Scenario As a consumer electronics retailer, you offer a wide array of products and services. These include kitchen and laundry appliances, televisions, computers, printers, gaming consoles, and other related supplies. In addition, you provide professional installation services (through in-house staff and or third party contractors) for a range of products that you sell. You have recently added smart home solutions to your digital and brick-and-mortar outlets.

These include connected-thermostats (HVAC controllers), home surveillance devices and equipment such as surveillance cameras, lighting and fan controllers, entry/access solutions such as smart locks and garage door controls. These devices and solutions can be managed through manufacturer's mobile apps and or centralized hubs which include digital assistants such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Apple HomePod which you also sell.

Moreover, to creat an end-to-end seamless customer experience, you have developed in-house capabilities and have also contracted independent contractors to install, integrate, and manage/service (post-installation) smart home products. Depending on the geographic location of the customers' residence, these services are either provided through in-house resources/capabilities or fulfilled through third-party contractors. From a marketing communication standpoint, you have employed a range of digital advertising tools including search engine optimization, banner ads on third-party websites, remarketing/retargeting techniques, etc.

Recently, a customer visited your website and searched through various home security products such as door bells, surveillance cameras, motion detectors, smart door locks, security lights, etc. The customer reviewed both product specifications for various items as well as pricing. In addition, the customer also reviewed information on professional installation, integration, and management services that you offer. It is likely that the customer is not only comparing your offerings with other similar retailers, but he/she is also evaluating do-it-yourself (DIY) or do-it-for-me (DIFM) options for home security products/solutions.

To drive revenue growth, you have implemented a direct marketing program for your home security solutions category. The program aims to accomplish the following objectives: Identify potential leads Draw traffic to brick-and-mortar locations Increase conversion rate for both in-store and website visitors Assume you have the contact information on the potential customer that visited your website including their email as well as their physical addressperhaps it is a former customer, may be they carry your store credit card, or maybe they were asked to provide such information on your website (some companies do that before they can give out specific information about product availability, pricing, or any sales promotions), may be you were able to use third-party web-based tools and databases to get the contact information. As part of the direct marketing effort, you have been assigned the following tasks (see questions). Q.1. Draft a follow-up email for the website visitor which accomplishes the following objectives: a) Persuades them to open the email, i.e., has a powerful subject header b) Serves as a subtle reminder of products/services they had reviewed c) Informs the customer about the product, service, any special promotions, and keeps them engaged with the email (i.e., minimizes the likelihood of email abandonment or the bounce rate) d) Prompts specific action such as revisiting your web site, contacting you via email/phone/social media or coming to the physical store, or purchasing the product and or service online.

MUST HAVE ELEMENTS: 1. Subject line: A compelling/creative header (the goal is to cut through the email fatigue many consumers already face from getting inundated by email marketers) 2. Email Body: Mix of text and visual elements/images (the objective is to keep the audience engaged with the email) 3. Email Body: Call to action - (e.g., some sort of an embedded button or an image with an embedded URL, a slogan, etc. You do not have to creat any actual webpage.) Answer Format: The email must be at least one page in length. Make sure you identify which element (text, graphic, etc.) in the email body is clickable/has an embedded hyperlink.

Q.2. Develop a landing page for a micro-site associated with the email. For instance, if the customer clicks on one of the hyperlinks or call to action buttons or graphics in the email, they are routed to a specific landing page and not the main home page of the retailer. You can simply use a Word format (wide format) to show what that landing page should look like. Embed any visuals, text, and any call to action buttons, etc., in the landing page. You can copy and paste the slide into the word document but please make sure that the content of the slide is legible. You do not have to creat an actual site or webpage; you can leverage Word and . Answer Format: Hint: the landing page can be a general page about a product/service, sales promotion, etc., but it should have relevance to the theme discussed in the email to ensure seamless customer experience. Many of us receive promotional emails from various companies that we may have provided our email to (ranging from airlines to car wash outlets). Perhaps dig through your email to identify a sample email you may have received and the related landing page. However, when drafting your email and your landing page, please keep the context of this assignment in mind. The email and the landing page text should be your own write-up.

Q.3. Develop a direct mail piece that will be sent out to the customer's physical mailing address. The objectives for this direct mail piece are the same, i.e., subtly remind the customer about the web search they had performed, persuade them to visit your physical and or web store, and encourage purchase. The content for the direct mail piece must not be identical to the email in Q1.