The August 2010 issue of our ‘Sample of the Month’ case study features our client London Review of Books and their success with a #10 package using 2 direct marketing techniques.

London Review of Books worked with ProCirc, their circulation management partner, to execute this test with Ballantine handling the printing and mailing portion of the project. Sage Communications handled the copy & design.

 CLICK HERE for pictures.

 

Quick Summary

Previously, London Review was using a simple voucher package. They then tested it against a #10 package which had more copy and components including a 2-sided order form, liftnote and buckslip. In addition, the outer envelope had 2 windows and the back of the order form contained author bios. Offers for both packages were exactly the same: a 1 year subscription for $29.95.

Direct Marketing Techniques

The 2 direct marketing techniques that were used included using a “Prepared in London” seal next to the indicia on the outer envelope. They also used “credit adjustment” verbiage instead of using discount verbiage. i.e. a credit adjustment of $88.85 instead of a discount of $88.85.

Test Results

The #10 package beat the voucher control by over 50% in net orders and profitability. There was also a version sent to expires that included the wording “Exclusively for Former Subscribers” on the outer envelope — all other details remained the same — this resulted in a 15% lift.

Future Plans

They already tested a larger “L-shaped” window on the outer envelope instead of 2 windows, but it did not win. Besides that, they plan on testing a blue outer envelope in the Fall and eventually test adding more personalization to the order form.

Interested in learning more about this package?

Email Ryan at ryan@ballantine.com.

 

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We just executed a campaign for a mutual fund client that solidified the fact that direct mail and online aren’t enemies. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. They’re best friends and they play very well together.

The campaign we executed involved creating an email and landing page. Shortly after the email blast, we converted the creative into a 6×9 tri-fold self mailer and sent it to the same folks. The email, landing page and direct mail piece all carried the same message…and the creative of all 3 components complemented each other.

The campaign was successful and we’re now using the same tactic for one of their other mutual funds.

This whole project reminded me to stop looking at direct mail and online as oil and water. If done right, they can work very well together. And it makes sense because people nowadays spend so much time online, but they’re also checking their mailbox too of course.

If you connect with potential customers at both locations with a focused, targeted message, they’re going to at least notice your offer. And that’s half the battle.

 

Three common printing methods are sheetfed offset, web offset and digital printing. Today’s post is going to discuss sheetfed offset printing.

It depends on the size of the piece being printed, but a general guideline to follow is:

Digital Printing – best for short run projects.
Sheetfed Printing – best for medium run projects.
Web Printing – best for large run projects.

With sheetfed printing, sheets of paper are fed into the printing press to be printed on. Some sheetfed presses contain what’s called a “perfector cylinder” and this enables the pressman to flip the sheet of paper so both sides can be printed on in one pass.

There are different sheetfed press sizes to handle various sizes of paper. And while the quality of sheetfed offset printing was once superior, web printing (and to some extent, digital printing) are right up there in quality now.

If you have any questions, please email Matt Cote.