The filters are sold in retail hardware stores, home centers and mass merchandisers. People are supposed to change their filters every three months. Of course, many people forget to do this. This is where database marketing comes to the rescue. 3M used their customer data to identify and reward their loyal customers.
Customer data is acquired from an on pack survey.
The package insert with the Filtrete filter contains a 6 question Customer Survey. There's no incentive for completion beyond paid postage. Thousands of these survey forms are received. They are keypunched and entered into a database. 3M used their database to initiate an automatic filter change reminder service.