Home Depot Spruces Up Direct Marketing Efforts - Statistical Data Included

Brandweek, July 26, 1999 by Kipp Cheng

As one indication that Home Depot is growing increasingly interested in building its online presence, the Atlanta-based home improvement retailer today will begin a sponsorship relationship with LifeMinders.com, a company which provides content and targeted e-mail on a number of topics to its registered users.

As part of the deal, the companies plan to unveil a joint e-mail product called HomeMinder that will deliver seasonal advice, home improvement tips and how-to's to consumers who have opted-in to receive the service. A coordinated opt-in process will be available at both the registration Web site of Herndon, Va.-based LifeMinders.com and at Home Depot's consumer site, www.homedepot.com, which launched June 30 and currently features do-it-yourself content. An e-commerce component will roll out on the Web site this fall.

According to Stephen R. Chapin, president and CEO at LifeMinders.com, the ability to highly target users' needs and interests is an attractive proposition to marketers. "The product has really resonated with consumers," said Chapin, "which leads to really high CPMs."

The LifeMinders.com service currently features eight areas of interest to consumers: entertainment, home, family, car, pets, personal events, finances and health. Chapin said the company would soon launch travel and teen areas. In addition to Home Depot, other marketing partners include Purina, PetSmart, Huggies and PC Flowers.

Since LifeMinders.com's launch in January, the company has registered over 2 million unique users. Customers fill out profiles listing their interests and receive an average of two to three e-mails per month, per profile. Chapin said that they've seen a 90 percent retention rate at 90 days, 50 percent open and read rate and click-through rates of 6-8 percent.

"The click-through rate is really 10 percent per e-mail," said Chapin. "This is really powerful stuff. With click-through rates like this, we're able to charge superior CPMs of between $150 and $250."