How John Frieda perfected the art of product launches with 4X greater reach 

The Solution

By working with Emarsys and partnering with Blue Wheel (an omnichannel and operational partner), John Frieda drove increased awareness for their new product line, the ULTRAfiller+ thickening system, a set of products aimed at consumers with thin hair and those looking for more volume. Ahead of their brick-and-mortar launch, they drove direct-to-consumer engagement through a lifecycle marketing strategy starting with paid social that drives traffic to their website. They implemented an automated email program for nurturing current and prospective customers and educating contacts on the new product line.  

Developing a lifecycle marketing strategy

The team at Blue Wheel created a multi-step approach to build a lifecycle marketing strategy. They started with a thorough audit of available assets, working collaboratively with Lyla Holt, Global Digital Marketing Manager, Consumer Care at John Frieda, and her team. Then, they created marketing automations that helped them deliver a product launch campaign that scaled across 24 countries. Throughout the process, Lisa Wendland, Director, Lifecycle Marketing at Blue Wheel, noted that, “we definitely spent a lot of time evaluating what worked and what didn’t.” This streamlined the path to a successful product launch. 

Optimizing audience segmentation 

By using their existing customer base, John Frieda was able to use Emarsys to drive initial awareness and ultimately conversion for the new product line while enriching their customer data along the way. This customer base helped feed their learning to better understand the best target audience and determine if they were filling the right needs for the right consumers at the right time. During this process, they discovered an overlap in customer segments specifically existing customers who purchased items from their product line, Volume Lift, were also interested in messaging around the launch of ULTRAfiller+. This led to a new opportunity to drive more awareness for their product launch with an exclusive offer to this new target segment before hitting retail stores, like Walmart.  

Driving repeat purchases 

Given the nature of the product launch, John Frieda realized it had the opportunity to be a replenished product if they won the hearts and minds of consumers with the first engagement. The estimated replenishment time was 30-45 days, so they needed to ensure this audience segment loved their  ULTRAfiller+ purchase and kept John Frieda top of mind when it was time to replenish. To do so, they created a marketing automation starting with a launch email in January, followed by a comparison email that helped consumers understand the unique difference between Volume Lift and  ULTRAfiller+ . In February, they sent a similar email that outlined the comparison again in a different way. March was a pivotal month, as it was leading up to the retail store launch. During this time, they amped up the messaging, including content showing the before and after when using  ULTRAfiller+, as well as retail launch awareness emails. A key piece of this email campaign asked  consumers to review the product using a survey. This information was then used to further improve the campaign strategy. Lastly, in May, the replenish content took full swing to ensure those early adopters knew they could shop in stores to replenish their product, thus putting them on a path to being life-long fans of John Frieda. 

Creating effective emails   

As part of John Frieda’s email strategy, they focused on a few key components. The email contained optimized content created with the intent of conversion, including supplemental and dynamic content. They focused on the top of the fold and put their “before and after” images in a highly visible spot, plus added GIFs to make the email engaging. They used Social Proof and User Generated Content (UGC), featuring multiple reviews that were short and sweet. And of course, they included a winning subject line. “I get a lot of questions about what’s the most important element when building a successful email. Outside deliverability, subject line is the main driver. Once you have that, you want a clear, above-the-fold CTA,” Lisa Wendland, Director, Lifecycle Marketing at Blue Wheel.