"Thinking different" can add punch to any campaign and help make the difference between success and extraordinary success.
Just days after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, ADT mailed a personal letter from its President to Security Directors. Noting that "security is on everyone's mind," it offered a security analysis within two business days to anyone calling the "Emergency Helpline." Over 90% of respondents chose this priority service.
Who doesn't like a bonus?
In a Capital One promotion, Jim employed the idea of a Responsible Driver Bonus to engage readers. Enough drivers responded that this kit became a control.
A "ticket" bind-in insert depicting a couple having fun at the best places in town was Philadelphia Magazine's control for many years. And no wonder. It fed the audience's appetite for news about the city's hottest new dining and entertainment spots.
Brown + Partners, Inc. wanted a capabilities piece that would bring in business. A unique brochure did just that. It paired the company's right-brain branding message with left-brain facts and stats, and convinced businesses to give Brown+Partners a try.
When JI Case wanted to sell more batteries, Jim helped develop a Battery Bonanza campaign for its dealers that showed them how to do it. With audiotapes, product info, a test booklet and a chance to win $1000, or $150 gift certificates to Bass Pro Shops or Omaha Steaks, we exceeded the company's sales goal by 800%.
Before mailing our very successful ADT "Spot the Thief" self-mailer, we pre-sold the ADT sales reps with a powerful sales kit. It introduced the product and a sales incentive program, and provided facts, benefits, potential objections and ways to overcome them.
On each Friday during the campaign, we sent the sales team a newsletter with sales tips, stats on leads, appointments, inquiries and sales, and a top-10 list of the leading sales people. Because we included a place for fax-back comments from the field, we were able to feed the salespeople back actual result from the field to help them sell more the following week.
While working with Nextel to cut their churn rate, Jim asked their inbound marketers to list the top 10 questions or complaints they received. He then used a series of e-mail and snail-mail to answer those questions, show customers how to use the phones and reduce cancellations.
A home security company claimed bill inserts did not work. Jim wrote one promoting the same product the company had featured before. Jim's result: 80 times the response the first month and 160 times the response the next. Done correctly, inserts work.
For Student Trust, Jim's team developed an official-looking envelope, a letter/form that explained the government's Student Loan program and a series of informative FAQs that added credibility. The approach, different from the used-car-salesman postcards used by competitors, brought in results that were literally off the charts.