Founded in 1991 with a mission to bring high quality, high fashion, high value and ethically sourced clothing to the UK, Boden was arguably one of a new breed of mail order firms, trying to break the mould of the established brands including Grattan, Littlewoods, N Brown, Great Universal Stores and Freemans.
But by 2009 Boden identified the need to evolve, and while its catalogue remained at the heart of marketing strategy, the way it reached new customers needed to change.
A cold acquisition approach, renting third party data, led to the company renting more than 100 separate lists. Boden realised as it wanted to build its customer acquisition strategy that this method was inefficient, expensive and unfocused.
With so many lists, contact records overlapped, meaning the company could be paying multiple times to access the same information. In addition, a physical catalogue is a significant investment and needs to hit the right prospects if it is to drive return.
Boden devised an action plan to transform engagement by: improved understanding and identification of its highest value customers; tailoring catalogues to needs; and targeting the right catalogues to the right people.
In doing so, it believed it would boost acquisition volumes, give customers what they wanted, increase efficiencies and drive sales. So it set out to find the right business partner, ultimately hiring Experian to handle the move.
Boden’s Nelissa Ishmael explains: “We needed a partner with the understanding and resources to deliver what we wanted to achieve. Experian has embedded a team of marketing, data and planning experts that got down into the detail to build a strategy that has transformed our marketing approach.”
Using its data sources, Experian worked to see precisely what was happening, what was working and what was not. This analysis now forms the bedrock of Boden’s direct acquisition strategy.
Essentially, it has driven a four-pronged transformation:
Data: There is now a defined prospect pool that underpins Boden’s marketing, shifting from reactive campaigning to planned targeting across catalogue seasons.
Models and insight: Analysis is used to build multiple models of behaviours and propensities to better predict Boden’s best newcustomers and maximise returns. Experian reviews performance at the end of each campaign, continually learning and refining each engagement to ensure that it’s always optimised.
Strategy and planning: Armed with the right information, Experian works with Boden to ensure that it is deployed in ways that deliver maximum value.
System access: This powerful new resource is now housed in an easy to access system that visualises the data in ways that are meaningful – making it simple and flexible enough for campaigns of all sizes.
And the results have been impressive. Not only has cut the number of mailing lists from100+ to a handful, Experian data now makes up over 85% of customer selections – with other lists used where they deliver incremental benefit. Experian also assesses circulation strategy across brands ensuring the catalogues are distributed effectively.
An ongoing test and learn approach, coupled with greater customer understanding means that Boden’s catalogues now resonate with its client base – from helping to decide what goes on the front cover, to where to place top sellers and what products to feature.
Smaller (and cheaper) catalogues are having a positive impact on response rates, driving sales at a lower cost per recruit.
Boden has also been able to develop more sophisticated follow-up communications and increased seasonal catalogue launches. The ability to plan activity at an individual level across campaigns has been instrumental in enabling this, with the ability to understand contact history underpinning campaign planning.
The company is now taking the learnings from direct mail activity and applying this across digital channels such as email and online advertising.
The success of the relationship means that as Boden looks to the future it may replicate these activities in US and European markets, exploring synergies based on Experian’s global presence.
“Experian’s analysis, strategic thinking and tactical deployment have been invaluable,” concludes Nelissa. “Experian are now an integral part of our business: reactively, it is there to offer support whenever we need it; and proactively, it is constantly thinking about new ways to helps us to achieve our goals. With budgets static, we really are doing more with less — constantly reaching, engaging and winning customers in new and better ways.”
