CWL Marketing Overload ???

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CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by Terminator 2 »

Tonight I checked my mail as I usually do and lo and behold in popped a mail from CWL re a 10% discount 5 day sale. Thats nice of CWL to tell me. If they did not then I would not be aware of it. 6 days ago I just happened to recieve an e'mail about "An Automatic Choice For Christmas". Just as well Im not Jewish or Muslim then lol. 7 days before that I was told that "Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend". Maybe they are but my wallet certainly does not agree. 7 days before that one I recieved "The Best Of British From CWL" blah blah blah and so it goes.

mmmmm

Now I am not wanting to put down CWL but I am curious about how the rest of you feel about all these e'mails and sale offers that seem to be getting ever more frequent. Yes I can remove myself from the mailing list but do I want to? There might just be something that pops up that will interest me someday so do I remove myself completely and never recieve the notifications at all so CWL loses me as a potential customer or do I stick with it ??? Others might not be so bothered about CWL as much as I am so maybe they just delete the mail account for CWL marketing to then never be able to contact them again ultimately losing CWL business in the long run.

Now as I say I am not wanting to shoot down CWL with this thread but there has to be a balance here and I for one feel the balance is starting to tip the wrong way. Weekly e'mails are starting to over do it I fear. Hence I am curious as to how the rest of you feel about this because if CWL are getting it wrong then they need to be made aware of it. I am not convinced all these so called SALE's are a good thing either. For one thing it would annoy the pants off me if I had just ordered a watch to suddenly see it drop in price. Secondly it has taught me one thing regarding CWL and I am curious as to how many of you will admit to doing the same thing. If you do want a CWL watch then do you wait until there is a sale on because the odds are you will not have to wait very long for yet another one to come along.

Now of course "Sales" are routine in the marketing world. When things get tough you ask yourself "what can I do to bring some extra business in" to cover the leaner times and often a sale is the answer. If you over do it though then you will in fact create your own peaks and troughs because all of your customers are simply waiting for the next bloomin sale.

Am I wrong folks ??? Well you tell me ???

Opinions please but remember to keep it clean :wink: :D :P
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by CornishDave »

It does not bother me to receive these e-mails, I have had the same one's as you, but you do have a point. I guess it worked in my case as I was thinking of buying a watch for my daughter and the 10% offer persuaded me. It would'nt however persuade me to buy one for myself I don't think, for example the C70 is too expensive in my humble opinion and 10% off makes no difference to me. Like you I would be cheesed off to find the watch I got a 10% discount on being discounted by 15% next week. It makes me think that sales are struggling to be honest, and that they are thrashing about trying to generate more business.

For my personal buys I will be waiting for the real sales and nearly news.
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by Vista »

I totally agree about waiting until your desired watch is in a sale and I do think that ultimately this will affect orders of new models. I feel for the people who paid £500 for the Speedhawk only to see it reduced by £50 about a week after release.

I will add though that with the new discounts the prices for CW are about right as I believe they have crept up too much recently. You can get an Orange Monster, a Black Monster and another Seiko Auto diver thrown in all for less than the price of the Forum LE :lol:
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by downer »

I work in a business where we have fallen into the trap of discounting to drive business. Of course, as you say T2, the existing customers soon wise-up and modify their behaviour to wait for the next end of quarter/end of month/end of summer etc campaign before they replenish stock. Of course, each time we do a promotion (offer discount), we attract a few new customers.

However, amongst the CWL customer base, you and I (and the others on the forum) are a bit unique in that we own more than one watch and will most likely buy others in the future. I guess most of the CWL customers are one-time buyers who will not be as tuned to the marketing overload, and who may be hooked by the first offer that catches their attention.

So, if I project the behaviour of my customers onto CWL, I guess us lot will start waiting for the sales/discount codes whereas everyone else will either buy a full-price watch or get a discount, depending on their luck. :D

Personally, I have some reservations about the marketing modus operandi CWL have chosen, but then again I am not in possession of all the facts surrounding the sales patterns/financial model and overall business plan.
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by Terminator 2 »

CornishDave wrote:It makes me think that sales are struggling to be honest, and that they are thrashing about trying to generate more business.
Well done that man called Dave from Cornwall. :D

Im surprised someone hit the sweet spot with the first reply. Im in Sales myself and that is what concerns me the most about all this. Its all about perceptions and it is so easy to get it very wrong. For all we know CWL could be selling watches like hot cakes but it is a fine line that can easily be crossed which then projects the totally wrong image. Sometimes in sales you have to have balls to remain calm and experience often brings with it an air of "who cares". I often watch younger guys sweat buckets because they have a poor spell but I dont care because I know it will not always be that way. If its crap this week then there is always next week or the week after that. At the end of the month or the year I will be where I need to be and calmly take the rough with the smooth. Customers smell fear from a mile off and those with less experience often suffer for displaying it in the first place. If the seller is nervous then the customer will be even more nervous.. As I say its often a very fine line. Keep your head and everything will work out okay. Get it wrong and the slippery slope gets ever steeper.

Well done though for that observation Dave. I wonder how many others will have rightly or wrongly percieved it the same way.
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by downer »

Vista wrote: I will add though that with the new discounts the prices for CW are about right as I believe they have crept up too much recently. You can get an Orange Monster, a Black Monster and another Seiko Auto diver thrown in all for less than the price of the Forum LE :lol:
As the proud owner of a Monster, I feel this is like comparing apples with pears.

The Forum LE is a limited run of 100 Swiss made watches, with a swiss movement and a five year guarantee. On top of that, we have been able to have input into the design.

Whether or not those things offer value or not is a matter of personal opinion, but to me they substantially differentiate the product from the Monster.

As I said, Apples and Pears. Both fruit, both nice, both good for you, but totally different.
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by Kip »

In advertising there are many things to consider. Immediate response and repetition. Without breaking this all down we must remember that CWL is strictly an internet retailer. Email is a prime source of marketing and the costs are minimal. Just because we are most familiar with CWL doesn't mean that all their customers are. By taking advantage of when buyers wallets are most open and keeping their name in front of those people...who knows it might just generate some extra revenue if a few of those people think of buying a watch and more importantly from CWL. The recipient of the emails has two options as you say...unsubscribe or delete. If one buys and is satisfied they are likely to buy again someday. Since CWL doesn't know when that may be, they must solicit for business in hopes that afformentioned may happen.

Sales themselves are done for several reasons.....immediate sales, to move slow or overstocked items, to generate sales during slow periods to take business from competitors or to take advantage of open wallets to mention a few.

Given the latest emails, I would venture so say this is to take from competitors, take advantage of open wallets (the Christmas season) as well as to help spread out the sales volume to a more managable level.

CWL is currently having no issues with sales as the new website has proved to have a much higher closing ratio and the recent ads in the USA newspapers have done their job quite well.
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by Vista »

It was a bit tongue in cheek actually :D that's why I put the smiley

I'm sorry please accept my apologies for dissing the LE but surely you meant Oranges and Pears.

I do know which will be worth more and be more collectable in 5 years though
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by downer »

Vista wrote:
I'm sorry please accept my apologies for dissing the LE but surely you meant Oranges and Pears.

No, I meant Apples and Pears (even if it is the wrong expression) :D

I do know which will be worth more and be more collectable in 5 years though

I also have a view on that, but I doubt we'll agree
:D
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by Terminator 2 »

downer wrote:I work in a business where we have fallen into the trap of discounting to drive business. Of course, as you say T2, the existing customers soon wise-up and modify their behaviour to wait for the next end of quarter/end of month/end of summer etc campaign before they replenish stock. Of course, each time we do a promotion (offer discount), we attract a few new customers.

However, amongst the CWL customer base, you and I (and the others on the forum) are a bit unique in that we own more than one watch and will most likely buy others in the future. I guess most of the CWL customers are one-time buyers who will not be as tuned to the marketing overload, and who may be hooked by the first offer that catches their attention.

So, if I project the behaviour of my customers onto CWL, I guess us lot will start waiting for the sales/discount codes whereas everyone else will either buy a full-price watch or get a discount, depending on their luck. :D

Personally, I have some reservations about the marketing modus operandi CWL have chosen, but then again I am not in possession of all the facts surrounding the sales patterns/financial model and overall business plan.
Interesting from one person in Sales to another. The only thing I dont agree with is the following
downer wrote:However, amongst the CWL customer base, you and I (and the others on the forum) are a bit unique in that we own more than one watch and will most likely buy others in the future. I guess most of the CWL customers are one-time buyers who will not be as tuned to the marketing overload, and who may be hooked by the first offer that catches their attention.
I would say that because we do have more than one CWL watch and like the company that we are in fact more likely to be even more tolerant of the marketing overload whearas the one off customer with less loyalty to CWL is more likely to get irritated far more quickly and opt out of the marketing process.

Your comment re "Personally, I have some reservations about the marketing modus operandi CWL have chosen,". Was also quite interesting. Maybe its a thing with guys in Sales and/or Marketing. I cant help myself working out how I would tackle something differently when I see someone else doing things that I would not and I reckon you must be the same lmao. It must be the nature of the beast and I always put it down to my gut instinct which if I am honest I tend to use quite a lot. It rarely lets me down at least in my world lol. I guess we are always looking for new angles as to how to make things better when if I/We are honest it is none of our bloody business lmao. I dont know about you but I cant help myself. I guess its because my brain has been twisting and turning every day for the last 23 years lol.

I also agree with you that the Monster cannot be used as a direct comparison. CWL will never be able to tackle the might of Seiko and its mass production and mass marketing setup. Also Grey imports tend to be half the price of official UK pricing. CWL are a little bit more specialised than Seiko.

:wink:
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by CornishDave »

Terminator

Perhaps it's because although now retired, like you I was in sales for a lot of my working life.
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by downer »

Terminator 2 wrote: Interesting from one person in Sales to another. The only thing I dont agree with is the following
downer wrote:However, amongst the CWL customer base, you and I (and the others on the forum) are a bit unique in that we own more than one watch and will most likely buy others in the future. I guess most of the CWL customers are one-time buyers who will not be as tuned to the marketing overload, and who may be hooked by the first offer that catches their attention.
I would say that because we do have more than one CWL watch and like the company that we are in fact more likely to be even more tolerant of the marketing overload whearas the one off customer with less loyalty to CWL is more likely to get irritated far more quickly and opt out of the marketing process.

Your comment re "Personally, I have some reservations about the marketing modus operandi CWL have chosen,". Was also quite interesting. Maybe its a thing with guys in Sales and/or Marketing. I cant help myself working out how I would tackle something differently when I see someone else doing things that I would not and I reckon you must be the same lmao. It must be the nature of the beast and I always put it down to my gut instinct which if I am honest I tend to use quite a lot. It rarely lets me down at least in my world lol. I guess we are always looking for new angles as to how to make things better when if I/We are honest it is none of our bloody business lmao. I dont know about you but I cant help myself. I guess its because my brain has been twisting and turning every day for the last 23 years lol.

I also agree with you that the Monster cannot be used as a direct comparison. CWL will never be able to tackle the might of Seiko and its mass production and mass marketing setup. Also Grey imports tend to be half the price of official UK pricing. CWL are a little bit more specialised than Seiko.

:wink:
Funnily enough I agree with your observations and I feel the same - always looking for new ways of doing things and thinking I know best about everything - even when It's nowt to do with me. :D That's all even more bizarre when I tell you I work in Supply Chain and Logistics, so the front-end of the business is not my field at all! :lol: :lol:
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by Terminator 2 »

Lol. So Dave was in Sales too. That explains a lot. :D

I dont know if you lot remember that last Apprentice series. Sir Alan got that well wrong. The one I would have given the job to was the plain jane with the glasses. What was her name again ??? Was it Lorraine?? She kept going on about her instinct and 95% of the time she was in fact right. Where she got it wrong though was she did not realise that the best asset she had was her instinct. She was not experienced enough to totally rely on it and project it forward. Sir Alan should have realised that she had that talent and nurtured it to bring it out lol. I cant even tell you who won that series. I guess that was how forgetable they were but I certainly remember that girl.

Anyway I digress. :lol: :lol: :lol: :wink:
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by Lamps »

Its an interesting question, I have noticed a lot more emails these days, when I first joined the forum there was none, or next to none. I put this down to a few things, CWL improving their IT system, an ever expanding range to sell/promote and maybe the credit crunch (noticed how no one calls it anymore? :? ?). As for the emails, I have a quick look and get on with my day, mainly because I'm not in the market for a CWL watch moment but I'd say there are plenty of people are, and that these emails must be working. I would like to know what percent of regular posters make up what percentage a CWL total sales, I bet its a very very low %, and getting lower by the week, so based on that, I don't read to much into the number of email I receive.
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Re: CWL Marketing Overload ???

Post by Terminator 2 »

Kip wrote:In advertising there are many things to consider. Immediate response and repetition. Without breaking this all down we must remember that CWL is strictly an internet retailer. Email is a prime source of marketing and the costs are minimal.
I hear you Kip but is this in fact a "cheap" cop out. Its so easy to hit the button and send out mass e'mails but if you over do it then it could in fact have the reverse effect.

It may also be true that CWL are booming. Nobody said they were not but successful retailing is all about perception and impression ie brand image. However from what you say much of the conquest business has come from News Paper Ads in the States rather than simply e'mail marketing. Where however is the line between targeted marketing and spam marketing? It is a very fine line. If I lived in the US and I bought a CWL watch a month ago from a newspaper ad then I would have now recieved at least 3 e'mails since that purchase promoting CWL. I personally feel it is getting too much. You must remember also that a customer who does hit the "NO MORE E'MAIL" button is not a "sleeper" customer. They are a lost customer. I would say that in the main to date that CWL have been quite successful in generating repeat custom. However if my own experience has been anything to go by this has been due to the product quality vs price ratio and of course good service. This good work though can so easily and quickly be undone by a trigger happy button hitting e'mail spammer.

:wink:
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