Pitcher Perfect Packaging

How Naked Wines Got A New Angel On Hold

Buying in bulk is always a satisfying event.

Last writing, we witnessed the power of the package insert, that targeted brochure in the Shutterfly shipment that talked me in to buying a case of wine online.

Crazy!

$100 bucks. Does it make sense? Who cares. Go for it!

What follows is the recipe for embracing a customer with a story and greeting that is irresistibly compelling.

Remember that 62% of lost customers complain they were simply ignored. Naked Wines took that lesson to heart.

They pried the door open with a powerful offer: $100 off a case of wine. I was hooked.

As soon as I had hit “send” I received an order confirmation. No surprise.

The huge box was designed and written to please the buyer.

But next came an Html, signed thank you letter from Rowan, the founder of NakedWines.com, including a short story from one of the NW vintners.

Wine, beautifully wrapped and cradled like dynamite.

The company’s proposition is essentially for “Angels” to pre-fund their member accounts, and draw on the account to purchase wines at 40%-60% off the list price.

Beyond the discount, we are cutting out the wholesale distribution constraints which small vineyards face.

Thus, ordering Naked Wines warms you twice: once by buying and then once while drinking.

Good News On The Door Step

In a few short days we took delivery of our starter case of wine. This is where the story gets warmed up with several touches. Pay attention, because the NW marketing team got it right.

Rowan’s letter hints at acceptance to a special club.

The box is about twice the size of a normal wine case. Hah! Stupendous! On the top is a greeting, aimed at Gen-Xers, which is especially charming for retirees like me.

The side of the box reinforces the message that wealth is not a requirement for buying good wine. Great! Costco can wait.

The embossed envelope is all about celebrating our purchase.

Cracking open the gigantic carton, we find more package inserts, making more ridiculous price offers.

Underneath, four layers of insulated wine bottles are revealed like shining mummies in a newly discovered tomb.

The embossed envelope is stuffed with bumper stickers, window stickers, and most important, a signed letter from Rowan, the founder of Naked Wines.

But Not So Fast…

A good marketer reminds the consumer how good the deal is.

His message repeats the NW positioning–Angels help small vineyards deliver low-priced, high quality wine, and he starts a tease: you are not an Angel yet.

We are in queue to open a member account, but there are 15,289 in front of us, like Clarence, still waiting to get their wings.

Rowan advises we get an NW app to see our place in line move up as Angels before us finally take flight. Rowan might say, ‘as the eagle flies’, looking at his bank balance.

We aren’t hanging on the edge of our bar stools, but still, Rowan is showing Tom Sawyer-like hesitation in allowing us full Angel status.

Rounding Out the Story

More offers! We can’t save money fast enough.

A well delivered value proposition continually reinforces its message to the buyer, long after the sale. Rowan’s letter includes a graphic for impatient scanners which pictorializes the deal….oh yeah, that’s why I did this.

Beside that, he includes some family photos of the vintners so we can better relate to the hard-working growers we are supporting.

The final touch is brilliant. The vintner writes a signed letter on the back of each wine bottle. Do you read the back of the cereal box while you are munching down your Wheaties? Naked Wines recognizes that habit, and uses it to embrace the buyer with a thank you.

One of the struggling, purple-footed families we are supporting.

The full complement of printed greetings is supported by @NakedWines Twitter address for those candid remarks that might bloom from a recent sit down with a new bottle.

We are in the preliminary round of testing the Naked Wines. It is unlikely we will place the “Strip and Sip” decal on our car window, what with driver distraction rules.

Each bottle is labeled with a signed letter from the winemaker.

Meanwhile, we are assiduously staring at the clouds, swishing grape nectar over our palates, wondering when our Angel number will come up.

Today we are 15,181.

Thanks for reading! I have never got over the excitement of ordering exclusive goods from strangers far away. Naked Wines does its best to enhance the enjoyment of buying.

direct mail, Marketing

How Naked Wines Grabbed Me Fast

Shutterfly books enclosed, along with some very attractive package inserts.

Attending a direct marketing conference in 2012, a confederate sat across from me at dinner and said, “You know where the real money is? Package Inserts.”

Totally hooked on direct mail through the USPS, I had no idea what he was referring to.

He placed a finished lamb lollipop on his plate, wiped his hands, and drew on a full-bodied cabernet that we had supplied for his enjoyment.

The “PI Guy” went on to describe how he identified ripe consumer markets by the goods they received in their mail boxes and doorsteps.

“A mail order buyer spends $150 on cashmere sweaters and nightgowns from Lands End. They are a perfect fit for an offer of another product worth $150, say, home furnishings or specialty foods. You should try these stuffed mushroom caps; they’re exquisite.”

“Yeah, so the buyer…?”

He eyed a medley of greek olives hiding on his plate. “Well, they clearly trust direct mail, and mail order, and they are willing to spend $150 with a complete stranger by all definitions.”

“You have a qualified, high spending prospect?” I suggested.

“Bing! So I include a sales offer in those delivery packages from another marketer. These are called package inserts. And the buyers are highly responsive.” The olives were popped into his mouth like Cheerios lining up for the bowl.

My Mom’s book, a prized collection bound into print.

Fast forward to March 2015. I had just finished designing a book displaying 100 images of my mother’s water colors. I had sent the files to Shutterfly, and after some edits and second runs, had spent $500 on a number of beautiful editions of “Nancy Brown”.

When the books arrived on our doorstep, I was excited. Opening the box, I set aside a handful of coupons to get at the books. Later, as I was collecting all the packaging, I looked at the coupons– package inserts– to see an incredible bargain from a company called Naked Wines.

A ridiculously attractive offer from Naked Wines, by way of Shutterfly.

Naked Wines included a $100 discount off a case of wine. Shutterfly threw in another 25% if I acted fast on the offer. Before I knew it, I had registered with Naked Wines, and ordered their starter case. 12 bottles, $75.

Naked Wines immediately sent me an email saying I had joined a select group of “Angels”. More on that later. The wine was promised to arrive soon.

Yesterday I found a giant box from Naked Wines on our doorstep. As promised, 12 bottles were inside.

The power of package inserts can’t be denied. They are meeting the buyer at the point of actual delivery, who is flushed with the excitement of their purchase.

Visualize the moment: your shopper, opening a heavily branded container, sees the object of their desires and congratulates themselves for being an independent-thinking, smart spending, shop-at-home consumer. Simultaneously, they flip through a set of offers targeted at their jugular: quality, self-indulging items that belong beside the initial purchase.

Naked Wines delivers! 12 bottles, $75 bucks.

The Naked Wines delivery did not disappoint when it arrived. 12 bottles for $75 bucks…how could it? But more about their deal another day. The big winner was the package insert guy who tied Shutterfly and Naked Wines together to find me in a moment of oenological weakness.

This is a huge business opportunity. And here’s why: between USPS, Fedex and UPS, Americans received over 7.3 billion packages last year. That’s about 23 million flushed and excited customers opening their front doors every day to grasp their prize.

The enterprising marketer only needs to find those direct marketing companies who have some cross affinity, and make a deal to provide an inventory of package inserts for every carton that goes out the door.

From there, they wait for the orders to come in.

Thanks for reading! I have to tell you about the Naked Wines deal. A marketing achievement, and well packaged too. But that will wait until next time. First, I need to examine my purchase.

direct mail, Government, Media

Across The Routed Plain

There is a page on the USPS website which was written to boggle the mind.

It is a story worthy of the read for anyone who views the postal system as a fading presence.

While you have to dig a little, and do your own math, you can learn something fascinating about the real meaning of “ubiquity” and “omnipresence”.

It turns out that America has a network of 4,100,000 miles of roads. From two-rut country lanes to 16-lane raceways. Like a fine mesh of nerves stretching across the continent, the road leads up to the doorsteps of 154,000,000 US mail boxes. Quite incredibly, the USPS drives vehicles along 3,834,000 miles of this road system, six days a week.

This would not seem such a big deal if it wasn’t for the presumption that we are all connected inexorably by the Web.

Truly, the Web has done its best to increase our knowledge about more people than we could ever achieve otherwise, without really coming to know them at all.

Enter the the USPS.

This quasi-Federal organization shows up in person every day to see us. For the working masses, the visit occurred while we were somewhere else, doing our job. For the very young, the out-of-work, for the retired, and home keepers, it’s likely we saw the truck pause in front of our home, or heard a plop and clunk at the front door as a postal person marched across the yard.

The point in all of this is that we are connected by a single, reliable entity that physically bears witness to the daily lives of the country’s people. Present and accounted for.

To fill this in a bit, the post office drew over 244,000 separate routes on a map to come see us, and ostensibly sent over 211,000 couriers out to make the call, judging by the number of vehicles in use.

Just for comparison, Google has 54,000 employees, and apart from their roving camera cars, most probably haven’t left the office. Yet they would make the claim they know all about you.

The USPS web page is a column of statistics that may astound you, and then again maybe not. What is riveting nonetheless, is their final, bold statistic– “$0: tax dollars received for operating the postal service”.

Give it a read!

Thanks for reading! I have no affiliation with the USPS, but do value their work and worth. Compared to a lot of government agencies, this one actually gets the job done.

direct mail, Marketing, Media, Thank You

Why Hard Copy Matters

From the time that they could open mail, I have written notes and cards to our grand children.

The goal was to accustom them to the excitement and anticipation that accompanies a successful trip to the mail box.

A real letter will always prevail over an electronic communication with the same content.

Like a personal gift, it eclipses any email.

Granted, the mail box delivers direct mail too, and some may object. But compare a couple letters, catalogs and cards a day versus an earful of robo calls, or endless repeat ads on TV, and nervous, persistent popups on your favorite website, and you are prepared to give the mail man, or mail lady, a pass.

In the social media arena, the email medium has a dark side, which I blundered into this week.

It started when scanning my email folders, I found that I had collected some spam. I opened the “junk” folder to find a stern notice summoning me to a court hearing next week.

The subject line was ominous: County Court Summons.

Hunh?

Like a total rube, I opened the email for details. It announced that I had been summoned by a named county court officer to appear March 25. I was advised that in my absence, the court would proceed with actions as described in the official court document attached.

“Gawrsh, holy moley,'” I said under my breath, “I better open this file, pronto!”

Uh-Oh.

When I did, the computer screen flooded with a thousand lines of code. More characters than a kanji encyclopedia scrolled before my bedazzled eyes.

In a panic, I punched keys left and right, closing the file, and dove under the desk for the power cord, to rip the laptop off the grid.

Pointless of course.

Returning to the spam folder, I found another foreboding greeting, this one from E-Z-Pass toll collections warning me to pay off past due charges immediately.

Much wiser now, I did not open the Official Billing Notice attached.

I had been duped by the brusk, official look of the email, and should have recognized the ruse immediately.

Email builds its own insensitivities. We are more disposed to ignore it, or save it never to read later. It’s a casual, low calorie communication.

Conversely, without thinking, we may dive right in like I did, and open it, only to poke a bees’ nest.

The real deal: Federal property carrying real value.

Regular postal mail requires much more attention, both by the writer, and the receiver. The fact that postal mail is a Federal government enterprise, armed with regs that have brought many a crook to jail, gives me great comfort.

Esthetically, there is enormous value in every personal letter, because it’s a perfect indicator of care, concern and thoughtfulness.

We feel good opening a letter, and just as good writing them.

So I continue my efforts on peppering the grandkids with real letter mail, printed on paper, much in the tradition of my own grand parents, hoping that one day, they will get the bug.

It’s slower, physical, and more thoughtful.

And who knows, maybe just one day, what goes around will come around.

direct mail, Economics, Marketing

USPS: The Report Nobody Sees

The USPS has published its quarterly Revenues, Pieces and Weights report (RPW) and some trends for both optimists and pessimists will start you thinking. First off, understand that the post office doesn’t observe the normal calendar year, so the numbers shown here are normalized to January-December.

Revenues for the year, up 3.3%
First Class Mail, which includes all the bank statements and financial releases, plus personal letters and cards saw a 2.7% increase in revenues. Pretty good, considering that the class took a 5% increase in price.

Standard Mail which is entirely promotional and non profit mail boomed 5.5%. If nothing else, this is an indicator that the market was ready to invest in Direct Mail.

Periodicals revenues were flat, indicating the continued effect of online access to reading material. Parcels were down as a result of a drop in media and library mail.

Pieces down, virtually flat -0.7%

The big win for the USPS was its ability to bag an increase in pricing without a significant drop in pieces. In 2014 the post office delivered 152 billion pieces of mail, magazines and parcels, down a billion… but what’s a billion? Fundamentally, piece count is the physical evidence: choosing to mail hard copy versus an alternative, such as email.

Drilling in to the numbers, Standard Mail grew a billion pieces, or 1.7%. As can be expected, First Class dipped 1.5 billion. Interesting, in Q4, which includes Christmas, volumes were up in all FCM categories except for single cards and letters. Despite our best hopes, the Christmas season didn’t materialize on the kitchen tables of America as stacks of holiday greetings mail.

The most worrisome segment of the pieces category is Periodicals, which illustrate the rapid decline of magazine mail, the real victim of web communications today. Periodicals dropped 4.7%.

Tonnage down 3.2%

While pieces are down slightly, the total weight hauled took a big dip: 500 million pounds or 250,000 tons. For the record, the USS H.W. Bush Super Carrier weighs 100,000 tons. Can you imagine losing 2-1/2 aircraft carriers in the mail?

But to the point, while mailers only backed off mailing pieces by 0.7%, they were much more careful to lower the weight of each package. So the USPS still walked as many routes as last year, but their trucks didn’t use as much gas.

The drill down shows that Standard Mailers lowered their kit weights by 4.4% to 1.59 ounces on average. Given that the postage is the same for up to 3-plus ounces, it is likely that printing costs drove down the weights. That, and fewer Flat-sized kits.

Periodicals dropped 1%, which translates to fewer page counts, and less advertising. Parcels and packages were down to 2-1/4 pounds.

Only First Class mailers upped their weights.

The Cost of A Stamp Up 4.1%

First Class postage took a real price increase of 5%, and watched its volumes decline 2.2%.

Standard Mailers took a 4.2% increase and grew their volumes 1.2%. This is a clear indication that Direct Mail is enjoying the effect of its financial results in the market place.

Only Packages saw a price decrease, which spelled a slight increase in volume.

What’s Next?

We’ll see how the postage increase affects volumes and revenues after April, 2015. Mean time, it’s a safe bet that Direct Mail is headed in the right direction, and may ultimately be the driving force in USPS revenue stability going forward.

Kudos to the USPS navigating its way through these changing times. If you would like to see the RPWs they are available here… http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/financials/welcome.htm

If you have a question, comment or observation about this report, let me know!

direct mail, Marketing

How To Make Your Mail Indispensable

Direct mail: hard to pitch!

One of the key benefits of hard copy mail is it is harder to throw away. Unlike emails.

So with this thought in mind, take a look at how these marketers deliver the message that can’t be ignored.

Father Flanagan sends 7 cards & envelopes to write and mail.

Father Flanagan’s Boystown is doubling down on their request at our household after they received a modest donation last fall.

This lumpy package delivered 2 notepads, 7 greeting cards, 1 novelty gift bag, and best of all, just like the old Time Life subscription offers, a ball point pen!

Stickers, note pads & gift bag, maybe a little pretty for some crowds, but still…

Not surprisingly, they are asking a minimum of $20 for a gift, which is pretty much what they got last time.

Wounded Warrior Project is much simpler in their acquisition package, merely asking for a first time gift of $10.

It is a real stamp, and let’s remind you.. Federal property!

What is nagging in this kit is their gift of one Purple Heart postage stamp.

Paper-clipped to show through the double window, it is impossible to throw away. But could you use it without sending back a donation?

March of Dimes seems just like that!

The March of Dimes continues its efforts with the symbolic gift of a dime. Pocket the money and start the car? Probably not.

Lastly, and possibly the most insistent in a subtle way is the Catholic Relief Services which have enclosed a quarter-sized brass plated Guardian Angel coin. Unlikely that many will show up in a vending machine any time soon.

What fates are you tempting by pocketing this coin, gratis?

Generally, the public, and more specifically, the digerati generation snicker at direct mail as a past art. Something to view under glass. These marketers can tell you otherwise, and to that end enjoy their day in your mail box.

The driving force in each of these packages is an indispensable gift. It trades on these principles:

1. What will you give in return?

2. You have a branded token to remind you.

“Here, use my pen, please!”

3. You can’t use the gift without breaking a trust.

And for the stingiest curmudgeon, the hardest rogue, the admission: “AAARRRGGHH, I can’t throw the D$$%^^## thing out!

And therein is the value of direct mail.

direct mail, Economics, Marketing, Thank You

Ten Reasons You Should Thank The USPS

We are all cheesed that the USPS is looking for a 1.97% increase in postal rates. But before we run to our social media to complain, let’s open the envelope. What are we getting?

1. Door-to-door, pick-up and delivery. Not only does a real person come to your home to deliver mail, but they are charged to pick it up, too. Beats driving downtown. And they do this 6 days a week.

2. Equal representation. The USPS is probably the only government institution which situates an office based on population density, rather than political handouts. For sure, it’s the only federal presence in your community that isn’t there to administer laws and levy taxes.

3. Legal authority. A USPS postmark is an official seal, and when your letter is in the system, it’s a completed act.

4. Jobs. The USPS employs over 600,000 people. It’s also the network that directly supports another 1.3 million people who use the mail to make a living, according to the Direct Marketing Association.

5. The Grid. There are 142,000,000 delivery addresses in the United States which are visited daily by the mail person. The USPS grid is like a vast capillary system that beats nationwide, touching the most distant extremity.

6. Innovation. Maybe hard to believe, in the face of digital networks, but the USPS has refined and streamlined delivery to the point that it is cheaper to mail a letter today than it was 10 years ago.

7. Protection. Your mail is protected by federal law. The space inside your mailbox is federal property. The blue boxes situated across your community are safety deposit boxes, in effect. Drop your mail, and it’s secure in the system.

8. Culture. What other government body continually picks new designs to celebrate on the face of a stamp? Rock stars, writers, artists, scientists, athletes, discoverers… and they are BIG stamps too!

9. Resilience. Despite a whirlwind of communications technology advances, the USPS still has cache, delivering nearly 500 million pieces a day. When was the last time you saw a public phone booth?

10. Fiscal control. Yes, it has a $5 billion budget deficit. Works out to $8,333 per employee. The federal government has a $483 billion budget deficit. $112,013 per federal employee. In the bigger scheme of things, go figure.

Nobody likes price increases, but it is a sure thing that the USPS has done leagues more work to control costs than any of its government cousins. In light of its value, can you really complain?

By the way, the price of a first class stamp remains at 49-cents after the hike. Good anywhere in the nation. Buy a bunch, they’ll last forever.

direct mail, Economics, Marketing

How You Make Personalization Pay Off

A 24-page color calendar, replete with country roads, cabins, barns, flowers and birds…lots of birds.

Personalizing a mail piece comes with expense. You are about to see the motherlode.

Gracing the letter with the reader’s name is one thing, but it’s quite another to match that to the envelope. For the fully committed direct marketer, there are personalization payoffs, and Father Flanagan’s Boystown shows us how.

An outer envelope promising lots, and delivering, too.

January.. from the 36-pager booklet, with more birds…growing in numbers.

Just before Christmas we received a 9 x 12 envelope from Boystown announcing their 2015 appeal. The donor acquisition kit weighs about a third of a pound, which is huge. The outer envelope calls out, by name, that FREE Special Edition Gifts are enclosed.

“Free Gifts” is right. They send three calendars: a 24-page hanger for the wall, a 36-page purse calendar booklet, and an 8-1/4 x 10-3/4 calendar card.

The color label sheet. High quality and keepable.

The whole collection is covered in Sam Timm nostalgia art: winter ponds, chimneyed log cabins, old trucks, old boats, old canoes and birds…. enough birds to awaken Alfred Hitchcock one last time.

Another calendar, this one with a stylized street sign.

But the overwhelming effect comes from the personalization. Father Flanagan has managed to personalize 8 pieces in this whopper kit: the envelope, the letter, the reply form, the reply envelope, two sets of very nice address labels, a certificate and a calendar card.

It’s only an acknowledgement, but hey, it’s framable.

Over the top maybe?

A Johnson Box, personalized and tinted, captures the gist.

Not really. Remember, good direct mail is designed to be indispensable. It is extremely difficult to throw out a kit when your name is woven into its making so admirably. The proof: this is a control package, or very similar to past controls. So it is working.

What’s the math that supports this?

The kit itself probably cost around $1.80. Postage for a 6-ounce Flat at non profit rates is actually a bargain, add another 30-cents. Total cost in the mail, probably $2.25 after adding list and processing. This is a guess, only, having not spoken directly with Boystown.

Individualized gift certificates, one of three.

Now, the hard part: getting paid. Assume the average gift is $15. To break even, we need a 15.0% response. ($2.25 divided by $15.00 = 15.0%)

And the really hard part: they probably won’t get 15.0% response. More likely, they might achieve 8-10%. Let’s say 10%. So given that, every response came at a cost of $22.50 ($2.25 divided by 10% = $22.50).

A strategic gift choice, Goldilocks-style. Let’s go for $15.00!

Is a new donor worth $22.50? The answer is, “yes”!

By Father Flanagan’s 2012 financial report, they derived nearly $5 for every dollar spent in fundraising. A very acceptable payback according to industry standards. By the numbers above, the new donor will continue to give over time, well in excess of $113.00.

A set of stylish B&W labels in case I don’t want to give away the birds.

Personalized donor form and reply envelope. Note the QR code for tracking!

Again, this analysis is my perspective only, but a donor will continue to give to a worthy cause, especially one as well branded as Boystown. And not only will they give today, but some will most assuredly make bequests after passing to keep the institution providing its valuable service.

So personalization plays a big part in winning support, and the savvy marketers at Boystown have done their jobs well in making it pay for their cause.

Thanks for hanging in to read all those numbers! FYI, Boystown provided nearly $192 million in services in 2012, and in 2013, served 122,000 children and families across America.

direct mail, Marketing

Pretty Ain’t Pretty Sometimes

A 2-page high color sell sheet, but no letter!

When you are on the marketing end, you may feel that direct mail, especially fundraisers and business mail, looks pretty vanilla. Maybe even bland.

So the urge is to pretty it up.

The hospital’s familiar happy logo is disguised here, but this envelope brings no bad news.

That is the case with this fundraising piece for a well known children’s hospital. For its sake, anonymity will prevail. But here is a 7-step rule book on designing fundraising mail.

1. Set the mood for urgent need.

A snappy colorful tease, but is it urgent?

To that end, use color and graphics sparingly, to best create a tone that delivers gravity, not levity. The envelope for this kit displays a cheery logo (disguised here) for the hospital. Understandably, it wants to convey happiness for its patients. But that’s not the right strategy for getting financial backing.

The OE features a spunky new pair of pink sneakers teasing the story of a cured patient, whose story is inside.

The “story inside” teaser is good. But the sneakers remind one of a Saturday morning kids TV show. Pretty, but not important.

2. Follow up with a personal request.

One of the most recognized personal media in existence is the letter. When we open an envelope, we are looking for it. The letter sets the agenda for the potential donor. This is who we are. Here’s our challenge, and how you can help.

There is a myth that people no longer read letters, and certainly not long ones. Not true! If your story is real, and the request is sincere, the letter will be read.

A potentially compelling story is delivered in challenging, small white type against a pink background.

Named, titled and signed, the letter provides basic credentials. A person is “at the other end of the mail box”.

This piece has no letter, but rather hangs its success on a two-page high color sell sheet.

3. Demonstrate and prove the wise use of donations to solve the problem.

Convince the donor that money is needed, and that it won’t be wasted.

The hospital has a goal of $135,000. What for? It is not apparent that it is short of funds, or solely supported by charitable donations. Not knowing that, why would a donor be moved to give?

A logical effort to monetize the services provided. But what are the Circles all about?

To its credit, the hospital does explain what your money will buy. It also presents operating statistics, and some official endorsements.

To put an edge on the numbers, show how many cases were turned away or disadvantaged for lack of funds.

4. Be legible and understandable.

Possibly the most difficult task of a senior donor is to read copy that is too small, and reversed out. In this case, important “ask copy” and narrative is in 8-point type, white on pink. Pink on black. Blue on white. Ouch!

The significance of the “Secret Guide” is just that: secret.

This piece also employs some secret code, uninterpretable by the cold prospect. The use of their “key” logo is un-explained, and a series of icons on the pledge card do not telegraph any meaning to the uninitiated.

5. Tie the Ask To A Specific Need.

The story in the piece relates to a child’s full recovery after an accident. The pledge card, and supporting copy don’t connect to the child’s need, or to the next child with a similar accident.

The list of financial values and associated services in the ad piece refer to Circles of Commitment and generous benefactors, but the recognition value of the Circles is not explained.

6. Urgency.

Any mailing’s strategy is aimed to get a response immediately. This fundraising piece needs some parameters to define the timely need for a donation. What will happen if they don’t reach $135,000? When will time run out?

7. Indispensability.

The mystery of the icons: how do they work?

The best direct mail is impossible to throw out. It just sits there on the kitchen table, or on the dresser until the responder finally acts. This piece lacks that important nagging factor.

A gift, a freemium, a stamp, a coin, a sample, a personalized card, a photograph, an address label set, are examples of items that are hard to ignore.

Unless the donor had already decided to contact the hospital, or the donor’s accountant recommended more charitable giving, there’s no reason to hang onto this piece.

$50 bucks? We haven’t even met!

Direct mail design is challenging because the mailer gets bored with the “same-old, same-old”. There is a temptation to jazz up the piece just to be different. After all, you mail out a few thousand, or a few million, and they all look the same!

Just remember: the recipient only gets one piece, and to that person, the piece is well distinguished, just by its mere arrival.

Thanks for reading! If your fundraising program is serious, make it look that way. There’s nothing more serious than asking for money.

direct mail, Economics, Marketing

AAA Goes Flat Out

The door opener!

Want to know what stops just about anyone when they open their mailbox?

No, not a boxing glove. Instead, it’s a flat. No, not a flat tire. A flat-sized mailing piece.

The 10 x 12 Flat. Size counts in direct mail.

So it is that I opened our mailbox to be confronted by a certificate-sized 10″ x 12″ envelope. Front and center, in portrait orientation, is an open window. As I peak through I see my name, in bold, printed below a 40-point, gothic type proclamation: Proof of Eligibility. The State of Illinois is symbolically positioned above.

This manifest is shielded behind a thin sheet of parchment. My reaction? Better open this now.

I am not that naiive, I know this is a solicitation. But still, eligible for what? Nomination? Higher taxes? Bronzing?

A beautiful label… applied on a slant, with raised shading, is actually printed, not real.

As it turns out, it is the AAA Life Insurance Company, who has decided to give me a second chance to insure my remaining days. Or until the age of 80, when all bets are off.

These are the same folks who sent along a policy kit a few months back. That one was a flat too: a “fulfillment package”. Presuming I am ready to sign up, it is essentially a welcome kit. Regrettably, and unknown to AAA, I am disqualified from obtaining coverage due to a shady past. So I deferred.

The official seal of eligibility.

The reason I highlight the new kit is to point out the allure and attraction of the envelope. “Proof of Eligibility” is vague. But when it is presented so elegantly, it works. How many of your incoming direct mail summons use parchment? 40-point Gothic? Not much I am guessing, since the Sheriff of Nottingham died.

The design strategy of this AAA kit is to get opened. My bet is that better than 90% of the recipients do open it. It is irresistible.

From there, the internals have to carry the freight.

The big question you should be asking is why spend the extra postage– probably 15 cents– to send an over-sized envelope?

The letter under the parchment, complete with filigree.

Do the math. In a standard #10 envelope, the kit, list and assembly would cost about $250/m. Postage, another $200/m. Total, $450/m.

Now lay the papers flat, and place them in a big envelope instead. Let’s say the production is cost neutral, but adding $150/m flat postage has just increased overall cost by 33%.

The bottom line in direct mail: raise your production cost 33%, you must increase response 33% too.

So if the small envelope garnered a 1% response, the flat needs 1.33% to stay in the game.

From personal experience, I know this is achievable, and judging from AAA’s use of flats before, it’s probably not unusual for them either.

By the way, what was I eligible for? Discounted premiums as an AAA member.

Thanks for reading! Never pass up the opportunity to go “big” in a mailing piece. The cost may frighten you, but usually higher response will cover it.

Phil Brown

"Like triple cream– rich, pungent, a little barnyardy, and spreads easily. A good cheese."

Category Archives: direct mail

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Ten Reasons You Should Thank The USPS

How You Make Personalization Pay Off

Pretty Ain’t Pretty Sometimes

AAA Goes Flat Out

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