A rainbow in an email

Anyone with an email address probably gets marketing emails, at least some of which are from companies with whom we do business. We may or may not pay attention to them, but every once in awhile one stands out and practically forces us to pay attention. Yesterday I got one of that kind of marketing email.

Yesterday, I received an email from Animates, the pet store chain where I get the dogs’ food, and owners of the chain of vet clinics where we took the animals. There was nothing unusual about it, then I looked closer at the main image (photo up top). There was nothing particularly unsual about it: A large photo with a cute furbaby, this time with people, too. Toward the end of last year, they’d changed the format of their marketing emails (I’m a graphics and publishing professional—that’s the sort of thing I notice) to have a large header at the top with their headline, sometimes with graphics, other times a photo. So, it looked ordinary—and then looked more closely and I went, “hm…”

The lads seemed friendly, with the dog, yes, but also with each other. Were they just friends, or… Or maybe it was just intended as an inclusive marketing image for which everyone could write their own stories.

I also thought it might have something to do with Pride celebrations, since TVNZ changed their logo to one with Rainbow colours for the week. Turns out, is was promoting something very specific.

Animates had received Rainbow Tick Certification, which is “designed to make an organisation a safe, welcoming and inclusive place for people of diverse gender identity and sexual orientation.” They “sensitively evaluate your organisation’s level of LGBTTI inclusion in these five areas: Policy, Staff Training, Staff Engagement and Organisational Support, External Engagement, and Monitoring. If a business id found to meet the criteria in all those areas after a Diversity & Inclusion Audit, they can attain Rainbow Tick Certification. If not, they can take advantage of the organisation’s training programmes to help them pass the audit.

This graphic was near the bottom of the Animates email:

That graphic lead to a statement on their website:

We’re proud to announce that Animates is now Rainbow Tick accredited.

This is a significant milestone for the company demonstrating to our customers, the wider community and our team members, that Animates is an inclusive and welcoming organisation for people of diverse sexuality and gender identities.

The Rainbow Tick celebrates and recognises our commitment to ensuring our team members, customers, suppliers, and anyone interacting with the company can safely express their individuality; allowing them to be their authentic self, confirming our core value of authenticity.

Animates is proud to join the wonderful New Zealand businesses who are Rainbow Tick certified and encourage others to start the accreditation process.

So, an otherwise ordinary email marketing message made me stop for a moment to pay attention to it because of the choice of photo (always a good tactic, by the way—there’s some free processional advice for you), and when I then actually read the email I saw that the photo probably was related to me and my life as I’d wondered. Or, maybe it really was just intended as an inclusive marketing image for which everyone could write their own stories. Either way, it was good news to share—and their marketing worked because it grabbed my attention and got me pay attention to it.

Every once in awhile an email marketing message stands out and practically forces us to pay attention. This was one of those times, one of that kind of email. Well done, to them all, for getting the messaging right, and especially for the Rainbow Tick Accreditation.

Footnote: Because of the sad events of Thursday, I just didn’t have it in me to publish any posts yesterday. I originally planned a post for Wednesday night, but it needed some finishing touches, and I ran out of time to do it because I went to bed early (for me…) that night. I didn’t feel like finishing it the next day, or yesterday. But when I saw the email I mentioned in this post, I thought it would by a nice positive way to get back to blogging again. Because life goes on, doesn’t it? And, for me, that includes blogging.

And, no, I was not paid or compensated in any way to promote Animates or Rainbow Tick. I just wanted a nice story to return with.