The Cautious Approach

Procter & Gamble’s overseas error has already become legendary.

An ad agency in Slovakia innocently mailed out 70,000 packages containing samples of P&G’s Maxi-Pad brand just days after the first cases of anthrax contamination were reported here in the U.S. The soft packages, addressed with ornamental lettering, scared dozens of recipients into calling local police.

In the U.S., promotional products supplier 4imprint, Oshkosh, WI, was forced to issue letters of reassurance after it learned that some of the 20,000-odd packages it mailed to prospective clients in October arrived with mint samples crushed into a yellowish-white powder.

Despite a handful of such snafus, a great deal of media debate, and some alarming statements from the U.S. Postal Service, direct marketing has not come skidding to a halt. Nor have face-to-face sampling programs, for that matter, despite concerns that consumers may be more hesitant to accept handouts from strangers.

“Everyone’s being cautious. Clients have said they’re going to be paying more attention,” says Charles Horsey, senior vp of marketing corporate development at event marketer CMI, East Rutherford, NJ, and co-chair of the Promotion Marketing Association’s Sampling Council. “But we haven’t had any clients cancel programs.”

“Not only have we not had programs canceled, we’ve picked up new fourth-quarter business,” says Jonathan Ressler, ceo of New York City-based Big Fat Promotions — which ran sampling events in Manhattan just days after the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. “People need a diversion.”

“We haven’t found any reluctance at all from consumers,” says Julie Guida, partner at Chicago-based Marketing Werks, which has been out with the Hershey’s Kissmobile. “We haven’t noticed any change.”

“It’s definitely a concern for those of us in the business. But I haven’t seen any mass hysteria that will directly affect the industry,” says Larry Burns, ceo of StartSampling, Inc., Carol Stream, IL, and the Sampling Council’s other chair.

Burns says he received an e-mail from one member of StartSampling’s delivery service who expressed concern about the potential for tampering. That’s one out of 1.5 million members. On the manufacturer side, one scheduled program was delayed in September due to shipping issues immediately following the terrorist attacks, but it’s been business as usual otherwise.

StartSampling has “the luxury of working with an opt-in model,” so recipients don’t receive packages unexpectedly, Burns notes. But in discussions with other council members at a recent meeting, “there wasn’t any feeling that there’s been a change in practices” in event sampling either, he says.

Sampling on airplanes has been curtailed “for obvious reasons,” says Jack Lee, vp-sales and marketing for Right Choice Services, New Canaan, CT, which has backed off from selling its airport sampling programs as well. (“It just seems in bad taste,” says Lee.) In general, however, “there’s been concern, but there’s been no change in tactics,” he says.

Guerrilla strategies are also being carefully considered, now that security at office buildings, public landmarks, and office buildings have become necessarily tighter. Dori Molitor, whose Minneapolis-based WatersMolitor helped Dunkin’ Donuts barge into offices to deliver free bagels last year (November PROMO), wonders if the strategy would have been as well-received — or even possible — given the current climate.

In accepting the Best Overall Promotion Award at PROMO Expo in October, GE Financial Assurance brand marketing vp Chris Matthews wondered if his award-winning summer 2000 campaign, which dropped wallets in high-traffic locations for passers-by to retrieve, would even get the greenlight today.

“It all has to do with the presentation,” says Mike Kelly, president of Good Stuff Marketing, Manchester, NH, which handled the field work on the Dunkin’ Donuts campaign. “If it looks official, people are fine with it.”

Good Stuff went into cause mode right after the attacks, helping Dunkin’ Donuts and Freschetta pizza get their mobile vehicles to Manhattan to offer support for the World Trade Center relief efforts. Kelly says there was a two-week period in which sampling programs were put on hold; by Sept. 30, the company was at a New England Patriots’ game in Foxboro Stadium passing out Pepsi’s Code Red.

One company that has seen a change is Market Connections, Montclair, NJ, which has been moving away from event sampling toward co-op distribution in hotels, national parks, and other third-party venues. “We’ve lost some hand-to-hand business, and gained some on the co-op side,” says president Brian Martin. “You don’t have as much control with hand-to-hand.”

Promotion security has definitely become a more-pressing issue this year, sparked first by the McDonald’s game scandal in August (October PROMO). “Any good marketer is going to check with their vendors” to see what procedures are in place, says Patrick McEvilly, ceo of Promotion Watch. The promotion security company is a unit of Livonia, MI-based Valassis, which has been offering clients a Biohazard Security Checklist outlining the steps it takes to prevent tampering with the product samples it distributes through newspapers.

“It just goes back to the basics,” says Horsey. “Make sure your system works.”

For the most part, consumers aren’t turning their backs on handouts. “People are more aware of what they’re taking now,” says Ressler. “But as long as what you’re doing is relevant for them, they’ll accept it. It’s our job as marketers to make sure it’s relevant.”

“You’re going to want to make sure that people know who you are,” adds Horsey. But that’s just good marketing. “Sampling has become so much more professional, with branded clothing and trucks,” says Burns. “If you’ve got a recognizable brand, people have a fair amount of trust in you already.”

Direct Responses

The greater cause for alarm came in direct-mail marketing, which seemed in danger of shutting down completely for several tense days when it was unclear exactly how widespread the anthrax dissemination would become.

At the very least, it seems as if direct marketers would take a financial hit as the USPS prepared to implement additional security measures that will, in all likelihood, increase postal rates — and as direct marketers step up their own internal protection.

The Direct Marketing Association, Washington, DC, worked overtime to divert industry panic, issuing assurances that the postal service distributes commercial mail separately from first-class mail (through which the contaminated missives were sent) and releasing results from a study that found 92 percent of members would not waiver from their existing drop plans.

Numerous companies did, however, institute new policies to assuage the concerns of both clients and consumers. Many promised stronger security checks, safer mailings, and pre-drop notification to customers.

Cox Target Media, Largo, FL, notified advertisers that its Val-Pak co-op mailer would carry a tighter seal (through a process that will cost the company an extra $100,000 annually) and promised additional security measures at its facilities. Although he hadn’t heard of any specific cases, Cox spokesperson David Williams says he’s “sure there will be some examples” of advertisers putting planned mailings on hold. Redemption rates on post-attack mailings were not yet available, but the company is hoping that the familiarity of its monthly blue envelope will overcome consumer hesitance, Williams says.

Elsewhere, ADVO, Inc., Windsor, CT, which reported “productivity-related disruptions” in the first few weeks after the attacks, established a distinct “Office of Safety and Security” in October. Saddle River, NJ-based Jane Tucker’s Supermarket of Savings added a DMA logo and other “high-brand recognition” advertising messages to its envelopes to make recipients feel secure, and is also making spot TV buys to announce drops, according to ceo Larry Tucker.

This business-as-usual approach after the attacks, however, does not suggest that everything is healthy in the sampling and direct-marketing segments. In DMA surveys conducted before Sept. 11, 60 percent of respondents said year-to-date revenues were below projections; more than half of respondents to a post-attack survey said they expected fourth-quarter sales declines.

The sampling market, too, could see its first revenue decline in years, with the economic decline after the attacks exacerbating what already had been a tough climate. “The things that go first are the most expensive — and one of those is sampling,” says Martin.

Best Safety Practices

Sampling

Do:

• Accentuate the brand, so it’s obvious who’s providing the product
• Provide tightly sealed samples
• Choose appropriate locations

Avoid:

• Sampling inappropriate product
• Unpackaged samples
• Unannounced, gate-crashing tactics

Direct mail (Source: DMA)

Definitely use:

• Printed envelopes, preferably with color
• Clear return addresses, with logos when feasible

Consider using:

• URLs and/or phone numbers on the envelope
• Postcards, e-mail, or telemarketing to notify recipients of mail drops