Greater brand visibility in the inbox with the BIMI process

The tour operator FTI uses the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) process for its email campaigns, thereby increasing its brand visibility. The newsletter is sent using the Inxmail email marketing platform, which enables the use of the new email authentication process. The advantage for recipients: they can be sure that the newsletter was sent by FTI and is not a fraudulent email. FTI benefits from fewer spam complaints and a strengthened reputation.

[Translate to English:] FTI Logo in einer stilisierten Darstellung.

Case study

[Translate to English:] FTI Branding auf einem Laptop-Bildschirm und einem Smartphone, das eine E-Mail-Kampagne mit dem Titel 'Reisen der Woche' zeigt.

Initial situation

Risks for senders and recipients due to phishing emails

Who hasn't experienced it? Every day, numerous fraudulent emails such as spam and phishing messages fill your inbox. This is not only a major problem for recipients, but also for senders. Consumers are not always able to recognize fake emails as such and for companies, spam complaints have a negative impact on the reputation of the brand domain, which in turn has a negative effect on the delivery rates of the emails.

Travel company FTI, which implements its email campaigns using the Inxmail email marketing platform, is also aware of this risk. To counteract this risk, the company relies on the new Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) process. With BIMI, messages from verified senders are marked with the sender's brand logo in the email inbox. In this way, FTI aims to increase the trust of its recipients and to protect and improve its reputation as a reputable sender. At the same time, the visibility of the FTI brand in the email inbox is increased.

Implementation

Brand logo as a clear indicator in the inbox

Thanks to BIMI, recipients of the FTI newsletter can see at a glance in their inbox whether the email was really sent by the tour operator. This is because the FTI logo is displayed before the newsletter is opened. On desktop computers, the brand logo appears in the email preview. On smartphones, the logo is visible directly in the inbox.

To make this possible, the receiving server checks whether the email comes from an authorized sending server and, if the result is positive, displays the tour operator's logo next to the email's sender address. The receiving email client must also support BIMI. Yahoo Mail and Gmail currently support BIMI. If the standard catches on, other email clients could follow.

Solution

What is behind BIMI

BIMI is an initiative of the three largest global mailbox providers, including Oath (Verizon, AOL, Yahoo), as well as Comcast, Agari, RP, Valimail and PayPal. The process uses brand logos as an indicator of trusted senders in the email inbox.

Technically, BIMI is based on already established email authentication methods. The sender is verified using DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance). Receiving email clients can retrieve the logo via the DMARC entry of the sending domain and a special BIMI DNS entry and display it in the inbox. In addition to experienced contacts and expertise, Inxmail also provides the technical requirements for customers to implement the email authentication procedure.

Results

Strengthened reputation and brand visibility

By using BIMI and the associated logo display in the inbox, FTI achieves increased attention and higher visibility of its brand. At the same time, the company receives fewer spam complaints. As a result, FTI is enhancing its reputation as a reputable sender with email providers and recipients, which has a positive effect on the delivery rates of its mailings.

“It was important for us to use BIMI because the process makes us more resistant to fraud attempts, strengthens our brand and builds trust in our email marketing activities. We are proud to be among the first companies to implement BIMI and are pleased to be making a contribution to fair email marketing and to protecting recipients.”  
Andreas Eickelkamp
CDO, FTI

The advantages at a glance

  • Thanks to BIMI, the brand logo is visible to the recipient at a glance in their inbox.
  • Stronger visibility of the brand and higher attention in the inbox.
  • The trust of the recipients is increased.
  • Spam complaints are reduced.
  • The reputation of the brand is strengthened.

About FTI

FTI Touristik GmbH is part of the FTI GROUP, which is Europe's fourth largest tour operator with its numerous brands. The company, headquartered in Munich, employs over 7,000 people worldwide and is represented by branches in Austria and the Netherlands, as well as a subsidiary in Switzerland.

www.fti.de