Thursday, February 7, 2013

The best and worst DM we've found...

Throughout the semester add / contribute to this blog to help create a great case examples for your campaign this semester but also after out there in the 'real' world when you need to do it on the job. Post it and tell us the skinny on what makes it good and bad - and just because it's pretty. Think of things like - how was it segmented / targeted? Why did they choose that channel? What list was the recipient on and what type of list was it? etc.

12 comments:

  1. Recently "Jack Astor's" mailed a brief menu containing some new food items for this new year.

    The outside of the packaging said in big letters "SORRY" and in smaller letters "for ruining your diet". The inside of the menu revealed new items such as cake, and pulled pork sliders.

    Some members of our group found the direct mail ad to be cleaver as it captures ones attention with the "sorry". We want to read more because we wonder "sorry for what?" Whereas other group members who had recently lost loved ones found the ad to be insensitive as they, at first, assumed the "sorry" was someone sending a comforting message.

    It's very interesting to see that an ad that some people may see as genius can be seen as insulting from another persons perspective.

    Bradley Burneau, Erica Mason, Keiffer LaFrance, Kyle Bouwmeister, Sadie Eves.

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  2. Although we call the above mentioned "Jack Astor's" ad, and some horrible funeral planning direct mail, we have decided that the best email came from our inbox.

    One of the members of our group received two emails from two different customers highlighting both the goal of increasing online sales as well as retention. The first email from Diesel had a coupon code of 30% off of any online purchase. They're not well known for online sales and they're looking to change that.

    More interesting, in my opinion was the mail she was receiving from an online shoe retailer. The longer she stayed away, the better the offers were. Twenty, thirty and then Fifty percent off the first pair of shoes, the second absolutely free. This company hasn't even received a sale from her yet.

    Now, in a group of girls we all agreed that the shoe offer was amazing, and something that we would follow through on. Especially because gorgeous shoes were already picked out that defined her style from a sign up quiz.

    Shoes, quick, easy and inexpensive. Our best DM piece.

    Kylie Allport, Jessica Avery, Rebecca Bax and Synde Smythe

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    Replies
    1. but didn't that incentify her to stay away longer to wait for the better deal?

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  3. Smart Mail
    I get thousands and thousands of pieces of direct mail a year. Usually only half of it actually applies to me and the other half I throw out. One of my assignments for my Direct Marketing class was to find a unique direct mail campaign... I stumbled upon this one http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/great-direct-mail-piece-puts-porsche-your-driveway-142230 a campaign for Porsche. This ad agency had a brilliant idea to park a porsche in wealthy household's driveways, take a picture, and mail it to the houses. Then the home owner can see and visualize how a Porsche would look in their driveway. The best part of this campaign is how the agency did their research. They found out households that could afford a Porsche and gave them a visual and a “strong call to action” with an extra incentive. Absolutely brilliant!

    Amber, Natalie, Katie, and James A

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  4. This week in MCOM30 we were assigned to bring in either the best or worst piece of direct marketing that we received that week. In a group of four we came up with the best piece. It was sent from Bath & Body Works in the form of an email. We found that is was affective for a number of different reasons. First was that it was directed to the consumer – it had her name at the top of the email and spoke to her as if she was a friend. The email was highly engaging with bright colours, clickable links and a variety of different tabs that could be chosen to continue your shopping on the website. Next it remembered what she had purchased in the past and suggested other products with a similar scent or style to compliment what she had already bought. Finally it suggested different sales and promotions that were happening in store so she was up to date. Coupons and pictures of the products were also present.

    What could be done to improve the Direct Mail would be to lower the frequency. Bath & Body works sends an email almost everyday which becomes irritating to the consumer.

    Overall the piece presented a strong call to action with a visually appealing promotion. Great work!

    Hollie KF, Jess D, Sam T & Tina D

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  5. Clarins is a French luxury cosmetics company, which is recognized for their prestigious array of products. Clarins focuses on products for both men and women, for the face, body and sun. The company offers expertise and advice, gift sets, and an array of make up options for women.

    As an avid Clarins shopper, one of our female classmates and group members subscribed to updates, coupons and information from Clarins, giving them permission to send any direct mail to her.

    On a regular basis, Clarins sends e-mails with coupons and exclusive offers. The piece of direct mail our group chose to be the best, was a directed e-mail coupon which included a hyper link to the Clarins website. The hyper link was bold, in red type and read “FREE SAMPLES”; once you clicked on the hyper link, it brought the consumer to the website that showed the nearest location where the samples were available.

    The direct mail she received was very personable in it’s targeting, it was addressed directly to her, which always makes the consumer more confortable to continue reading. The convenience of printing the coupon and taking it to any store location to redeem a sample makes it appear less like “random junk” or spam and makes it a more profitable, interesting offer. It is effective way to get their repeat customers into the store, get their sample, and potentially buy more!

    What a smart, genius way to get repeat customers!


    Audrey Fortin, Joshua Hartson, Katrina Fortner, Jessica Dunning, Ivy Xizoxuan Zhang

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  6. Here is the direct piece for Jack Astor's https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6f-wfjATaTIM0pTSEtIeGs2aGs/edit?usp=sharing

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  7. What’s new and what’s not! That was the current situation in my MCOM 30 direct marketing college class. Five colleagues and myself had a group discussion on some direct mail advertising flyers. Colleagues were to show a direct mail piece, and then talk about the delivery of how this message could reach their primary target. Also, determine whether the direct mail piece was a good form of marketing or bad.

    After going through our direct mail pieces, we decided the best direct mail piece to critique was a Jack Astor flyer. This direct mail piece was selected because it was an actual piece that targeted most of our group members. Jack Astor’s is a bar and grill, and seems to be quite a hit with college students. This flyer that was presented had a menu like look with words on the front cover saying our deepest apologies. The catchy part was the direct mail piece opened up like a menu, and the first thing staring at you was a promotional incentive ($10 off). The two-sided mail piece was delivering the essentials on what kind of food and drinks you can purchase at Jack Astor’s.

    We thought this direct mail piece was quite interesting with regards to how they were delivering their message. The flyer was simply stating that Jack Astor’s would take responsibility for breaking your new years resolution, and give you $10 off when you come to eat or drink at their location. Now, the $10 off was with the redemption of the coupon that came with the direct mail piece. So encouraging! A place to socialize, eat, drink, and get $10 off with a coupon “wow.”

    Our thoughts as marketing and advertising students were to judge whether this direct mail piece was a good incentive, or form of advertising for Astor’s. Our conclusion was whatever works! In Jack Astor’s case the direct mail piece worked for them because they are a relatively new business in the Kingston area.

    Our suggestions were that in order for Jack Astor’s to be more inclined on communicating with their target market through direct mail, Jack Astor’s should integrate new upcoming marketers. Yes, we are referring to our group of IMC colleagues: James Loveys, Chris Kane, Megan LaFrance, Kelsey Ammon, Shylane Hickson, Taylor O’Neill, and Dennis Kehoe.

    For an illustrated pdf version, visit link below.

    //docs.google.com/file/d/0B6f-wfjATaTIdDVQNXl6eVNiY0k/edit?usp=sharing

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. Here's the link to my blog. Pictures are up there too. Thanks!

    http://www.notesgoatsandanecdotes.com/1/post/2013/02/direct-mail-done-right-jack-astors.html

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    Replies
    1. Taylor Young, Nicole Vizacardo, Alex Paudyn

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  10. Rogers bill and…surprise direct mail


    When you get a bill from Rogers you think “all there is inside is a bill”, well yes I did receive a bill however there was a direct mail piece inside and on the back of the envelope.
    The direct bill piece discovered inside the bill was about smart home monitoring feature where you can connect your phone to your television, which is cool and innovative. As well it works as a security system. The information on the envelope, was about roger online billing service which is not news to me.
    The target demographic this direct mail piece is trying to reach is the older 30-40 years of age, who have been signed up with Rogers for a while and has family.
    Certainly the offer’s features and benefit are innovative and neat however the design of the direct mail pieces are boring, dull colors and only one connecting picture of a laptop on the envelope. I would’ve liked to see a picture of the system at work so I can connect the direct mail offer to my lifestyle or understand what it would look like in my own home.
    Rogers has also forgotten the demographics behaviour and that is when we receive a bill, we are not interested in the envelope but the bill itself and paying it off. That’s it. The demographic would be not interested in unwanted direct mail piece, offering a new feature that might add more to money to the bill. As well, wouldn’t care what’s on the envelope because it’s on the back and it’s just an envelope.
    Overall it’s not the features, the benefit, or even the price. It’s just the approach of this direct mail piece and the method of how they choose to reach the target demographic. I would think this direct mail piece would have succeeded better on its own because the target would have its full attention and not feeling discouraged.

    -Bradley Burneau MCOM 30 - 101

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