A growing roster of Australian brands are giving their customers the option of opting out of receiving Mother’s Day marketing emails, as recognition of the sensitive nature of the occasion for some grows among marketers.
This ‘Thoughtful Marketing’ practice is not new; UK online flower company Bloom & Wild led the way back in 2019 and hundreds of UK brands are now on board.
Locally, former Smart50 finalist LVLY has incorporated the practice into its marketing since 2021 and graphic design unicorn Canva said this time last year it was working on updating its email preferences to allow more of its millions of subscribers to opt-out of receiving messages related to holidays and significant events, including Mother’s Day.
Luxury skincare label Aesop, which has just been acquired for $3.7 billion, is renowned for its sophisticated branding and it’s extending that this month by allowing customers to opt-out of marketing associated with the May occasion.
“Understandably, Mother’s Day can be a sensitive subject,” the brand wrote in an email to subscribers last week.
“Please let us know if you wish to be excluded from further emails related to this occasion – all other correspondence will continue as normal.”
Go-To skincare, the label founded by Zoe Foster Blake, has also been in the news of late. It too has asked email subscribers to share their preference for Mother’s Day-themed marketing.
“If you find this time of year challenging and would prefer not to receive emails about Mother’s Day, you can opt out by clicking the button below,” the brand wrote in an email that also included links to three blog articles about dealing with grief on Mother’s Day.
Among the other brands giving customers this choice this year is cult shoe brand Rollie, distillery Archie Rose and flower delivery business Daily Blooms.
Melissa Packham, a brand and marketing strategist at Brand Led Business, says these emails are an example of “empathising with your customers, demonstrating you understand their world beyond the way they buy your product or service”.
However, Packham says it is also important for brands to consider how actions such as this fit within their broader sets of behaviour. Or, in other words, “what else they do that aligns with this position”, she tells SmartCompany.
“Firstly, are they taking this approach across all occasions, like Father’s Day and Christmas too? Other occasions are equal in their potential impact on people, so brands who are simply jumping on the bandwagon for one occasion will be caught out if there are inconsistencies in their approach,” she explains.
“Also brands need to consider what else they do that isn’t ‘for show’ that demonstrates they genuinely care. For example, if they’re asking for consent for sending marketing materials around Mother’s Day, how do they manage internal communications around Mother’s Day-themed morning teas or raffles? These things equally may have an impact on their employees.”
Overall, Packham believes these brands genuinely have good intentions and she hopes we see more brands “considering the impact of their marketing messages”.
“Each touch point with a brand builds a customer’s perception about that brand, so giving thought to each is important for brand reputation,” she adds.
Editor
Eloise is an experienced business journalist and editor, who has held senior editorial roles at SmartCompany since 2014. Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on LinkedIn, and Twitter at @ellykeating.
