Cox Communications

PODi
CASE
STUDY
C OX COMMUNICATIONS
ENGAGES CUSTOMERS WITH CUSTOMIZED REWARDS
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C OX C OMMUNICATIONS E NGAGES C USTOMERS
WITH C USTOMIZED R EWARDS
V ERTICAL MARKET:
Other - Cable
BUSINESS APPLICATION:
Direct Marketing/Loyalty/Traffic Generation
B USINESS O BJECTIVES
Cox Communications is the third largest cable company in the U.S. with
over six million subscribers. As an industry, cable companies experience
great competition and a high rate of customer churn. To improve customer
retention Cox Communications wanted to be proactive in engaging and
rewarding its best customers.
They needed a direct marketing campaign that would:

Recognize product bundle customers – those that receive TV,
Internet and phone service through Cox

Learn about and address any customer dissatisfaction

Drive traffic at Cox Solutions Stores to increase opportunities for
selling additional products
R ESULTS
Working with their marketing service provider, Paradise Design, a direct
marketing campaign was developed that engaged bundle customers and
encouraged them to visit a Cox Rewards microsite.

9.6% visit rate – 7,362 recipients visited their personalized microsite
via a Personalized URL or QR Code

8.8% response rate – 6,796 recipients completed the online survey at
the microsite and received their rewards book

Cox Solutions Store educational classes were filled to capacity
representing over 2,000 visitors
o
Five different stores in Orange County and Palos Verdes,
California participated in the program. Each store held a
monthly class with a maximum attendance of 36

Cox identified and addressed customer concerns immediately
© 2013 W. Caslon & Company. All rights reserved
Page 1
Cox Communications Engages Customers with Customized Rewards
C AMPAIGN A RCHITECTURE
Personalized postcards were sent to 77,000
Cox bundle customers offering a special
reward for their loyalty. Recipients were
directed to visit a personalized microsite
which could be accessed via a Personalized
URL or a QR Code. The majority of responses
came in via the Personalized URL.
Once on the campaign site customers were
asked a few questions regarding their
satisfaction with Cox and their interest in
Personalized landing page
other Cox services. A "Thank You" email was
delivered to customers immediately following
survey completion. If the customer expressed
an interest to learn more about selected Cox
services they received an additional email
with that information.
Customers who filled out negative satisfaction
ratings were called by a customer service
representative within a few hours. This was a
key part of the campaign as Cox had not
previously had a systematic way to identify
Survey page
and respond to areas of customer
dissatisfaction.
Two follow-up emails were sent to nonrespondents – the first, four weeks after the
postcard was mailed and the second after an
additional three weeks.
T ARGET A UDIEN CE & M ESSAGE
The target audience for this campaign was
77,000 Cox bundle customers. Cox wanted to
maintain a strong relationship with these
high-value customers, who have their cable,
Reminder email to non-responders
high-speed Internet and phone service
© 2013 W. Caslon & Company. All rights reserved
Page 2
through Cox. The personalized postcard and the campaign microsite
expressed Cox’s appreciation for their business.
O FFER
For the offer Cox wanted to provide customers with an item that they would
keep throughout the year with Cox’s branding highly visible. They
partnered with Entertainment Promotions to provide customized coupon
books with over $600 in savings for local restaurants, merchants and
services. The special Cox Rewards books had custom covers featuring the
Cox logo and “Digi” mascot. The inside cover contained a letter from Cox’s
marketing manager and the first couple of pages featured coupons for free
On Demand movies and free education classes at participating Cox
Solutions Stores. Two versions of the Cox Rewards books were created –
one for Orange County, California and one for Palos Verdes, California – to
ensure recipients received coupons for establishments in their area.
© 2013 W. Caslon & Company. All rights reserved
Page 3
Cox Communications Engages Customers with Customized Rewards
C REATIVE
The personalized postcard, emails, campaign microsite and Cox Rewards
book had a consistent look and feel for a seamless customer experience.
Each touch point incorporated Cox’s mascot in a fun and engaging manner
that created instant brand recognition.
Key elements that made the design a success:

Recipient’s name featured
prominently on the front of
the postcard

Use of corporate mascot,
logo and branding that
made communications
instantly recognizable

Offer highlighted in copy
and images

Personalized URL and QR
Code response
mechanisms clearly
displayed with
instructions
© 2013 W. Caslon & Company. All rights reserved
Page 4
R EASONS FOR S UCCESS
Cox’s customer service personnel received many phone calls from
customers thanking Cox for paying attention to them and providing the Cox
Rewards book – an unexpected and highly-valued outcome of this
campaign.
Best practices learned are:

For continuous customer engagement use an offer with staying
power. Cox not only provided a valuable incentive to drive response
but gave its customers a gift that they would use throughout the
year.

Have a defined process in place for responding to customer
feedback. If one of the goals of your campaign is to engage
customers and gather their opinions on your products and services
then you need to respond in a timely manner to requests for
additional information or to negative comments. Failure to have this
in place before the campaign is launched will lead to confusion
among call center staff and/or sales personnel, and to greater
customer frustration.
© 2013 W. Caslon & Company. All rights reserved
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