Mail Creative Coupled With Caution During Anthrax Scares

Alltel Corp. had already prepared a direct mail acquisition program with an unusual creative when the reports of anthrax arriving in the mail began filling the media.

The Little Rock, AR, seller of cell phones and telemarketing services planned to send out an envelope that contained a little box that rings when the recipient opens the envelope. The offer is inside the box.

Concerned about consumer reaction to the unusual mailer, Mickey Freeman, director of relationship marketing at Alltel contacted his Alltels representative with the United States Postal Service. “I asked if they wanted me to pull the mailing, even though I didn’t know what I would do for my Christmas promotion,” he said.

The mailer, scheduled to reach about 100,000 prospects in November, says on the envelope: “Digital Simplicity: The call for digital from Alltel.”

After Freeman described the creative, the USPS said to send out the campaign as scheduled.

Then, the postal service asked for a list of all the ZIP codes the mailer was slated to reach. The USPS said it would notify all the bulk mail centers in those areas that the mailing was arriving so that reps there can reassure any consumers who call. “In case someone calls the post office, they can say the piece is fine and we know all about it,” Freeman explained.

Now, Freeman is hoping for the best. “I feel it might not have quite the open rate it once did [because of the anthrax scares], but I’m committed now,” Freeman said.

Creative is crucial when mysterious mail is popping up everywhere, said Pat Harpell, CEO of full-service marketing communications company Harpell Inc. in Maynard, MA. “We are looking at packaging very carefully,” she said.

She added that her firm has even changed the concept for mailing pieces on behalf of its business-to-business clients, most of whom are in the technology sector. She tells clients not to use blank envelopes or packages and to make very clear what is inside, and who the package is from.

“If we are going to put something in a box, we are looking at clear packaging, so recipients can see what’s in there,” she said.

Mailers can still be creative, but they need to be a bit more cautious, Harpell said. For example, last year, the company mailed a walkie-talkie in a black box on behalf of Lava Storm, a Web-development company. The recipient had to set up a meeting with Lava Storm to get the other walkie-talkie. “I would consider doing something like that today, but I would not make the outside message obtuse,” she said. “I would make a very clear message.”

The bottom line is no surprises in mailing pieces, Harpell said.

And remember, she added: “Anthrax is not going out in highly produced, glitzy pieces. There are some fairly clear warnings.”