The September 2009 issue of our ‘Sample of the Month’ direct mail case study features our client Camelback Mountain Resort and their test of oversized postcards to generate new customers for their Camelback Season Pass and renew existing customers.

This was the first time Camelback used direct mail for an in-season promotion and they relied on the expertise of Marketing for Response, a direct marketing agency that works with other resorts. Ballantine handled the printing, mailing and overall production of the postcards.

  CLICK HERE for pictures of the postcards.

Campaign Details

Camelback’s goal with direct mail was to increase the overall customer base for their Cambelback Season Pass product. They divided the campaign into 2 segments:

1. Non-passholders (acquisition)
2. Existing passholders (renewal)

They mailed out 2 versions each of an oversized 6″ x 11″ 4-color postcard to both segments.

Campaign Strategy

The strategy behind these postcard mailings was to renew passholders BEFORE the season ended by offering them last year’s price for next season. And secondly, to upgrade non-passholders to purchase next year’s season pass by offering them the opportunity to ski the rest of the season free.

Campaign Results

This was Camelback’s first attempt at an in-season direct mail campaign. Therefore, response estimates were based on how similar campaigns performed for other resorts Marketing for Response works with. Comparing Camelback’s response to these expectations – this campaign did very well. In fact, actual sales were 71% HIGHER than anticipated.

Want Samples? Please send an email to Ryan Cote.

Welcome back. Have you subscribed to our blog's email updates yet? Remember - you also get the free whitepaper pictured left on cutting direct mail costs.

The June 2009 issue of our ‘Sample of the Month’ direct mail case study features our client HAWAII Magazine and their test of a double postcard to acquire new subscribers and reacquire lapsed subs.

This case study will also prove to you how effective housefile mailings can be (housefile meaning customers, clients, subscribers, etc.). As a result, this case study is applicable to most companies, not just publishers.

Campaign Details

The 4-color double postcard measures 6″ wide by 4.25″ high (closed) and opens up to 6″ wide by 8.5″ high. The middle is perfed and one half gets returned (standard DPC). The offer is for 1 free issue of HAWAII Magazine and a bonus Luau Guide. They are then automatically billed $15 for 5 more issues with the option to cancel.

This DPC mailing was split into 2 segments:

Segment 1

The first segment was a non-housefile mailing to Hawaii property owners that live on the mainland (90% of their subscribers live on the mainland). The personalized copy that was included on the front of this segment’s DPC included “Come Home To HAWAII Year-Round” and “Be Instantly Transported To Your Home Away From Home”.

Segment 2

The second segment was a housefile mailing of lapsed subscribers from the last 3 years with a geographic select that mimics their highest concentrations of subscribers. The personalized copy that was included on the front of this segment’s DPC included “Escape To HAWAII Year-Round” and “Skip The Long Plane Ride And Be Instantly Transported To Paradise”.

Both segments shared the same offer in addition to the same artwork for the back and inside of the DPC.

DPC Pictures

You can view pictures of the double postcard by CLICKING HERE.

Campaign Results

As you can probably assume, the housefile mailing (lapsed subscribers) performed better…but the non-housefile mailing (Hawaii property owners) also did well partly due to the amount of attention given to the details of the data file by HAWAII Magazine’s Marketing Manager.

—> Response rate for the housefile mailing was 6.35%
—> Response rate for the non-housefile mailing was 2.59%

This reinforced HAWAII Magazine’s need to continue to mine its own database because there is definitely low-hanging fruit to be had.

The April 2009 issue of our ‘Sample of the Month’ direct mail case study features our client Aperture magazine and their test of a #10 voucher package with a bright green outer envelope.

Campaign Details

This case study is going to be brief because the mailing was a pure outer envelope test.

Both the control and test had the same exact components: a perfed form measuring 8.5″ wide by 7″ high, a 4-color buckslip and BRE. Furthermore, the offers were also the same: 1 year (4 issues) for $40 or 2 years (8 issues) for $66.

Their control package (meaning, the package that performs the best for them) has a simple white outer envelope. As a test, they mailed the same exact package, but with a bright green outer envelope. The green paper is more expensive, but the strategy was it would stand out in the recipient’s stack of mail and generate more orders.

You can view pictures by CLICKING HERE.

Campaign Results

Both packages were equal in payup, but one generated 11.5% more orders, gross and net.

The winner was…

Click Here

So are the results what you expected? Share your thoughts by commenting below. Thanks!