Musings Of A Marketer

Every detail in direct mailing is important. But have you ever thought of an envelope as the detail that might sell your offer? Below are some hints on how certain details may work in your favour.

• Start teasing the audience already with the envelope
• Start with your best offer
• Use pictures and graphs to make the offer more visible and catching
• Surprise, or even shock the reader. Show something unique, strange, unconventional. Make the reader want to open the envelope and see what that is about
• Use pictures of people. That’s another kind of a testimonial - brief version
• Use facts and figures to make it more solid
• Use transparent “windows” that show what’s “in the house”
• You can use those windows on both sides - people have a custom of playing around with an envelope before opening it

It is recognized - not unjustly - that emails have won the bigger share of direct mailing from physical mails. Naturally, the advantages of Internet over physical communication are obvious and very strong. However, how fair is it to put an end to simple old-fashioned way - sending out mails by post?

There are a number of reasons for companies to still consider using this way of communication:

• The numerous spam messages that people receive over email has made them very cautious about the time they spend reading (or even opening) the messages that come unsolicited. Unlike emails, people still like receiving physical mails. Most of the mails have the chance to be open - the rest is for the sender to make them read mails to the end - and, naturally, act upon reading. This probably depends also on the country - my statement is valid for Russia, but not sure about, say, the U.S. (there are 100 commercial mails per month sent in Russia, versus 20 mails per day in the USA)
• With physical mail you have a chance to write more. A long but well written mail means you have something to say, while the most perfectly composed commercial email which is too long - will most probably not be read to the end.
• You have more tools to make your mail stand out: with emails you have a chance to appeal to 1 or 2 feelings out of 5 (hearing and sight), while with physical mails people can touch, smell or even taste. Pictures, enclosures, attached samples make their work on calling the readers to action soonest
• You can play with the quality of the paper, thus communicating the image of the quality of the actual product/service that is in the offer
• Physical mail is not necessarily about the paper and the text. You can send out catalogues, samples, souvenirs, books, toys etc.

You just have to be as creative and targeted as you possibly can. You can turn this old-fashioned way into something really innovative and fun for your audience…

It is well understood that the beginning of a direct mail is very important - that is where the first glance of a reader falls, that is where he/she decides whether he/she is going to read on or not.

As important is the body of the mail - that is where the reader will decide whether he/she likes the tone of communication, the appropriateness of the offer, and the value of it, of course.

Where in this grade of importance lies the ending of the mail differs from time to time, but the actual vitality of it is unarguable - sometimes it is the most important, sometimes all parts are equally vital. Depending on the creativity, the author can even make any part, or any phrase the most selling and vital.

Here below are some tips for improving the P.S. of a direct mail to make it work for you (from Ray Jutkins):

1. Be either “hard” or “soft” but never be vague. You either suggest that the readers “think” or “do”. You’ll have to choose one of the ways depending on the situation at hand
2. Remind the reader of a special offer, or a gift for responding
3. Stress the guarantee policies, to make the reader feel safe about placing an order
4. Talk about what they’ll earn, or win, or save by doin business with you
5. Repeat the service/product benefits. Choose no more than 2 or 3 bullets with key advantages
6. Repeat your contacts: your phone number, fax, email, postal address etc. Push the customer who has finished reading, to do his/her emotional purchase right away
7. Make a specific limited offer. Deadlines do draw attention and call to quick action. An offer can be limited by quantity or time. Time would be preferable, since it is more transparent for an outsider, and thus, easier to follow
8. Use testimonials in the end. References from person with whom the readers can indentify themselves will increase the attractiveness of the offer immensely
9. Summarize the message in one paragraph. Bring out the most valuable positions in the offer to this ending paragraph. Remember to KISS the reader (”Keep it Short and Simple”)
10. Repeat your call to action one last time in the end. Make this final push that will make the reader reach for the phone

Just come across an interesting move from an advertising agency here in Russia, in Saint-Petersburg.

Loki & Bartleby agency sent some sort of a ransome note to the companies they saw a potential to cooperate with. The note was written in a style you see in crime movies – letters cut out of some printed media. A courier would deliver a black envelope to the potential clients. The ransom note was inside, with the text saying: We know where the ad idea you are looking for is. If you want the idea in life call this number. Do not try to call other agencies or else your idea will only suffer more.

The difference is just that the note is not anonymous

The black envelope would add to the mystery of the situation.

Very nice idea, not really sure how efficient in the end but a very amusing and eye-catching one…

The agency reports, 30% to 40% of the receivers called without any further action from the agency. Here below is the ransom note.

Loki & Bartleby ransom note

It’s always been a matter of interest and excitement for me to follow the offline businesses applying online techniques to promotion.

Here is one pretty example: the well-known Italian brand (dealing with pasta, of course) Barilla introduced a website - called DiscoverBarilla where a visitor can fill up his/her friend’s name and have a postcard with Italian landscapes sent to a postal address.

Different destinations of Italy are represented in the cards and each destination has a specific pasta recipe on it.

This idea brings you away from viewing the communication as delivering pure commercial message. This is interactive communication from a friend who, in the first place, cares to say hi to you, and the shares a story of Italy… And all that is done through a brand. Guess that might work better than an ordinary monologue you hear every day through TV, radio, print, billboards and even online.

Could it be pure online? It could – we know numerous free and paid services for e-cards delivery. I am certain, however, that a chance to feel the real card, touch and smell the piece of Italy your friend shares with you, has to add to the response that the brand aims at.

One could even think of using certain scents on the postcards that would add to warmth and romance of the Italian atmosphere.

Well done, Barilla! Still some way to go, though:

• The site is made in flash, and way too heavy. Even with broadband connection you need some time for download, there’s no way to change between flash and html
• The service is only active in the US, but I am guessing it wouldn’t be so bad to bring it over to other parts. At least, I would appreciate…

What may be best for you - sign a contract to get a superstar an official endorser of your brand, or count on the ordinary people to spread the good rumour around? The answer, as obvious as it may seem, is never so clear.

With the recent Olympic hype, let me take a couple of examples from this huge event of the year.

Nike were set to a heavy position when their competitor Adidas were taken as the official sponsor of the Games. Their obvious way around, of course, was to use the athletes they are sponsoring as the official endorsers of the brand. One of the most important figures that Nike gave credit to was Liu Xiang, the “best Chinese track-and-field athlete ever”, as Nike’s manager had put it. Not to put the athlete’s skills and prominence to doubt, but he lost his race this time, without showing any spark. It is up to Nike to calculate the outcome of this failure, but obviously, they lost on this sponsorship, at least during these two weeks.

Let us now take a woman, who has hardly been known to public before the 2nd week of the Games started. This story from USA TODAY has caught my attention, so here I pass it further. Debbie Phelps is a loyal customer of Chico’s, selling clothes targeting at baby-boomers. I am sure the Chico’s people would have never expected anything from this lady. But, see, her son had to beat a outstanding record to bring his mom on to public. Guess what she was wearing. Every time she was on TV or print, Chico’s had free exposures to the world.

“Customers have been coming in and asking for what she’s wearing,” the Brand President Michele Cloutier said.

Of course, Debbie Phelps is not an ordinary person any more, but I believe she used to be one not so long ago. And no one could imagine her as a possible powerful brand advocate just a month ago… Now, there she is, not as good as her sponsored son, but good enough to pay attention…

What happens when you start marketing before you are ready? Do you know a great way to throw your marketing money away without any effort?

I have changed an Internet provider recently at home. I am not loyal to anyone here, so I don’t have a problem switching to the one with a better offer. Akado approached me with a decent offer: higher speed, lower price - just what I needed. After 2 weeks of happiness, the connection was down. For several days the customer service kept promising to fix it (always tomorrow, of course) until finally they confessed that they didn’t know when they could actually fix it. So, after a week offline, I changed back to the previous provider.

Conclusion: why keeping extensive efforts on acquiring new customers when you have no power to deal with the existing ones?

P.S. When the connection was down I received an invitation to join Akado in my mailbox. How careless (or should I say, stupid) would you be to do that? Do they keep any track of who they contact?

These guys are advertising very aggressively: TV, radio, outdoor, print… But try to search in the forums - most of the feedback on Akado from the existing clientelle is negative - why not spend some money on winning their credit back?

I was writing not so long ago, about Jon Lunetta trying to approach the Russian mobile marketers here in Russia, and how slow (actually zero response) the latter were… This is the tendency with mobile marketing here in Russia: companies open for a certain client - be it a old buddy or good partner from previous business, and that client remains a very major one - if not the only one. Basically, the methods of mobile advertising would focus on text-to-win campaigns.

Just today I noticed a poster advertising a mobile marketing campaign for a beer brand Velkopopovitskiy Kozel. And this is the first campaign that I have in memory, which focuses on something more than simple text-to-win. This campaign attempts to create a certain community around the brand. The technique is as follows: you need to sms 2 codes to a short number (priced at the level of ordinary sms) to be able to create a virtual tavern. Here is where you invite your friends, who need to have a couple of beers at your tavern (i.e. sms a couple of codes to the shortcode). In the end the winner (announced every day, according to the number of friends who visit your tavern) receives a prize. What is not so good about the campaign is that it only lasts 2 months - not so smart if you wish to build a community around your brand. I guess this was not the idea… Another problem is the campaign’s website. It’s nice, cute and has got a bit of humour. But it’s soooo slow - must be lighter, definitely.

Anyway, good to see that the innovative methods are acquired around here. Wether this is a single exception or a tendency - we should see, but anyway. Unfortunately, this cool idea comes again from a beer brand, which means that the major threat for businesses come not from competition but from legislative restrictions. The bonds imposed on alcoholic brands make the players keep searching for new ways of advertising, while the industries where legislation is more liberal are still seeing sweet dreams of prosperity, without having to compete with their peers, the clients or government… None needs to do anything as long as everyone is happy…

Paul William’s post at MarktetingProfs Daily Fix Blog has caught my attention. Dealing with branding in terms of reputation in the first place would sound pretty much like something obvious, but how often do you really take that step as the first step?

A number of factors (call it filters) are put down for you to consider how well you are performing to keep your reputation at a decent level:

1. Being remarkable. Obviously, try to not only find a point differentiating yourself from your customer, but make it as clear for the customer. Make them notice you and give them a chance to talk about you as someone who stands out (in a positive wat, naturally).

2. Having Values. Financial results are part of the objectives, but they can’t be the core of the business. Try make the financial success smth that goes alongside with the main idea of the business essence. Stand for something that your customers will believe in.

3. Being Genuine. Be real, do not try to disguise yourself into something you want to be but you are not. You will be discovered one day, and that’s the end.

4. Having Empathy. Treat your customers so they become loyal customer. Treat your loyal customers so they bring you more loyal customers. Breed the evangelists, mother the fans so that it pays off soon enough.

5. Having Vision. I mean, really having it. Not for having it but for having it but for doing it. Create a dream and live to bring it through - for yourself, your employees and your customers.

6. Being Conscientious. This is about everything you do. Be honest to yourself and to everyone around, have strong beliefs, cultivate and support them.

A nice one from Paul Williams, should bring some thoughts on the subject, whatever business you are in…

One day or another you have to expect that you will have to increase prices for your product/service. The level will depend, of course, and here, in Russia, it is hardly acceptable. Government can’t help it, their forecasts and plans for the forthcoming year are never true. So, what would be your way out - how are you going to settle your pricing policy without jeopardising your relationships with the customers?

Depending on your industry flexibility, there’s a good way to implement target price increase. Raise air ticket prices as much as you can for those business people who need to fly urgently on a specific date, and return the next day. Raise you hotel room prices for those who order specific rooms on a specific date - and that means tomorrow. Keep the prices fixed for those who order 3 months before. Keep the prices at the same level for schoolkids who travel on their summer holidays, and increase the prices for the parents accompanying. Keep the prices (or try to lower them) for oldies who visit their kids’ families.

Or, simple as that - give your customers a little more than you offered before. For me here, in Moscow, a nice and sincere smile from a pretty sales lady will be more than enough in many cases (’cause it’s really a rare occasion and a very big deal here)…
Big deal for me - big deal for you if you sell me smth that way