Emily GrochIn an effort to drive relationships deeper and increase average revenue per user in the long-term, Comcast surprised customers with free trials and other freebies in the mail.
Peaking from February through April 2020, these loyalty mailers expressed Comcast’s appreciation for its customers in both messaging and imagery. The telecom company asserted that it loves its customers, and inserted hearts throughout the mail piece.
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Comcast sought to drive open rates by sending these offers as stamped, invitation-sized letter-and-envelope mailers, often featuring a gold Xfinity seal. This approach makes the mailer feel more personal and doesn’t immediately come across as a marketing communication.
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Comcast used a variety of offers to entice its internet subscribers to upgrade or enhance their service — all at no immediate added cost. While a free Xfinity Flex (see mailer above) wasn’t always the primary offer in upgrade promotions for internet subscriptions, it typically appeared somewhere in the mailer. For instance, in the Blast! Internet upgrade offer below, Comcast featured the free Xfinity Flex, too.
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In addition to internet-related offers, some customers received invitations to upgrade to Xfinity X1 at no added cost. Recipients of this version were likely on a lower-tier video service.
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Comcast’s loyalty mailers in this particular style were first observed in February and have declined since April. The declining volumes for these mailers followed an overall decline in Comcast direct mail through June. Comcast wound down the loyalty mailers in July, and we’ve observed no indication that these offers were shifted to email.
Moving into Q3, Comcast’s mail was much more focused on acquisition (more than 95% of its mail was acquisition-focused in July), which is not surprising, given that many consumers are evaluating internet providers as students “return” to school virtually.
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