problem with $account_name in email campaign

[guhanr]

Summary:
I am having trouble using $account_name variable within an email template for a campaign. It doesn't populate when sending the email out.

The problem:
My email template reads like this

Dear $contact_first_name,
Based on our research about $account_name we found that...
...

When I send the email to the full campaign list (default), my actual email looks like

Dear David,
Based on our research about $account_name, we found that....
..

]

$contact_first_name is populated correctly, but $account_name is not replaced by the value of the field. Instead, it reads as $account_name within the body of the email.

I imported the list of leads through a CSV file, assigned to default target list. When I view the Lead Detail information, the account name displays correctly. When I search for the account name using the Search box, I can find it, connected the lead correctly.

Can someone help me understand why $account_name isnt populating correctly in the email?

PS -

1. As I typed this post, I realized that the variable reads as $contact_first_name, whereas they are all leads, not contacts within the system. Would that be why the account_name isnt picking up?
2. Could HTML tags within the body of the email (nothing fancy, just a table and font definitions) have anything to do with it?

Thanks

[kuske]

The variable is names $contact_account_name and not $account_name .

[guhanr]

Thanks Kuske. That works

However, when I use the email template creator to insert the variable into the email template [from the dropdowns], it shows up as $account_name and not as $contact_account_name. Does that mean it has to be reported as a bug ?

[kuske]

Perhaps a remaining part of an older version?
In a clean 5.1.0c/d installation there is no $account_name.

[sugarcane]

Hello guhanr,

i am guessing that you created the email template outside of the campaigns module. When you do so, there are 3 dropdowns to insert a variable: Accounts, Contacts/Lead/Target, and Users. From here, you are able to select the account name variable from the Account dropdown, which is inserted into the template as $account_name.

However, within the campaigns module (in the email marketing area), if you select your email template and click edit, you will notice that the variables you can choose from are Contacts/Lead/Target. The other 2 options are not available from within the campaigns module, and this will not populate if you created them earlier. From the Contacts/Lead/Target dropdown, you can find 'Account Name', which is entered into the template as $contact_account_name.

[kuske]

Yes sugarcane is right, this is a possibility to generate account variables in a template.