Hello,

The Ballantine Corporation would like to welcome you to the November issue of our Sample of the Month Newsletter. This issue features a case study from our client Bark Magazine and their extremely successful test of a mini-magalog.

Bark Magazine
Mini-Magalog

This is the first piece of direct mail that Bark Magazine has ever mailed out - their previous print acquisition efforts consisted mainly of blow-ins. The mini-magalog is 5.25" in width, 7.5" in height and contains 18 pages which includes a fold out cover with a die cut window. The offer is for one complimentary issue with the option to continue your subscription of 5 more issues for $15.

Previously, Bark Magazine used blow-in inserts to acquire new subscriptions, but tested their first mail piece, mailing out a mini-magalog on September 8th, 2006.

The Strategy

From Bark's previous efforts, they found that their target market needs to see their product or a variation of the magazine before subscribing. As a result, the sole purpose of the mini-magalog was to provide an experience that moved people to act and order.

The Results

Two months after the mini-magalog dropped, Bark is still getting reply cards returned - and their response rate is an incredible 8%.

Future Plans

Bark will continue to mail the mini-magalog and will also be handing them out at events, shows and offer them to organizations for their members. They indicated that supplying magazines to non-profits and events is a costly venture, but they can instead ship and offer the mini-magalogs more cost effectively.

Biggest Surprise

The biggest surprise of this mailing for Bark was that a number of people sent the reply card in with a check, providing their own envelope and postage. And some even purchased gift subscriptions, an option that was not offered on the reply card.

The Lesson is...

When you send a mail piece to your target market that engages the recipient as well as Bark's mini-magalog did, strange (but positive) things are bound to happen.

The following three pieces of information will help answer this question:

Thank you for taking the time to read the November issue of our Sample of the Month Newsletter. If you have any feedback, please email us.