“Welcome” email

Score… 🥁 4/10

Why does the organisation you work for believe it exists?

Why do you believe it exists?

One thing’s for sure, neither of those match up perfectly to what your customers believe.

Even the most kickass-sounding mission and the best branding can’t change the fact that the outside world doesn’t see us the way we see ourselves.

I’ve been there. I’ve made that mistake in jobs of yore. I’m still struggling with this in relation to my own services. Hard things are hard when it’s a question of perspective.

So today, to show you how this plays out, I’m going to talk about my deficient ankles.

The backstory:

Once upon a time I was a runner. Up and down the Thames, avoiding my dissertation. From Tooting to London Bridge, avoiding the tube to work. Round trips to Rotherhithe, avoiding having to reduce my cheese intake. And throughout all of that running, I needed something deeply uncool to avoid injury. Stability trainers.

If you’ve not heard of such a thing… stability trainers are designed for people whose ankles roll inwards, AKA “overpronators”. This type of shoe has an inflexible bar along the inside length that stops the shoe (and your ankle) from crumpling like a Coke can on impact.

I only found out I needed stability trainers after being in a lot of pain and doing a lot of research and running on treadmills in front of people. In the end a man in a shop recommended a company that specialises in them.

I’ve long since quit running because I can’t hack sucking in litres of pollution any more. Instead I walk a lot, which requires less breathing, and I still rely on stability trainers to save my ankles from twinges. Over the past 6 years I’ve had 3 pairs from the same brand, £120 a pop, and when my current pair kicks the bucket, I will buy another to replace them.

Am I going to say this? I’m going to say this. I admit it. I love my stability shoes. I actually love this brand for how much they’ve helped me overcome my deficient ankles… and I am not someone who bandies about the L-word willy nilly.

I bought some new ones the other day and I must have used a different email address because the company sent me a welcome email.

The email caught me by surprise.

The company seems to have put a lot of thought into the top-level brand messaging.

But I didn’t, couldn’t, connect with it at all.

(Sender anonymised to “Xxxx” out of courtesy. Think you know who? Guess away!)

— — — — — Forwarded message — — — — —

Subject line: “Welcome to Xxxx!”

“We exist to empower
the human spirit,
with every stride,
on every run,
in every community”

Spirit? Get yer hands off my spirit, it’s my ankles you’re empowering!

“#RunForGood”

Run for what good? Why is there still no formal test to pass before anyone is allowed to use a purpose-based hashtag?

<various links to the online shop>

— — — — — End — — — — —

Conclusion:

Email Teardown Club score = 4/10

In theory, at least in terms of format if not strategy, this is an OK welcome email for a simple product. It makes a point. It brokers a customer<>company introduction. The copy has been pumped up with just enough rhetoric to make it stick (the repetition of “every” uses the rule of threes, and the tactical line breaks for rhythm).

But it’s a classic example of a niche brand that doesn’t want to “limit itself” and is trying to break free… at the risk of losing its most lucrative customers in that niche.

The upshot? I feel like they’re not for me any more. I’m wondering if the next time I buy from them, their shoes will be less good, because we ankle-rollers aren’t on the radar any more.

Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe they really have expanded their range since I first had that conversation on that treadmill. Maybe stability trainers are still an important sideline. Which is 100% fair enough… although they could at least customise their welcome email depending on the type of shoe that’s been bought. I mean, these ankles are an expensive lifelong problem to have. Why would a commercial enterprise want to miss out on that opportunity?

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*Side note* These teardowns are just my gut reactions as a real life customer, mashed together with my copywriter background, to explore what good and bad messaging looks like outside the sender’s ivory tower. I’m only one person, and I might not be representative. Agree or disagree? Tell me in the comments!

Cheerio,
Corissa

P.S. If you need a hand with your messaging strategy, I can help. I also have a few slots of 121 writing coaching up for grabs. Find out more 👉 corissanunn.com