1. JaredO’Connor
MemberAcquisitionSummerProject
Member Acquisition Proposal
The Challenge
In a retail world that continues to expand, change, and fluctuate, the challenges of
identifying and implementing effective marketing strategies are increasing exponentially. The
umbrella term marketing represents a wide array of conceptual models, strategies, and goals, but
the specific task of this project was marketing materials in relation to member acquisition. In all
areas of business, but specifically in club model retailers, the need to acquire new customers is of
the utmost importance in order to promote the longevity and growth of the business. Considering
the average age of a BJ’s member is over fifty years old, the need to acquire new, younger
members is the prevailing challenge of member acquisition and would represent millions of
dollars in revenue, if properly achieved. As such, our group was tasked with identifying
marketing materials, strategies, and platforms that pertain to a highly valuable target
demographic: millennial, smart saving families. We respond by identifying an inherent
disconnect between the core business model and current marketing practices, propose a new
macro level marketing theme, and suggest specific avenues and platforms that pertain to
younger, smart saving families.
The Opportunity
In order to achieve a more effective, coherent marketing framework, we suggest a
fundamental departure from an affective, emotional oriented campaign as it is incongruent with
BJ’s core message of superior value proposition. This recommendation is based on a
reevaluation of consumer sophistication, in relation to the target demographic, and further
suggests a macro level shift to a basic, informational, emotional, and value driven marketing
message. This value-centric message will equip prospective members with the necessary
information to effectively receive the value proposition of BJ’s. We maintain that this shift in
marketing theme directly pertains to the defining features of a smart saving family: pragmatism
and economic rationalism. By facilitating a better understanding of how the BJ’s club model is
designed to confer superior value, economic rationalism can be used to drive member acquisition
more effectively than emotionally based advertising.
Current Practices
The “smart saving family” has been clearly identified as the target consumer profile of
BJ’s members and this archetype directly extends to member acquisition. A typical smart saving
family is not particularly affluent, with household incomes anchored in the middle class; as a
result, these families seek to maximize the utility of their spending .These families are
confronted with stringent economic constraints and respond by being economically rational and
pursuing the best value in a given marketplace. Considerations of key value items, which are
items that dynamically contribute to price perception and the constant examination of price
sensitivity at the executive level, speak to the inherent economic pragmatism at the core of BJ’s
members. Despite delivering superior value being the central pillar of BJs’ business model, and
economic rationalism being a definitive feature of a BJ’s member, current marketing materials
are tailored away from concrete value proposition and towards affective, emotional based
material which represents a fundamental problem. Affective advertising, which appeals to the
emotion of prospective members is not likely to be effective when targeting economically
2. JaredO’Connor
MemberAcquisitionSummerProject
rational families; instead a message based in the economic value of a BJ’s membership is more
instructive. In short, a fundamental shift in marketing tactics is required to properly target the
highly valuable millennial cohort; a simple economic message of value proposition is most
consistent with the concept of a smart saving family. BJ’s must develop new, informational
based marketing which seeks to simplify how the club model and BJ’s delivers superior value to
smart saving families.
Basic Proposal
The defining feature of a smart saving family is economic rationality and pragmatism.
These families seek the most return available when spending in a market place. While consumers
are economically rational and seek the maximum utility for the money they spend, an incomplete
or inept understanding of club model retailers serves as an impediment to understanding the
value proposition of BJ’s in comparison to the market and by extension, an impediment to
driving member acquisition. An understanding of club model retailers is an esoteric abstraction
that is not easily grasped by the general member of the target demographic. Before prospective
members can recognize the superior value a membership can deliver, a basic understanding of
how these savings are delivered is instructive. In short we develop the following framework: if a
prospective BJ’s member is defined by economic pragmatism and BJ’s does in fact deliver
superior value, than simple economic rationality will direct prospective members to BJ’s as they
rationally pursue savings. It must be considered that economically rational prospective customers
can only exercise their rationality to the extent which they understand the firms in a given market
and how their value propositions compare. In other words, because third party data confirms
BJ’s superior value proposition, marketing materials can simple appeal to the economic
rationality of consumers which is more effective and predictable than appealing to the emotions
of consumers. Simply ensuring prospective members have an adequate understanding of BJ’s
model, how it cuts costs, and how these reduced costs translate to savings for the member, could
increase member acquisition. Materials which explain how an upsized scale pack translates to
savings, per item, for the member, which explain how BJ’s low cost, no frills presentation
translates to savings, and which highlight how BJ’s offers superior value in comparison to
supermarkets are required. It is essential that BJ’s avoids the misguided stigma that it is simply a
destination for large quantity pack sizes and select niche items and instead work to confer an
understanding of the value proposition of BJ’s. An effective marketing campaign would first
ensure members understand the cost saving benefits of club and wholesale retailers, explain what
differentiates BJ’s from other club models, and finally pair this information based material with a
supplementary affective theme.
Conclusion
In short, we recommend future marketing materials work to exploit the defining feature
of the smart saving family: economic rationalism. Smart saving families exist in the context of
stringent financial restraints and respond by seeking the best available value in the market place.
Therefore, a focus on value proposition is most likely to drive an incremental increase in
membership acquisition. Independent data which substantiates BJ’s claims of superior value
proposition should be emphasized in future marketing materials as it serves to legitimize
perceptions of value in the minds of consumers. By highlighting independent data regarding BJ’s
value proposition and ensuring prospective members understand how BJ’s business model is
designed to deliver value are essential to driving member acquisition in the future.
