Conducting telephone surveys, focus group sessions and mall intercepts are common procedure for market managers testing a product or service concept. It was also the preliminary research process AT&T used to find out what type of newsletter best appealed to its telephone customers in Minnesota.


"Stay In Touch â„¢," the four-page AT&T newsletter which accompanies customers' AT&T Long Distance bills each month, was first mailed to Minnesota customers during October, 1985. Two months prior to that, market research was conducted to test a variety of newsletter names, designs, formats and contents. After October, 1985, quarterly telephone surveys were conducted to test customers' reactions to the telephone bill and the newsletter. Additionally, a readers' opinion questionnaire was included in the sixth issue of "Stay In Touch" in March, 1986.

The first newsletter was sent along with the AT&T Long Distance bill to explain the new billing process. Prior to that, AT&T separate billing in Minnesota, Northwestern Bell handled billing for AT&T services.

Communication channel

In addition to explaining the billing procedure, the newsletter was to provide a more regular channel of communication between AT&T and its customers. The newsletter is a "team effort" of many departments at AT&T says Farideh Mohajer, consumer market strategy manager at AT&T and the "Stay In Touch" editor. Previously, no other regular source of printed information was available to AT&T residence customers.

"Our preliminary research indicated that there was a need for a regular channel of communication in our consumer markets. We also felt the need to establish a better and more consistent customer relationship," says Mohajer. "The newsletter is a way to communicate with our customers and to find out what information they want."

"Stay In Touch" was first tested in Minnesota as a possible two-way, interactive communication channel. One reason Minnesota was chosen as the "test site" was because the state has a large pool of AT&T long-distance customers. More than 1.1 million people receive the newsletter. Research results and customer letters which Mohajer receives daily indicate that those customers look forward to receiving their copy of the newsletter each month.

Newsletter research

A three-step process was involved in the preliminary newsletter research. First was a telephone survey, then focus group sessions and finally mall intercepts. All of the participants in the study were Minnesota residents and AT&T long-distance customers.

The telephone survey involved 200 respondents who were selected randomly out of the 1.1 million customer base. The purpose was to find out what name would be most appealing as the title for the newsletter. Out of the 22 names tested, "In Touch" was the one most favored. When it was learned that the name was already being used as the title for another publication, "Stay In Touch" was chosen.

"'Stay In Touch' fits more appropriately the image AT&T presents," says Mohajer. "It implies interaction and describes the relationship we have with our customers. We want to encourage them to contact us with any questions or problems they have regarding AT&T and we're always willing to contact them for whatever concern they might have."

Four focus group sessions involving 10 people in each group was the second part of the research effort. Samples of different types of newsletters were distributed among the respondents and a number of variables were tested. These were: the color of the newsletter, the format and lay-out, whether matte or glossy paper was preferred, the style of writing and how easily it could be read and the length of the articles.

The last step involved mall intercepts conducted at a large suburban shopping mall in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. AT&T customers were shown five newsletter samples and five names and asked to comment on whether the names were in line with AT&T's image, the newsletter's attractiveness and creativity and the layout.

Newsletter changes

Since the first newsletter mailed, it has undergone several changes. Many of the changes resulted from customers' suggestions about its design or content. Some of the focus group participants, for example, didn't like the company's red, blue and black color stripes running across the top portion of the masthead. The suggestion was to run it along the side of the newsletter, on the left-hand border. That's now where the band appears. Other customers said they prefer the "In This Issue" box on the top part of the masthead so that they can easily find out the information included. It was then enlarged and spread out under the "Stay In Touch" title. Mohajer has made several changes on the newsletter herself. One of the more important changes has been her writing style which she says has "evolved" to accommodate the preferences of her readers. Another change has been in the name. Since October, 1986, the newsletter has been called "Stay In Touch - Minnesota."

The type of paper the newsletter has been printed on was also changed. Between October, 1985, and September, 1986, half of the newsletters were printed on a glossy-finished paper; the other half had a matte finish. This was to find out which paper was most preferred. Many customers and focus group participants felt the glossy-finish had more glare and those with glasses had a more difficult time reading it. This type of surface was also considered impersonal and associated with paper many large companies would use in their mailings. This matte finish didn't have the glare and was considered more warm and welcoming.

Mail survey

In March, 1986, six months after the first issue mailed, AT&T customers were mailed a survey to get their reaction to the newsletter and to find out what they were interested in reading about. Out of the 1.1 million survey recipients, well over 15,000 mailed back the questionnaire.

One objective of the mail survey was to find out if the newsletter was meeting the objective of providing customers with information they needed and wanted to read about, says Mohajer. In addition, specific characteristics about the newsletter were tested. These were its informativeness, usefulness and liability. The results showed that 80% felt it was informative, 75% said it was useful and over 62% said it was reliable. More than 70% mentioned that they would like to continue receiving the newsletter.

Other results from the survey showed that the customers wanted more information on AT&T long distance prices, followed by AT&T long distance programs and billing and AT&T services. A second customer opinion questionnaire was included in the February, 1987, Vol. II, No. 5 issue.

Mohajer has been pleased with the number of people who read and rely on the newsletter and especially those who write her with comments, questions or suggestions for future issues.

"We'll never run short of copy," says Mohajer. "There are many things happening all the time at AT&T."