Tommy Hilfiger Gains E-mail Subs via CPL Ads

You might think that a brand like Tommy Hilfiger, which sells a broad range of apparel for men, women, and children, would simply have to place ads on several fashion-magazine Websites or buy a few search engine keywords to build its e-mail subscriber list. But you’d be wrong.
 
“If you’re looking to get the broad covers we are, you have to go beyond the fashion sites,” says senior director of ecommerce Jared Blank. “Everyone’s got to buy clothes.”
 
One of the most effective prospecting tools for Tommy Hilfiger has been cost-per-lead (CPL) advertising across a network of disparate Websites. In its first five months of running CPL ad campaigns with digital media firm Pontiflex, these ads have accounted for more than half of Hilfiger’s new e-mail subscribers.
 
CPL ads differ from other sorts of online advertising in that consumers can subscribe directly within the ad, rather than having to click through to a landing page. Hilfiger pays only for actual sign-ups, not for ad placements. Pontiflex is responsible for determining which Websites are fitting demographic and contextual matches for Hilfiger’s market.
 
“It’s all over the place,” Blank notes. “It’s rarely as obvious as fashion-magazine sites.” Now that Hilfiger is looking into expanding its children’s wear business, for instance, it is exploring running CPL ads on a gamut of sites frequented by parents.
 
In its CPL ads, Hilfiger entices prospective subscribers with a 20% discount, a promotion that it doesn’t offer in any of its other advertising. “We felt that a 20% discount was compelling without being outrageous,” Blank says. Upon signing up, subscribers are automatically sent a welcome e-mail that includes a code for the discount on their first offer.
 
But as Blank says, “You can’t form a meaningful relationship with just a 20%-off message.” So Hilfiger makes a point of quickly integrating subscribers into its regular e-mail cadence. This typically comes down to three messages a week: two branding e-mails spotlighting new products, style guides, and the like, and one straightforward sales promotion.   
 
Hilfiger subscribers acquired via CPL advertising have similar open and click-through rates to those acquired via other channels such as search. Blank admits, though, that the time from sign-up to initial purchase is longer for the CPL subscribers than for others.  “We know they’re engaged,” Blank says, referring to the “strong” open and click rates. “It’s just taking longer for them to buy. We’re still working on what’s the best way to message to get them to ultimately convert.”
 
For instance, the company experimented with offering some engaged subscribers who had yet to make a purchase free shipping instead of 20% off. It has also tested messages unique to this database segment, such as deeper discounts and more fashion-oriented content. “We’re still trying to figure out how this group responds,” says Blank, indicating that it’s still early days yet.
 
In the meantime, Hilfiger is working on building a subscriber preference center so that e-mail recipients can select the types of messages they receive. “The key is to think beyond the discount,” Blank says. “Long term to make it work you’ve got to think about why they respond to you.”