How Guardian Protection Services Won the 2017 SAMMY Award for Best Promotional Giveaway
Find out how Guardian lured customer loyalty with an Amazon Echo offer.
Guardian Protection Services personalized its Amazon Echo direct mail offer to customers.
One of the most difficult for a security company to do is keep a residential customer who’s moving to another home. Guardian Protection Services turned to one of the hottest electronics devices around to try and stem the attrition tide, while also providing practical value to potential loyal customers.
The Warrendale, Pa.-based company implemented a campaign that offered a free Amazon Echo to its target audience of customers who were in the premove stage as an incentive to stick with Guardian and sign a new security monitoring agreement.
The decision to offer an Echo — Amazon’s loudspeaker that enables voice control over an increasingly large amount of smart-home products — came about after Guardian had unsuccessfully involved some third-party input.
In-house brainstorming sessions involving senior management yielded the fruitful Echo endeavor, however, and the company’s staff writer and designer worked to create the look and feel of the multipronged approach.
“They were clear on the business goals and managed to have some fun with the project,” says Kevin Bish, vice president of marketing.
Guardian used variable digital printing technology to produce a direct mail piece that features personalization in four areas along with a message from the company’s vice president of customer experience and rich imagery and graphics.
A prominent call to action lets the customer respond via phone or via a web landing page, which is mobile responsive and designed to be consistent with the look of the letter.
Additionally, Guardian developed a branded instructional sheet that it includes with the Echo so the customer can easily sync the device’s Alexa app with the Alarm.com skill, effectively enabling control of their Guardian system.
“One of the key factors in our decision to offer the Echo was the integration of Guardian’s interactive services, powered by Alarm.com, within the Echo platform,” says Bish. “We thought our customers would find a natural connection between having a Guardian system and an exciting new way to control it.”
Bish says the company has expanded its target audience to include “customers at other points in their lifecycle with Guardian as well as prospects shopping for security and home automation.”
2017 SAMMY Winners: Read up on the rest of this year’s SAMMY winners here.
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About the Author
Arlen Schweiger
Arlen Schweiger is editor-in-chief of SSI's sister publication, CE Pro. He was SSI's managing editor from August 2018 to June 2023.
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