According to OLIVIA COLLINGS from leading Marketing Magazine B&T.

Australian Department Store Myer will this year spend more on direct marketing to its “Myer One” customers than all of its other advertising put together, according to chief executive Bernie Brookes.

The retail giant is bucking international retail trends with its expansion plans, as a result of targeted direct marketing campaigns, Brookes told a NSW Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) seminar. The department store has plans to open nine new stores during the year as well as main- taining its overall marketing spend, said Brookes: “We will this year spend more on the advertising associated with
Myer One customers than all of our other advertising avenues put together.” “Once you have the basics of the business right, it is the use of Direct Marketing that drives the future tra- jectory of the business.”

There are now approximately 2.7million Myer One card holders, who are clustered into groups and divided into three tiers. Myer Gold is for customers who spend more than $7500 a year in store, while Silver is for those who spend between $1500 and $7499 a year, with white being the general card.
The DM spree is based on extensive research by the company on its Myer One customers,  with the company now spending three times as much on research then it did when Texas Pacific first bought the company in
2006. The research has been used to divide the stores into four main categories and the cus- tomers within them. “It’s about being more relevant to the consumer,” Brookes said. Most of the DM for Myer One customers was spent on voucher advertising, with each $50 voucher normally resulting in a $125 sale Brookes said. Each quarter the company sends out approximately $13m worth of vouchers to its customers.

To add to the appeal of the Myer One card, Myer has signed on discount partners such as Emirates and Vodafone .

Marketing Tip from Jeremy Hope:
If this retail giant is bucking the global trend then its time we all paid attention.
They have a clear understanding of their customers and segmented them accordingly. Now they plan to have conversations that are relevant to them. Its like building a relationship. Is there something you can do in your business to build relationships with your customers, add value to the relationship and maybe they may come to you for more.