A Perfect Pitch
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa weren’t the only ones to make baseball history this summer. Even a 10-year-old can hit a home run with a direct mail campaign if she takes a swing at the right target.
Jamie Lynn Bence’s target was New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
In August, Bence belted out “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Yankee Stadium, making her the only person to sing the national anthem at all 30 major league ballparks.
But the Yankees-the last stop on her two-year journey-had been slow to approve her appearance. Fearing a shutout, Bence launched a 5,000-piece postcard mailing delivered from sea to shining sea to 300 radio and TV stations that had interviewed her during her pilgrimage to sing in the parks. She tossed in a handful of extra postcards with each mailing, to be passed along to interested friends.
The self-return postcards, addressed to Steinbrenner, stressed a call to action: “Let Jamie Lynn Sing!” Bence’s smiling face filled one corner of the cards, which could be signed and returned to Yankee Stadium postpaid.
The Steinbrenner camp, quickly inundated with calls and requests, extended an invitation to Bence within hours. “I was really excited,” Bence remembers. “I just kept saying, ‘Yes, yes, yes.'”
Her parents suggested the direct mail campaign, the first time the family has dabbled in DM. “We were amazed at how effective it was,” says Jamie’s mom Dawn.
