Photo mailer wins top spot; top 10 finalists show innovative approach

Picture this: You’re a beauty professional in Florida who receives a photo envelope in the mail with a bunch of snapshots that show why you might want to team up with the iStudio Salons chain and a personalized sticky note urging you to call for information.

That innovative use of direct mail wowed the judges and took home the top spot in the Deliver magazine Marketing Achievement in Innovation and Leadership (M.A.I.L.) Award for 2012. The mailer, created by Barbara Sibley, president of Sibley Smart Copy in Connecticut, generated a response rate of 4.7% among an audience that had ignored two earlier mailings, and generated an ROI of more than 1,000%.

In addition, the judges named two other entries as award winners:

Dr. Garmont’s Magical Marketing Mailer was a self-promotional piece created by Infinity Direct of Plymouth, Minn., designed as an old-time doctor’s bag complete with “remedies” for common marketing ills.

They Got What They Wanted, a promotion for John Deere excavating equipment, created by McCullough Creative in Dubuque, Iowa, featured an innovative series of pullout panels that opened to reveal the equipment.

Filling out the top 10 finalists (in alphabetical order) were:

• Community: For Your Consideration Campaign, a direct mail package urging judges to nominate the TV show Community for an Emmy Award. Created by Yes Design Group.

• Focus Active Park Assist, a mailer from Ford featuring a vehicle that “parks itself” in the mailer when opened, demonstrating a new feature of the Focus. Created by Team Detroit.

• Mobile Broadband Activation Program, created for Lenovo, featuring a dimensional mailer shaped like a wallet. Created by Alpha Marketing Inc.

• Personalized Uniform Resource Locator Program from the Diocese of Albany Catholic Schools linking middle school students to Catholic high schools in their area, with innovative use of personalized URLs. Created by Cathedral Corp.

• Special Ops, a spy-themed package featuring an MP3 player with a message to customers, sent on behalf of CSG International. Created by Hodgson/Meyers Communication.

• Sushi Social Invitation, sent by Curve Dental Inc. to invite prospective customers to a dinner meeting, with a themed box that included a set of chopsticks. Created by Curve Dental.

• Turning Direct Mail Up to 11, a Halloween-themed promotion for an American Marketing Association of Oklahoma event, that featured a dimensional cardboard coffin with plastic vampire teeth and other related items. Created by Robyn Promotions.