Vanilia inspires and activates with direct mail
“Our first direct mailings were greatly appreciated by our customers. They didn’t even want to turn it in, they wanted to keep it themselves. They really experienced it as personal mail.” Maura van de Kempe (CRM & E-commerce Manager) and Marjolein van Wijck (Project Manager Marketing) of fashion brand Vanilia on the first experiences with direct mail.
Vanilia is purely Dutch
Vanilia stands for Zaanish sobriety in mentality and way of working. The entire clothing collection is made under one roof in our own workshop. Close to home, by professionals working in a healthy and honest working environment. With a careful eye for sustainability, with a heart for people and the environment. Vanilia has 18 boutiques in larger cities, as well as shop-in-shops in five Bijenkorf stores and a webshop.
Active and dormant customers
“We see it as a valuable touchpoint”
Maura: “When surveying our database, we found that it contained a lot of people who haven’t bought from us in a long time. We have a digital newsletter, but not everyone reads it and we can also end up in the spam box. Direct mail is a channel we can use to inspire and (re)activate our customers in a different way.”
Marjolein: “The first time we did that with a discount promotion (read more about this campaign here), the second time with a mini-magazine. We see it as a valuable touchpoint in a time when everything is digital and people receive very little mail.”
A total of 100,000 customers received both direct mailings, both active customers and inactives. These customers have a member card, which is linked to Vanilia’s member program. When selecting the file to be mailed, the date of the last purchase was considered. Maura: “In that phase, we also built a business case. Of course, it’s quite something to make such an investment. After all, it’s easier to spend your 2,000 euros on Facebook. An important consideration was that while we can put a lot of effort into attracting new customers, existing customers are much more valuable. On that basis, we got the confidence and a go.”
Discount promotion and mini-magazine
Maura: “in the first mailing there is a unique code on the self-mailer. This allows us to see if someone made a purchase as a result of the direct mailing. In the second mailing we took the opportunity to tell more of our brand story in the mini-magazine. About the fact that everything is made in our own workshop, but also, for example, that we have a customization and repair service. Relevant information, which was received very positively.”
Collaboration with PSI Vransen
“Everything had to fit in with Vanilia’s business operations.”
Niels and Menno from PSI Vransen worked intensively with us on both mailings. Marjolein: “The first time we had an envelope that we wanted to look like an invitation. We discussed intensively how it could work, about the thickness of the paper and how to seal it. Because we wanted to do everything in a sustainable way, we chose recycled paper that was made natural white in an environmentally friendly way. We also didn’t want to use foil lacquer. that doesn’t suit us. Everything had to match Vanilia’s business practices.
Maura: “The second time, Niels and Menno came by with a big pile of samples. That also included the mini-magazine, but in a completely different form. That eventually became the twelve-page mini-magazine, which we developed in collaboration with our designers and copywriters. Also at that stage we had close contact with PSI Vransen our the production. On their advice, for example, we omitted a small flap. This saved a lot on production and postage costs. That is the expertise and solution thinking they have. We naturally took advantage of that.
How to move forward?
“We proved that direct mail works for Vanilia”
Through a variety of channels, Vanilia received responses from customers. “Our customers enjoy receiving mail from Vanilia, which is an important learning, in addition to, of course, increasing the conversion ratio in-store and online. For the future, we will look at the right rhythm to use direct mail. And we are thinking about possibilities such as bring your friends, so that our customers become ambassadors of our brand and bring others who also apply for membership. We have proven that direct mail works for Vanilia. That’s a great foundation to build on.”
Would you like to know how you can apply direct mail within the total media mix?
Book an online appointment with one of our DM experts or call 020 – 495 38 38.