New Zealand Automobile Association

How the AA is working smarter and
improving customer experience with
UbiQuity.

Download the case study

The NZ Automobile Association (AA) is one of the largest membership organisations in New Zealand, with over 1.6 million members.

Each year the AA sends out renewal notices to its members - previously all sent via post.

They recognised that there was an opportunity to start managing this as an automated digital communication, which would be beneficial to both the business and customers.

The AA engaged UbiQuity as their marketing automation partner to collaboratively work through the strategy and customer journey mapping, and implement this programme.

By implementing an automated renewal process via digital channels, the AA were able to significantly lower operational costs, as well as improve the customer experience with a highly personalised, optimised user focused programme.

The challenge

The direct mail that the AA sent out contained several personalised components, including membership savings and benefits dependent on individual preferences, Roadservice callout activity and membership tenure.

The automated renewal email needed to contain all this information, dynamically changing out each personalised component, as well as follow best practice, mobile-first design and anti-spam measures. On top of this, a printable renewal notice needed to be included for tax purposes.

Qrious produced an automated programme that not only met the objective of increasing online renewals, but ensured it followed the latest in best practice email design and customer experience.

- Sarah Gibson, Marketing Manager, AA

The solution

Automation

Working closely with the AA, we developed a sophisticated automated programme that sends out the renewal email. If a member hasn't engaged with the email after several days, they are automatically sent a direct mail version by post. If the member still hasn't paid within a specific timeframe, a final reminder email is triggered to prompt the renewal.

Personalisation

Using powerful data capabilities, the emails could be personalised to each member and their membership status. The data pulled in to the email allowed for 36 personalised versions of the email, based on the various aspects of their membership.

Dynamic

A dynamic PDF generator was built to generate a PDF invoice summary of the renewal notice. The PDF is generated automatically as part of the process, meaning the AA don't have to manage the creation of these invoices or send attachments.

Mobile-first email design

Our in-house team built a mobile-first email, following best practice design and functionality, with colour changes, separators, and white space to incorporate large amounts of information in a clear and concise way. This ensured the email was easy to read on any device, with important information displayed prominently, and the main CTA positioned "above the fold" to drive online renewals. The email displayed the most relevant information at a glance, enabling the member to take immediate action by providing a direct link to the AA online portal.

Review and optimisation

The AA and Qrious regularly review and optimise the membership renewal programme. This includes A/B split testing, analysis of key email metrics, measuring general conversion as well as online payment conversion to inform an optimisation strategy as the programme matures.