Where Somebody Knows Your Name
CO-OP FIRM Money Mailer L.L.C., which delivers 14 million pieces to “occupants” eight times a year, is venturing into a new program that targets well-off recipients by name.
Three-month tests of the Exclusively Yours co-op envelope will be wrapped up this month in San Francisco and Las Vegas, where “affluent adults” have received a mailer full of coupons and a chance to win a prize. Two other programs, focusing on new movers and young family households, are being mailed concurrently.
Recipients of the affluent adults campaign-660,000 in San Francisco and 100,000 in Las Vegas-were culled from mailing lists of major co-op list vendors, catalogs, magazine subscriptions, sweepstakes and contests.
Garden Grove, CA-based Money Mailer blends “name-specific database technology with geographic information systems technology,” says director of field marketing Jim Doane. Individuals are chosen for the program because they earn above $40,000 a year, are between the ages of 35 and 59, own their residences and are 25% above the national average in promotion, responsiveness and coupon redemption.
Recipients are expected to respond in a big way.
“The big difference between this type of program and a saturation program is the saturation can average between 2% and 3% response,” says senior vice president of sales and marketing Clark Beauchamp. “Here, we’re targeting extremely well and [gearing] the creative and offer against a specific target. We’d be disappointed if the advertisers were not getting 50% greater response rates than they’re used to.”
Advertisers can anticipate higher response because their ads are reaching narrowly zoned households, say the executives. Money Mailer breaks areas down to specific trading areas instead of using ZIP codes or carrier routes, Doane says. Advertisers buy these groupings of affluent adult areas in blocks of 20,000.
Each of the coupons-18 or 19 per piece-feature a personal identification number (PIN) through which consumers enter the sweepstakes by cashing in their coupons. In San Francisco, the grand prize is a trip to Hong Kong and in Las Vegas, it is “the ultimate George Strait concert giveaway.” The brightly colored envelope beckons with “Win a Trip for 2,” mentions local discounts and pictures an attractive, well-off-looking couple relaxing together.
The PINs are also the response-recording device; retailers note the numbers, then report them to Money Mailer. This “feedback loop is a chance to prospect on a highly developed level,” says Beauchamp.
For a “modest” fee, advertisers (30% local retailers, the balance regional and national) may sign up for a customer data analysis and help devise a solo direct mail program. “We’re able to build awareness for an advertiser, generate trials and manage loyalty, all with this one program,” Doane says.
To entice householders to the mailbox, television and radio stations with affluent adult demographics are broadcasting ads that promote the PINs and the prizes.
If all this sounds expensive, Beauchamp insists “the price points are very similar to traditional co-op advertising.” One reason it’s affordable is that national advertisers are charged more than local ones. And, they draw from their core business.
For Exclusively Yours, Money Mailer dips into its saturation-mail database, selects names fitting the affluent adults profile and adds those names to the program’s database. “It was critical for us, when necessary, to integrate this into our existing system,” Beauchamp says.
Meanwhile, as the two study the affluent adult market for a national rollout, they tend to the database. “Like any list project, this is a living, breathing animal that we are trying to feed and grow,” says Doane.
