to the digital. Not only when it refers to a website for more information, for example on the recycling of the capsules. But also to “pace” the client relationship. “It is necessary to take each channel for what it is, note Nathalie Gonzalez. The immediacy of the digital is very interesting. Our app, our site, are made to be able to order very quickly capsules. If a shop is exceptionally open on Sunday, no need to inform the client by mail, an SMS is enough. But at the same time, it is important to be able to have otherwise a relationship slower, more sedate, included in the period of time, which allows the paper to. It is also for this reason, to find this balance, that we continue to use it.” A logic that fits in with the strategy of Nespresso : selling coffee with the codes of luxury. Therefore, maintaining a custom link, to the inverse of the mass distribution. A spirit has been present from the origin, and helps them today to differentiate from competition more and more fierce.