OASIS® Grower Solutions — a leader in plant propagation media — wanted to launch WEDGE® Plus to the poinsettia grower market, so they turned to the Communications Factory for help. Since WEDGE Plus advances poinsettia propagation five days faster, our campaign looked at historical firsts. But rather than focus on the overachievers, we focused on the “also-rans” who could have gotten a five-day jump — but whose poor decisions caused them to finish with the pack, not ahead of it. Our integrated campaign included print/online ads, a microsite (www.wedgeplus.com), literature, dimensional and traditional mail, and tradeshow support, all of which created a buzz that’s made even the most finicky growers take notice.
Success Stories
Every marketer could use a little inspiration now and then. Get yours in our Brag Room, a gallery of some of today's most creative mailers, and our Talking Heads section, a collection of smart solutions from small business marketers.
Brag Room
WEDGE Plus
I Belong
Cathedral Corporation developed a multichannel communications campaign for the Diocese of Erie with the goal of reinvigorating lapsed donors using a series of three postcards to drive them to personalized URLs to reconnect, followed by a direct mail solicitation. The postcards themselves did not directly solicit the lapsed donors but focused on the question “What Does It Mean to Be Catholic?” with a series of answers available through the recipient’s personalized URL. The Diocese of Erie is the first diocese in the United States to use a PURL program to reach out to lapsed donors, and its success represents a 100-percent increase over previous efforts. Given the attrition of donors in the past decades, when other campaigns to target lapsed donors have achieved success rates in the 0.05-percent to 2-percent range, the campaign may serve as a model for future outreach programs.
If Everything Was This Easy
This direct mail piece introduced to the laboratory segment a new product that featured unparalleled ease of use and trademarked One Click functionality. The campaign, a follow-on to a previous product launch, used subtle humor to create awareness. Titled “One Click Wonders,” the mailer was sent in a silver glamour envelope with the cover phrase “What if everything was this easy?” Playful illustrations demonstrated life’s daily tasks performed with One Click functionality — filling your gas tank, feeding your dog, building your body and, of course, performing complex lab tests — and created instant buzz and product awareness.
No More Buzz
Polycom invented technology that stifled the “buzz” that results from radio waves interfering with speakers in its conference phones. Polycom needed to generate awareness of this technology and encourage prospects to upgrade. We embedded a light-sensitive sound chip in a box. When prospects opened it, the buzz blasted them. A second-tier audience received a version of the DM without the chip. We drove them to a microsite featuring the buzz, a video and content about anti-buzz technology.
Talking Heads
Scott Cohen
For 32 years, FootPrints has used mail as a staple of its marketing. “We do mostly postcards and letter-size direct mailers,” says Cohen. This summer, the company sent 10,000 pieces promoting an offer on an athletic shoe brand. FootPrints enjoyed a 3-percent return. “Mail is our most effective form of advertising, with measurable results from a unique hook on each campaign.”
Imelda Hunt
Honoring its 10th year of presenting multicultural theatre programs in collaboration with the Toledo Public Library, New Works departed from its usual marketing through fliers and news releases. Instead, the company mailed 500 bookmarks celebrating black literature and promoting a forthcoming play. “The response was excellent,” Hunt says. “There was an almost 100-percent spike in attendance.”
Win Trainor
The Society wanted to appeal for help creating a national park to protect gorillas and needed something eye-catching. To help, its mail-marketing company used two one-cent Tiffany lamps next to its standard presorted mail stamp, and added a delivery mark graphic that made the letter look more personalized. The response rate and average gift amount both jumped 20 percent.
Stephen Shupperd
Shupperd led a mailing campaign that netted Shearer Printing $125,000 in nine months. The campaign starts with Shearer sending three tubes containing postcards to each target, with each card urging recipients to consider ways to improve marketing. Shearer mailed tubes three times a week leading up to January, followed by sales calls revealing itself as the sender. Says Shupperd, “You should see how quickly that cold call turns into a hot call.”
Share Your Story
Brag Room
About to break your arm patting yourself on the back for that great mail marketing campaign? Let us help! (Pat your back, that is.) Submit your top direct mail pieces to our “Brag Room,” a gallery of some of the smartest and most creative recent mail communications.
- Step 1: Create one or two .jpg images of your piece (800 pixels or less in width) and resize them so the file size does not exceed 220k for each.
- Step 2: Download and electronically sign the PDF release form(s).
- Step 3: Attach the .jpg image(s) and signed PDF release form(s) to an e-mail, and provide a brief explanation (up to 100 words) of the images and related campaign in the text field. Put “Brag Room” in the subject line and send it to submit@delivermagazine.com.
Talking Heads
Some of the best marketing ideas are “so crazy, they just might work.” We want to know what jaw-dropping ingenuity your small business is bringing to the table. Share your most effective small business marketing solutions involving direct mail.
- Step 1: Find or take a headshot of yourself that does not exceed 800 pixels in width and save it as a .jpg file.
- Step 2: Download and electronically sign the PDF release form(s).
- Step 3: Attach the .jpg image and signed PDF release form(s) to an e-mail, and provide a brief explanation (less than 100 words) of your small business success story in the text field. Put “Talking Heads” in the subject line and send it to submit@delivermagazine.com.
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