Posté par Luis Paez le May 13, 2009 – 2:02 pm
The billshrink blog recently outlined “12 ways companies are reacting to the recession“, and a few of us here at the Direct Marketing Voice thought these examples good enough to outline one by one in greater detail. I’m going to start with the first one mentioned which was “explicit” mentions of money or savings. Just to be clear, this is slightly different than offering a coupon, or building up value in a product/service.
Here are a few examples in addition to the Geico Ad campaign that billshrink already mentioned:
Ad from 1and1.com
The web host 1&1 has an ad that specifies in red their “old” price ($24.99) and have it crossed out, with their “new” price ($11.99) right below it. The use of red on their new price draws attention to this point, and the fact that they mention prices right on the advertisement is an overt use of price point strategy in a marketing campaign. You can’t miss the “50% off” call out on each service, prompting one to action.
Newsweek insert
I included this Newsweek magazine insert, because it’s also a great example of using savings in an ad. Note the old price, the new cost which is drastically below the one above, and the amount of savings which is more than the new cost. All these factors, combined with the use of red and the simple, bare font – gets people thinking about the large savings associated with getting a subscription – now. Also note that Newsweek puts at least 4 of these inserts in their magazine. This ensures that a newsstand customer will see the subscription offer at least once or twice. As in any outbound marketing, the more touches the better. Re-thinking this “newsweek insert” approach for direct mail is very easy – this artwork can easily be slided into a business reply card design, and with the right list could quite easily yield great ROI.
Ithaca Escape Ad
Here is a campaign that does not appear to use money or savings – as your eye is first drawn to the views of waterfalls and bicycle riders. As the image of a luxury getaway is painted in your mind, this is reinforced by the verbage of “award winning wineries”. However the ad shocks you by describing that this experience is accessible for “less than $30″. Again, the focus on savings hits our recession mentality and shows us ways of enjoying life on a budget. In my opinion this is one of the more clever ads of the three because they build up value in a particular experience but follow it up with a specific price point that everyone (especially NY/NJ citizens) can afford.
Though not all of these examples were strictly direct mail, I hope that some of the creative elements and overall strategies can apply to your particular audience or industry.
Is Mr. Bob Bly late to the party or are businesses honestly still seeking an answer to the following question?
During a recession, when money is tight, should companies ramp up their marketing activities and spending… keep them steady… cut back… or stop altogether?
In his blog post today, he does pose a great question regarding the motives of consultancies and ad agencies and why they want businesses to spend during a recession. However, the question noted above has an answer. I’ve said it once before and now I’ll say it again—rather than focusing specifically on marketing spend, businesses should be reevaluating their marketing strategy. If you haven’t already, take a minute to read my post titled, “Smarter Marketing During a Recession.” It will explain my answer.
Now, if my answer does not satisfy you and you just NEED to know whether you should decrease, maintain or ramp up marketing spend in 2009, why don’t we let the intentions and actions of U.S. marketers answer the question for you.
A recent survey conducted by BtoB Magazine, “2008 Marketing Priorities and Plans,” found that approximately 75% of marketers plan on maintaining or increasing marketing spend in 2009.
Additionally, the 2008 Ad-ology “Small Business Marketing Outlook,” revealed similar results. According to it, over half of small business advertisers surveyed will maintain or increase marketing spend on direct mail in 2009.
For more insight regarding how marketers are planning to redirect marketing budgets in 2009, download this whitepaper: “Understanding Direct Mail Impact & ROI.” Follow the hyperlink and get it gratis!
Happy reading and let me know what your business is planning on doing with marketing in 2009.
Posté par admin le January 8, 2009 – 9:51 am
The Direct Marketing Voice: Should Your Direct Marketing be in a Recession?
One of the best ways to plan for your business’ future is to learn from the mistakes of others. In a study of 600 “B2B” companies from the years 1980 to 1985, it was found the firms that maintained or increased their advertising spend during the recession enjoyed significantly higher revenue growth both during and after the recession.
The Forrester Blog for Interactive Marketers: Looking Back on our 2008 Predictions
Our 2008 Prediction: Micromedia adoption will increase, and marketers will learn to join in. Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, Utterz, and other micro-blogging and micro-media tools will give users the opportunity to share short sentences or audio clips with trusted friends.
Bob Bly Blog: 27 Secrets of Internet Marketing Success
If you are an Internet information marketer or aspire to be one, here are some rules that can help you maximize your online revenues this year…
UPrinting.com: 20 Printed Postcards with Pizzazz
A new year has officially begun and with the current state of the economy it is essential to make the most of your marketing budget. If Printed Postcards are part of your campaign its essential you postcard designs have some pizzazz so they stand out in the crowd. You only have a split second to capture the recipients attention so below we have put together a cool collection of postcards designs to give you some inspiration.
Posté par Luis Paez le January 7, 2009 – 5:05 pm
I don’t like to dwell on the current U.S. recession, but it is something that all businesses — large or small — need to think about if they are concerned with growing business this year and in years to come. One of the best ways to plan for your business’ future is to learn from the mistakes of others. In a study of 600 “B2B” companies from the years 1980 to 1985, it was found the firms that maintained or increased their advertising spend during the recession enjoyed significantly higher revenue growth both during and after the recession. Moreover, by 1985 those firms’ sales had risen 256% over that of the rest of the field! (source: MacTech/McGraw Hill Research)
This should be all over the news wires, but I think it’s our American cultural aversion of comparing current circumstance with previous generations that is blinding us. As a nation, we should be open minded about what we can learn from history, especially as it relates to today’s economic challenges. Beyond the B2B space, the major consumer brands should dig deep in their memory banks and recount the late 1980’s with great clarity, as there were some very hard lessons learned during the last major downturn. From MarketSense historical study:
101 household name brands [were compared] during the recessionary period 1989-1991. Jell-O, Crisco, Hellman’s, Green Giant and Doritos saw sales drop by as much as 26-64%. Jiff peanut butter raised ad support and sales went up 57%…
In the beer category, overall spending was down 1% while Bud Light and Coors Light, each spending ahead of the category, saw sales increases of 15% and 16% respectfully.
Pizza Hut sales rose 61% and Taco Bell’s 40% thanks to strong advertising support, with McDonald’s volume down approximately 28%” (source: Investopedia)
These are great case studies of brands that aren’t afraid to look a recession in the eye and have the guts to do what is necessary to rise above their competition. It’s time we spread the word about what U.S. Business can and must do to succeed during a downturn. Clearly, the smart firms will boost their marketing and ad spends during a recession. The brightest of this bunch will utilize a blend of efficient, measurable marketing vehicles, like online ads with conversion tracking, direct mail with trackable PURLs, email marketing, and offer-centric, response-based print ads. Look for future blog posts where I will outline strategies using each of these vehicles.
With no signs that the economic slow-down is nearing a bottom, most companies are under considerable pressure to trim budgets. And retailers, real-estate agents and direct marketers are no exception. However, direct marketing media expenditures are forecasted to outpace general advertising in both 2008 and 2009 and, even during our economic slowdown, are expected to capture 53% of total advertising expenditures in 2009, according to The Direct Marketing Association.
(Click table to enlarge.)
While the tendency for smaller organizations may be to consider lowering their direct mail expenditures, the larger corporations are actually doing the reverse – but they are becoming more cost effective. In fact, lenders mailed approximately 8% more mortagage offers in Q2 2008, with Chase and Capital One increasing direct mail volume 90% and 140% (respectively) between quarters, according to Mintel Comperemedia.
So if you’re under pressure to cut your budget while being pressured to reach qualified prospects, the answer is – as Chase and Capital One undoubtedly know – as Eric Cosway stated last month, “… marketing budgets are dwindling so [marketers] have to be as efficient as possible with what they have.” While it’s certainly not a new strategy to plan a “low-cost-high-response” direct mail marketing campaign, it may behoove us to review the strategy and include some new tips you may not be privvy to.
- Plan carefully. No more ”spray and pray…” You need to know exactly how to reach your target audience in a less expensive way. To review, according to the DMA for 2008, an investment of $1 in direct marketing advertising expenditures is predicted to return, on average, $11.63 in incremental revenue across all industries. This exceeds the $11.56 achieved in 2007 and is expected to improve further to $11.74 in 2009.
- Unless you can meet face-to-face with your prospective clients, direct mail provides the next best form of personal communication- if you execute properly. Everyone knows that hand-written greeting cards mean more to your clients than mass-produced typed messages. Similarly instead of mailing “wall of word” letters, consider mailing a short, personal, picture-bearing, friendly, postcard with a personal recommendation on a local service, product or time-saving solution.
- Use the latest technology …and save on your design and production costs. While we likely wouldn’t suggest that you spread your mailings out over an entire year, you might want to focus in on drops every 4 weeks to a highly targeted group of customers. You control your volume by specialized targeting, perhaps beginning by marketing to ‘new customers’ within your audience.
If you are one of us being asked to tighten our budgets, and you likely are, then what I am saying will make perfect sense to you. The idea now is to do your research, present some innovative ideas and help your leadership regain some confidence — at least until the consumers do.
