What you can learn from DMA Award Winners

As the judging chair for the Direct Marketing Association’s 2006 International ECHO Awards, I saw a number of terrific campaigns. Beyond exposing me to some great ideas, my judging experience gave me a whole new perspective on the dynamics behind award-winning campaigns.

Of course, many marketers continue to achieve good results with traditional campaign tactics like an oversized postcard or a multipage letter with an outer-envelope teaser. But the challenge of rising above all the in-box noise has forced marketers to think beyond the conventional, the tried and true, and to forge new strategies, better offers and more effective tactical approaches.

Unique direct mailers with cutting edge technology

One groundbreaking ECHO entry this year used a heat-sensitive material on the piece’s outer envelope. The envelope copy asked the recipient to put his hand on a handprint, and the heat from the recipient’s hand caused words to appear – an interesting way to get recipients to open the direct mail piece, something with which all direct marketers struggle. And clearly this idea worked because one of the ECHO criteria for winning is spectacular results.

Another innovative mailer was for Friskies cat food, and came in the form of a milk carton to promote how the company’s food has the milk that cats purportedly crave. A third mailing, from a bank, was a single black sock. The idea was to give back to the recipients that one sock they always seem to lose in the wash. The recipients were to bring the sock into the bank to redeem it for a special offer. The sock was just meant to be an attention-getter, and it certainly was.

Personalized direct mail pieces in multichannel marketing campaigns

This year, we witnessed a dramatic increase in personalized and multichannel campaigns. For example, the Friskies campaign supplemented the milk-carton mailing with billboards, print ads, online banner ads and broadcast, all of which drove consumers to the company’s Web site. Another great personalization example came from the producers of the TV series “CSI: NY,” who wanted to promote awareness of the season launch episode. Consumers could enter their names and addresses at the Web site, then watch an online film in which their name was incorporated into news bulletins about the murderer. Later, they received a direct mail package with “forensic evidence” and an invitation to watch the show. This campaign increased awareness and also gave the producers names they could use for relationship marketing.

Of course, not everyone can have the same hands-on judging experience that I had. But you can get a shot of inspiration from some of the best campaigns of 2006 by visiting the DMA’s site at the-dma.org/bookstore/uspsecho.shtml and ordering the International ECHO Award Winners CD.

Imitation is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery. And it’s not bad for ROI either.

Scott May is SVP Marketing with Atlanta-based Loyaltyworks, which designs and manages B-to-B incentive and loyalty programs. For more on the International ECHO Awards, go to dma-echo.org.

Five Special ECHO Award Winners

1. Diamond ECHO Award: OgilvyOne Worldwide, Auckland; and Nestlé Purina PetCare, Auckland
2. USPS Gold Mailbox Award: STORY agency and the Glenmorangie Company
3. ECHO Digital Award: Arc Worldwide, London; and Procter & Gamble, London
4. A. Eicoff Broadcast Innovation Award: Digitas and General Motors Pontiac Motor Division
5. Hoke Award: Lowe Hunt and Unilever, Australia

For more information about these awards as well as a complete list of ECHO winners, log on to dma-echo.org.