Marketing Campaign for a Smart HVAC Thermostat Email

    Scenario As a consumer electronics company, Acme Company manufactures and markets smart home products such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) thermostats, video surveillance, and other similar products. These products are sold to consumers through a variety of direct and indirect channels including company website, home improvement retailers (such as Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards), consumer electronics and appliance outlets (such as Best Buy), as well as several online marketplaces (such as Amazon). These products can be self-installed, or customers have the option to utilize authorized third-party installers many of whom are also affiliated with the manufacturer and retailers. From a marketing standpoint, the company employs traditional and digital channels/platforms to promote or advertise its products to consumers across the US. One of Acme’s flagship products is a line of technologically advanced, smart HVAC thermostats (similar to Google Nest) which can be connected to the Internet through in- home Wi-Fi and ranges in price from $129 - $299 per unit. These smart thermostats offer a variety of options to consumers including being able to program, monitor, and control the device through an embedded interface as well as a mobile app. Furthermore, these smart thermostats can also be integrated with other household devices such as digital assistants which allows users to change settings via voice commands. The smart thermostats also provide users with a plethora of information including energy consumption by day of the week as well as monthly usage trends, temperature across different zones in the house, etc. The smart thermostat product has been around for a few years and is currently in the growth stage of its life cycle. Moreover, the smart thermostats account for a growing portion of Acme’s home automation product line revenue and profitability and are increasingly being sought by consumers for various reasons including their energy efficiency benefits, convenience, contemporary style and aesthetic appeal, etc. Acme has just launched a third-generation model and is trying to attract new customers while also encouraging existing ones to upgrade to the new product. Acme has decided to utilize its existing channel and independent installer network to launch the new product while also persuading existing customers to upgrade to the newer product which retails for $299/unit. As the product manager for Acme, you have completed your internal research and planning and found that you have a large installed base of first generation thermostat users as many never upgraded to the second version for various reasons such as hassles of installing a new device, higher pricing for the newer version, perceived lack of need to upgrade on the part of the customer, etc. Your research also shows that the smart thermostat market is becoming increasingly competitive as several companies have launched lower-cost devices which offer many of the same features and functionality as your products. However, since many of these competitors are new to the market, they do not have a legacy customer base, nor do they face the same marketing challenges of supporting multiple product versions. ASSIGNMENT Develop a consumer-focused email (minimum 2-pages) which is to be sent to existing product owners, both first and second generation smart thermostat customers. Assume you have their contact information from when they purchased or registered the product. The email should focus on accomplishing the following objectives: a) Persuades recipient to open the email. b) Provides information about the new product. c) Prompts specific action such as visiting your website or clicking on certain links to find more information about the new product. d) Persuades customers to upgrade to the new product.