Good LSM: Personalized Mailer

We love finding great examples of local store marketing, especially when those examples are from bigger chains. Today, we’re sharing an example from Wegmans. They’re opening a new location in Alexandria, VA, and we received the following mailer this weekend.

We really like this ad for so many reasons:

• They use a photo of the actual manager – the person you’ll see when you go to shop. It would have been easier to use stock photos of a person that might look like a manager, but this extra step makes the ad feel more personal, and makes Wegmans feel like a small general store (in a good way).
• Speaking of the manager, putting the hired manager in the ad shows that Wegmans has its act together and has already selected the manager long enough in advance to feature him in the ad. Cheers to that!
• Oh, and… not only is Michael the actual manager, but the people in the photo are Wegmans employees, not clip art people. Furthermore… they are employees of the Alexandria location!
• They use the phrase “your Wegmans” in the title – making it feel even more personal.
• When you visit the website mentioned in the ad, there’s a cool countdown clock (creating excitement) and a link for you to sign up for their Shoppers Club – AND an incentive to do so with an offer to win $500 in free groceries.

One small, teeny opportunity for improvement:

• The mailer was addressed to RESIDENT. “Current resident” or “resident” is too generic of a way to address an unknown customer. We recommend using something clever like “Super Shopper” or “Our New Neighbor”?

Have you sent any personalized mailers to your customers? What was the feedback?