|
Volume Two
Issue Eight
|
|
Welcome to our August Update. This month we are highlighting the Image Exchange - an online store helping arts and culture organizations build revenue and relationships with their customers and visitors. Read on...
|
|
|
|
|
Client Feature: The Image Exchange
|
Darren Kornblut founded the Image Exchange in 1996 as a content provider to America Online. Since then, the online "store" has been developing e-commerce for major arts and culture organizations across the country.
The Image Exchange has been a PatronMail client since 2002, using e-mail to help build the communication between cultural institutions and their customers. The e-mail lists of his partner organizations range from 5000-9000.
In the Q & A that follows, Darren discusses how the Image Exchange works and the role e-mail plays in building this unique source of revenue.
|
|
|
Q & A with Darren Kornblut
|
A selection of Image Exchange
partner sites
|
TELL US ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE IMAGE EXCHANGE. HOW DID IT GET STARTED? HOW DOES IT WORK?
Image Exchange was formed over 8 years ago as a content partner on America Online. We were the first area on the service to showcase the visual arts, and allow consumers to purchase merchandise related to the content they were viewing.
We now work with artists, estates, museums and intellectual property rights holders to develop or fully manage their e-commerce programs. Online stores feature their custom, licensed, and other related merchandise.
Our custom designed e-commerce system was constructed specifically for non-profits. Features include: tell-a-friend, wishlists, gift certificates, coupons, membership sales, member discounts, and saved stored shipping addresses. The system can match the graphic design of the partner site down to the smallest detail. This process creates a seamless shopping experience for the customer.
WHO ARE YOUR PARTNER SITES? HOW DO THEY WORK?
Current partners include:
The New York Transit Museum (www.TransitMuseumStore.com)
The Andy Warhol Museum (www.WarholStore.com)
The Campbell Soup Company (www.CampbellShop.com)
Magnum Photos (www.MagnumStore.com)
William Wegman (www.WegmanWorld.com)
Robert Mapplethorpe (www.Mapplethorpe.org)
and Washington DC Transit Authority (currently in production), among others.
We also own and operate www.vangogh.com.
In the majority of our relationships we manage the web store under license, paying a percentage of sales to the partner in exchange for a link from their website and promotion of the store. For example, if you ride the buses or subways of New York every ad for the New York Transit Museum mentions the URL of the web store. We also offer use of our services with fees according to the level of customized service partners choose or require, ranging from web design to customer service through fulfillment.
HOW DOES E-MAIL SUPPORT YOUR BUSINESS?
E-mail is the most important means for us to continue an ongoing customer relationship. It allows us to reconnect with our customers in a cost effective, non-obtrusive manner.
Any customer who places an order is added to the partner's respective e-mail list. Unlike most retail stores our customers are not anonymous. We know who they are, what they purchased and how to reconnect with them. Our goal is to make a one time customer a repeat customer. For example, if a customer buys holiday cards from WegmanWorld.com, chances are they will come back the following season to purchase from us again.
We send out an e-mail for each store no more than once a month. New items are always being added to each store and e-mail gives us a direct means to tell our customers what's new...even if they never visit the store directly. When we send out an e-mail we want our customers to be excited that they are hearing from us. Overuse of the list takes advantage of our relationship and puts the customer in a negative mindset. It is just as easy to hit the delete key as it is to hit the open key.
CAN YOU GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OF A RECENT E-MAIL CAMPAIGN? WHAT KIND OF RESULTS ARE YOU GETTING?
A recent campaign for The New York Transit Museum promoted the sale of parts of their retired "Redbird" subway car fleet. From our e-mail list of over 8500 names, the campaign generated sales over $17,000 within the first 72 hours of its mailing.
WHAT KIND OF EVOLUTION DO YOU SEE FOR IMAGE EXCHANGE OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS?
The purpose of our relationship with our partners is to build brand equity and generate revenue. We are using our web experience and knowledge to improve product development and customer retention.
One of the biggest problems we see in non-profit retail is that of the "anonymous visitor." They attend an event or make their once in a lifetime visit to an institution, make a purchase from the gift store...and then never return. We have been more involved with our partners to obtain e-mail addresses at the point of purchase or exit point of an exhibit (usually in the store). This allows us to reach out to the visitor using e-mail and make their experience with the partner an ongoing one. E-mails can be informational in nature, with promotion of merchandise that ties into the information being provided.
We are also using the webstore as an incubator to test merchandise. For New York Transit's www.TransitMuseumStore.com we recently launched a program offering t-shirts, mugs, notecards, and mousepads for every stop on the New York Subway. The second phase of the program will feature images from the Museum's visual archives. The items are made on-demand, meaning no money needs to be invested into inventory. Sales data of the on-demand items will be provided to the museum's vendors and licensing agents to assist in their product development, with the hope that they will give strong performers broader-based distribution using traditional publishing processes.
If properly used, e-mail should not just be a means to stay in contact with an organization's members, but as cost effective a way possible to generate an alternative source of revenue.
|
Visit the Image Exchange's managed site TransitMuseumStore.com
|
|
|
Thinking about E-mail Marketing for Next Season? Request a PatronMail Demo
|
If you're planning next season's marketing now, we'd welcome the chance to show you how effectively e-mail marketing could improve your results.
Today, over 200 arts organizations use PatronMail --and if you'll give us 15 minutes, we'll allow you to "test-drive" a PatronMail account to see how it works.
During the demonstration, we'll talk about how to comply with the new anti-spam law, and show you how PatronMail helps you stay in compliance.
We're happy to schedule a demonstration at your convenience -- let us know by clicking below.
|
Click here to request a PatronMail demonstration
|
|
|
2004 National Arts Marketing Conference Early Bird Deadline Fast Approaching!
|
** You must register by September 2nd to take advantage of discounted fees.**
Don't miss Sponsorship Saturday's exciting lineup including, "How to Turn a Corporation into a Sponsor" and a rare opportunity to speak up close and personal with a sponsorship expert.
Then from Sunday through Tuesday find out: If you add tons of e-mail marketing to your media mix, can you drop direct mail all together? Teenagers! Who can figure them out? Does getting new audiences through the door mean bringing them in through the roof or the windows, or meeting them on their turf?
For answers to these and other arts marketing questions, register for"High-Touch/High-Tech Marketing: Cutting Edge Strategies for Reaching and Keeping Today's Arts Customers."
For a complete session schedule or to register, click below.
|
Click here to visit www.ArtsMarketingConference.org
|
|
|
Job Opening: Marketing Manager
|
The Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York City is seeking a Marketing Manager. Preferred qualifications: BA and at least two year's experience in arts marketing or related work; strong organizational, visual, written and computer skills; team player. Salary range: low-30s + benefits.
Send resume and cover letter to: Edward Sweeney, General Manager: esweeney@OSLmusic.org; fax: 212-594-3291; mail: Orchestra of St. Luke's, 330 West 42nd St, 9th floor, New York, NY 10036.
|
|
Please watch for our next Monthly Update, coming September 22, 2004.
Our mailing address is: 850 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019
|
|
|
