After refurbishing its brand with a series of advertising and news releases, NCM Associates decided that it was ready for a bigger push.

“It was time to go out and make a play to see if the message had gotten through,” says Robin Keller, the company’s marketing and communications director. “We were reinforcing the brand image and inviting people to do business with us.”

Take, for instance, its September 2010 lead generation effort, a dimensional package that included a logoed chamois and an offer for a free customized comparison report.

The package — which was created by direct marketing and interactive agency BKV — was sent to a highly targeted list of 7,500 automotive dealer principals, chief executive officers and general managers at U.S.-based dealerships. It consisted of a pillow box mailer with the chamois, a brochure, and a letter directing recipients to a personalized URL. There, they could key missing information into a prepopulated landing page and enter financial details into a calculator to compare dealership operations to NCM Benchmarks.^®

Providing a touch point

But NCM didn’t simply e-mail their abbreviated Benchmarking report to respondents. Instead, the information sat on a secure server for a limited time and could only be accessed with a password from a company representative. The process helped NCM demonstrate its careful treatment of confidential data. It also added a touch point: Prospects could discuss the results with a rep when they received the password or could set up a subsequent phone call. The package’s letter included an offer of a free book on rare cars to the first 500 respondents.

NCM hoped a distinctive mailer would be more likely to get opened and would be easy to reference over the phone. NCM also hired telemarketers to call prospects early in the process.

Efforts pay off

Ultimately, 125 prospects became qualified sales leads because they filled out the lead capture page, indicated interest over the phone, or sent in the business reply card attached to the brochure. Of those, 80 provided enough data about their operations to help NCM craft a sales message directly to their areas of opportunity.

The $78,000 campaign has produced both sales and several pending sales opportunities, Keller reveals. Meanwhile, NCM is already pleased with the brand awareness component.

Says Keller, “We needed to communicate our fresh perspectives on an established service offering to a traditional audience; this integrated campaign definitely delivered.”

THE ESSENTIALS

Company: NCM Associates (Overland Park, Kan.)

Agency: BKV (Overland Park, Kan.)

Target Audience: 7,500 automotive dealer principals, chief executive officers and general managers at U.S.-based car dealerships

Goal: Brand awareness and lead generation

DM Vehicle: Pillow box mailer (13 by 7.5 inches) containing a logoed chamois, a brochure, and a personalized letter directing targets to a PURL where they could input data to generate a Benchmarking report. The book The Allure of the Automobile was a gift for discussing report results with an NCM representative.

Response: 125 qualified sales leads; of those, 80 are considered to be sales opportunities