GNC Realizes Revenue Increases With Help From Harte-Hanks
Wednesday, 21 June 2006
Harte-Hanks, Inc., a worldwide direct and targeted marketing company, has announced that its delivery of services to GNC Corporation (GNC), the largest global specialty retailer of nutritional supplements, has helped the retailer realize revenue growth by bolstering its recent national marketing programs.
Through the help of an installed, customer-focused Allink® database marketing solution from Harte-Hanks, which began in late 2005, GNC reports that it has experienced increased store traffic and sales, and has led the company to further engage Harte-Hanks to develop a customer segmentation strategy and to provide ongoing campaign management and reporting.
"GNC is experiencing strong performance and sales acceleration in all major categories," said Steven Nelson, vice president of marketing, GNC. "Our first quarter 2006 net income increased by more than 300 percent, and our same-store sales increased at the strongest rate in many years. We attribute much of this recent boost to the marketing strategies and solutions we set in place a year ago, which include an investment in Harte-Hanks database, analytics and marketing services that has led GNC to optimize customer data to reach the right customer, with the right offer, at the right time."
According to Nelson, GNC has set weighty goals for its 5,800 retail locations in 47 countries to move from SKU-focused marketing to segmented customer-centric marketing. In working with Harte-Hanks, the company has sought to segment customers effectively and efficiently, associate offers with target segments, and carefully plan and measure its dialogue-driven multichannel campaigns.
GNC planned to achieve its overarching traffic and sales goals by understanding better its customers’ focused wants and needs, by building loyalty among its existing customer base, and by acquiring new customers.
"Knowing your CRM [customer relationship management] goals and truly understanding CRM in your business is always the first step," Nelson said. "With a deep understanding of our business model and a successful track record from our initial engagement, it made sense to extend our relationship with Harte-Hanks. The company is a critical marketing resource for GNC and has proven its value by streamlining our marketing and by creating a positive impact on the health of our own business."
"Many retailers install large database solutions without the internal resources needed to maintain them; eventually the systems slow, become underutilized, show limitations and hinder a company’s ability to conduct targeted and effective marketing campaigns," said Kathy Calta, corporate officer and senior vice president, Harte-Hanks. "By enhancing and integrating GNC’s customer data with an end-to-end Allink data-based marketing solution, Harte-Hanks has helped GNC to capture, analyze and disseminate customer and prospect data across all points of contact. The company now knows which customers are buying and from what category, so that it can optimize every interaction for increased sales and loyalty."
"Harte-Hanks already has afforded GNC a strong return on investment (ROI) by improving its Allink customer database with more frequent updates, increased visibility into customer data, trigger-based campaign management, and integration with GNC’s point-of-sale system," Calta said. "By verifying, correcting and enhancing multichannel contact information through its use of Harte-Hanks Advanced Data Quality, for example, GNC has nearly eliminated undeliverable mail, drastically improved data integrity, and reduced costs. To further strengthen its customer relationships and increase marketing ROI, GNC has engaged Harte-Hanks and its retail analytics expertise to develop a segmentation strategy and provide ongoing campaign management and reporting."