This document provides tips on how to market smarter and save money through direct mail campaigns. It discusses the importance of cleaning mailing lists to remove outdated addresses, which can save significant money on printing and postage costs while improving response rates. Additional ways to market smarter with direct mail mentioned are using various finishing techniques like embossing, foil stamping, and die-cutting to make mail pieces stand out from the crowd at relatively low cost. The document emphasizes that mailing more does not necessarily mean better results and offers examples of companies wasting significant funds by mailing to inactive addresses without properly updating their lists.

1. GRAPHIC Your logo here
ADVISOR
ISSUE TWENTY NINE
REFRESHING IDEAS
Save Money, Get
Better Results
Refresh Your
Brand and
Revitalize Your
Business
Finish Your
Projects with Flair!

2. Don’t waste money, market smarter! Y
ou may have heard that the mailing list The agency later found out
is 40% of a campaign’s success. That’s the that this was standard operating
old adage, but it might actually be more. procedure for this company. Turns
One creative director tells us the story of a client out, it hadn’t cleaned its mailing
When we think about “marketing smarter,” we often with more than one million inactive addresses in lists in five years.
its customer list. The agency determined that only On average, the United States Postal Service says that
think about spending more money. But what if you
30,000 of these addresses were worth mailing. The 30% of mailing addresses are out of date. NCOA and
could market smarter and save money at the same
client mailed 300,000 instead. The results? The 30,000 CASS systems are designed to help with that.
time? Especially when it comes to direct mail, there
are many cost-saving measures that can save you
returned a 1.5% response. The other 270,000 returned
• CASS (Change of Address Support System)
a .001% response. certification checks the addresses in your list
money and boost your results, too. What an incredible waste! Can you imagine to ensure that they are valid addresses in the
printing 270,000 mailers destined straight for the USPS system.
garbage? Mailing more doesn’t necessarily return you
better results!
• NCOA checks the addresses against a National
Change of Address list to ensure that your targets
This might sound like an outrageous tale, but it is
are not living somewhere else, and if they are, the
more common than you might think.
address is corrected automatically.
Another marketer—a Fortune 100 company—was told
that nearly 30% of its addresses would be undeliverable. These are simple steps that are inexpensive and take
Did the company immediately strip its mailing list of relatively little extra time. Not only can they save you
those useless addresses? Unbelievably, it did not! Even big money on print and postage, but they can return
though it could have taken the simple step of running you better results because you start out with a current,
its list through the National Change of Address (NCOA) viable mailing list. This is a small investment that can
and Change of Address (CASS) verifications, it didn’t reap great returns!
bother. It printed and mailed to everyone in its list.
More than 35% bounced, resulting in over $3,000 worth When was the last time you cleaned up your
of wasted postage. mailing list?
Don't throw your money away. Mailing more
doesn’t necessarily return you better results.
photos ©dreamstime.com
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3. O
ne option is to completely messaging. Then they determined what
rebrand the company, but still had value and should be retained
this has a number of risks. and what should be refreshed to make
A dramatic rebrand could erase your the brand representative of who they
history in the mind of the consumer as are today and where they are going. The
well as any positive brand equity built companies maintained the integrity of
up over the years. Plus, it could strain the existing logo, making modifications
your budget as you revise not only that are definitely noticeable but not too
Refresh Your Brand and Revitalize Your Business
your corporate stationery, but also your drastic. You might notice subtle changes
storefront, vehicle graphics, signage, in the width of a font; the sizing, scaling
marketing collateral, sales kits, website, and placement of images; the shade of a
packaging, and other elements of your color; or the tagline.
public identity. For companies with So how do you know if it’s the right
multiple locations and complex sales and time for your company to refresh?
distribution channels, this imposes an If you’re anticipating a change in
even greater barrier. management, introducing a new product
or service, celebrating a significant
Your company’s visual An alternative to a full brand redesign is business anniversary, or undergoing a
brand identity is a shorthand to who a brand refresh. With slight revisions to
your branding elements and positioning,
merger with another company, it makes
sense to consider a refresh. In the
you are and the promises you make you can . . . absence of any major event, consider a
to your customers and stakeholders. • Preserve your brand’s existing equity refresh every 3 to 5 years as part of your
It’s a reflection of what your company • Infuse new energy into your offerings strategic planning process. A brand refresh
stands for and what sets you apart. • Ensure your company stands out in a should never be implemented simply
Follow the lead of major
dynamic marketplace because you’re tired of the existing brand.
When your brand has been around for • Expand the company’s reach to new Refreshing a brand is a strategic business companies. Maintain the
a while, however, you may no longer customers and create buzz among
existing customers
decision with explicit business goals. integrity of your existing
be getting the results you need. This • Reduce the sales cycle
Ensuring that you are marketing your
brand, making modifications
brand effectively and credibly is critical
happens regardless of size or industry • Phase in changes as your budget to both attracting and retaining a growing
that are noticeable but not
and may be brought on by aggressive
allows
base of satisfied customers. A brand too drastic.
Consider the major companies
competition, changes in the industry, refresh will give your company that added
that have recently undertaken a
flash that enables you to more effectively
or the consumer’s perception that since brand refresh. Chiquita, Coca-Cola,
compete with other companies vying for
your brand looks dated your offerings and Starbucks, for example, already had
the same market space without alienating
very strong and recognizable logos that
must be dated too. or confusing your current customers.
resonated positively with their customers,
so why would they change? First, they
evaluated their visual identity and
photos ©dreamstime.com
4

4. Are you leaving opportunity on the table? There are many
inexpensive finishing techniques that can set your projects apart. Use them to
make people want to pick up the piece. Create a lasting brand image. Really
make a powerful first impression.
Finish Your Projects with Flair!
F
or example, instead of tucking highlight the logo or add gloss to photos. Thermography. Produces an engraving-
product cards into a traditional A new technique called strike-through like effect using powder and ink. The
envelope, why not try a folded coating allows you to create the look powder is added to the ink printed on the
die-cut self-mailer instead? In a plain of spot coating with an inline process paper, then the printed piece is heated
white envelope, your open house without the expense of additional plates and the powder/ink mixture dries to
invitation might easily be overlooked. and blankets. form a raised effect. Use it on invitations,
But send a die-cut mailer in the shape business cards, and letterhead. Combine
of an automobile or piece of sporting Embossing. Embossing uses heat and it with a die-cut to invite people to an
equipment and you are pretty much pressure to create a raised impression open house or booth at your trade show.
guaranteed it will get opened. Or want to on the paper. (Think “notarizing.”) People
make photos really pop? Try spot varnish tend to associate embossing with high- Adding these little effects can make
over the photos with a dull varnish value documents, so you might want to your piece really stand out and be
everywhere else. Suddenly, the photos use this technique to convey the idea
remembered. They make recipients
leap off the page! of quality and permanence. Emboss on
say “Wow!” They make them want to
Here are some great finishing techniques plain paper (blind embossing) or combine
that can really make a difference. it with ink, images, or foil for an extra-
pick up the piece and interact with it. It
special effect. doesn’t cost that much more to have
UV coating. A high-gloss, very an impact. Let us help you get creative!
protective finish that creates a lot of Foil stamping. The process of applying
pop and durability. decorative foil to the paper to create
brilliant metallic effects not possible
Soft-touch aqueous coating. A fast- with ink. Foil stamping can be combined
drying, water-based coating that has with embossing to create a more striking
a soft, velvety feel that people notice three-dimensional image. Try embossing
immediately. You’ll see them saying, “Oh, on book and report covers, branded
wow!” and turning the piece over and documents, even logos.
over because it’s so pleasant to the touch.
Use it to draw customers into a clothing Die-cutting. Use die-cuts to create
catalog, coffee table book, or children’s unusual shapes, windows, and crazy fold-
book. Anything where physical touch outs. Instead of sending the same old,
increases the appeal. same old mailer, create jagged edges,
peep doors, accordion-style pulls. Give
Spot coating. Coat or varnish only to them something that really stands out.
photos ©dreamstime.com
specific areas of the piece. You might
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5. GRAPHIC MAILING INFO
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About Us About This Issue
One or two small paragraphs about you Programs used: Computers used:
and your company. One or two small InDesign CS iMac
paragraphs about you and your compa- Illustrator CS
ny. One or two small paragraphs about Photoshop CS Press used:
you and your company. One or two What kind of press did you use to print
small paragraphs about you and your Paper used: this issue?
company. One or two small paragraphs What paper did you use to print this
issue? Bindery used:
about you and your company. One or
two small paragraphs about you and What kind of bindery did you use to
Ink used: print this issue?
your company. One or two small para-
What kind of ink did you use to print
graphs about you and your company.
this issue?
Coating used:
What kind of coating did you use to
print this issue?

6. 1:1 printing is green? Absolutely.
Here are three reasons why:
1 Targeting means you send out fewer pieces of mail—saving trees, chemicals and fossil fuels.
2 A cleaner database means that your recipients deliver fewer pieces right to the trashcan.
3 Digital production has many green benefits, including no plates, no chemicals and no spray powders.
Let’s look at three examples of how 1:1 printing can
transform the “greenness” of your campaign.
Personalized booklets: 1:1 direct mail: In a static, untargeted Database
Say you are a small college, printing mail campaign, you might send out 15,000 cleansing:
four-color catalogs to mail to prospective postcards to a generic mail list. With 1:1 Even if you
students. Each catalog is 252 pages, personalization, you are likely to select still choose to
covering the full range of disciplines and only a percentage of that list. This might be mail to your
extra-curricular activities. Only 25% of the top 10% of your customers, customers entire list, you
the material is relevant to the prospective who are most likely to purchase certain can experience
student, who never reads the other 75%. products, or customers who, based on powerful
Especially if your catalogs are coated, those defined triggers (such as an upcoming “green” benefits
pages are destined for the landfill. expiration on an auto lease), are likely to be by simply doing a basic consolidation
What happens when in the market for a new purchase. and cleanse on that list. You might have
you personalize these Now, instead of mailing 15,000 pieces, you many duplicates, misspelled names and
When you think about personalization, do you think about lower catalogs instead? might mail only undeliverable addresses. One cataloger
cost per lead, higher per order values and increased ROI? Now, instead of 1,500. Or you recently slashed its print volumes by 50%
simply by cleaning up its list!
printing 252 pages, might send only a
You should. But you should also get excited about how 1:1 you print 64 pages. few hundred at
Not only does this increase the relevance— a time. Not only
printing helps you go green. and the effectiveness—of the booklets, but are these offers It pays to be green. Not only should
you’ve just reduced your consumption of more targeted you consider green alternatives
paper, ink and chemicals by 75%. and relevant, but simply because it’s the right thing
Then there are the ripple effects. You have you’ve just reduced
your printing and mailing
to do, but also because it’s good
eliminated the energy used to produce those
unread pages, the gas used to distribute volume by 90%—a huge slash in your business too. Consumers want to do
them and all of the other associated raw carbon footprint. business with companies that are
materials, fossil fuels and associated energy good stewards of the environment.
costs along the way.
So double marketing dip—
personalize it!
Sending irrelevant information makes unnecessary waste!
photos ©dreamstime.com
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