Excite@Home Network -- Case History

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Case Study

Excite@Home Network

Situation

The @Home Network represented the leading edge of the Internet's evolution from dial up to high speed cable. The Company's @Work division also offered T1s lines to DSL and broadband cable connectivity. The Company was in the process of acquiring TCI Communications and merging with Excite to form Excite@Home.
The company’s primary investment, and its model for exponential growth, was in the new 22 mps high speed cable broadband service technology that was to bring digital high resolution interactive video to every home's entertainment center. The technology distributes through multiservice operators (MSOs), a dozen of the world's cable companies and networks, including TCI, Marcus, Jones, Cox, Comcast, etc.

Problem

This technology required a major build out of cable infrastructure in an endless continuum of new installations throughout the country.
   The build out was an evolutionary process spread out over years. With new customer prospects (i.e., high speed cable enabled homes) entering the market every hour as homes became high speed cable enabled, the Company wanted to reach its "pass list" in real time with introductory offers.
   Strategically, reaching high speed cable enabled owners as home installations were being completed made a lot of sense. First, it returned revenue to the Company on its investment during the build out. And, secondly, each active high speed home represented an early adapter demonstration site for other home owners who would be offered the technology when they became enabled down the road. The tactical problem that Excite@Home wanted to avoid was making offers to home owners whose homes had not yet been enabled.
   At the time, home computer penetration nationally had not exceeded 40%. Worse, the build out process had no parallel with any national or local media. There was no build out relevant to zip codes, and, if you were to use local media to use local media to

announce the new service, the risk of alienating consumers who did not yet have high speed cable enabled homes more than offset any gains you might make with those who did. There were few local media options in the market that the Company could use to directly pinpoint its homes pass list with broadband's growth without also reaching unenabled homes.

Solution

The Speed Revolution Campaign: The agency turned to traditional direct mail as the most logical way to access specific addresses that were becoming cable enabled as they were becoming enabled.
   A test drop was planned in tandem with the needs and offers of five participating MSOs, including Comcast, Cox, Marcus, TCI, and Jones.
   The agency knew from experience the Classic 6" X 4" Letter format with inside Letter, Brochure, Lift Note, and BRE is the format most likely to succeed. However it also added a stand-alone self mailer and a CD demonstration component to one of the 6 X 4 Letters. In all five variables were tested.
   The agency developed a proprietary real time database model involving selects from a range of active zips, then purged against the list in real time using Excite@Home's active prospect list to serve as a homes pass list.
   A total of five variables were dropped into a comprehensive direct mail test for the five multiservice operators. Response was tracked discretely by offer by day to expedite early prediction.

Results

All four 6 X 4 Letters, including the one containing the CD demo went positive within the first two weeks. While the self mailer also went positive, it nowhere approached the average 5.9% rate of the Letters. And, the CD did not add anything to the value of the drop. With early prediction, the client gave full approval to roll out to six million homes on the sixteenth day with the winning Letter Format. It rolled again on four MSO letters three months later. The database model for broadband soon outgrew its viability, but the agency was awarded all the database marketing work on the Company's @Work division.

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