CLASSLESS +TOO CUTE
NO CLASS
Last week, I sang the praises of Capital One for their highly elegant mailing. CIBC Wood Gundy could take a lesson from them.
I received a large envelope from them last week and, although the postage was first class, the OE wasn’t – they’d used a label for addressing!
Inside was a two-sided sheet. The front had a photo of a stock market mob scene and hinted that the mailer was offering a seminar about the credit crunch. The back gave details about how one of their investment advisors was willing to educate invitees to the event.
There was nothing wrong with the mailing, per se. I’ve seen 472,396 similar mailings over the years. What got me was that the seminar was restricted to those with a minimum $250,000 investment portfolio. If they’re desperately seeking Daddy Bigbucks, why didn’t they produce a package at least half as distinguished as that of Capital One?
TIP: You can sometimes achieve your objective by being overly classy for a particular audience. But you can never succeed in business by sending an upscale audience a downscale mailing.
TOO CUTESY
I received a package from the Canadian Liver Foundation that’s put me into the same camp as those who contend that it’s best to offer outer envelopes with no teaser. Why?
The CLF’s teaser shows a drawing of a closed door. Beside the door frame there’s a line drawing of a child’s profile. Beyond it are three lines accompanied by some unreadable type.
The copy below reads, “LIVERight. Learn How.”
What?!
Being confounded by the verbal and visual teaser, I was sorely tempted to chuck the package. But being in the DM business, I investigated further.
It turns out that the letter is very informative. They make a strong case for support. And eventually you figure out that what they were depicting was a kid’s growth chart in which his abdomen becomes distended due to liver problems. So why didn’t they come out and say so?
TIP: Don’t present coined words/phrases like ‘LIVERight” in the hope of impressing or intriguing your audience. If you have a good story to tell, just tell it.
And if a drawing requires an explanation to be understood, it really needs to be thrown in the garbage before it sees the light of day. Otherwise, you’ll be destroying the grey cells of people like…
Dr. Bob
symbiomarketing@telus.net
Last week, I sang the praises of Capital One for their highly elegant mailing. CIBC Wood Gundy could take a lesson from them.
I received a large envelope from them last week and, although the postage was first class, the OE wasn’t – they’d used a label for addressing!
Inside was a two-sided sheet. The front had a photo of a stock market mob scene and hinted that the mailer was offering a seminar about the credit crunch. The back gave details about how one of their investment advisors was willing to educate invitees to the event.
There was nothing wrong with the mailing, per se. I’ve seen 472,396 similar mailings over the years. What got me was that the seminar was restricted to those with a minimum $250,000 investment portfolio. If they’re desperately seeking Daddy Bigbucks, why didn’t they produce a package at least half as distinguished as that of Capital One?
TIP: You can sometimes achieve your objective by being overly classy for a particular audience. But you can never succeed in business by sending an upscale audience a downscale mailing.
TOO CUTESY
I received a package from the Canadian Liver Foundation that’s put me into the same camp as those who contend that it’s best to offer outer envelopes with no teaser. Why?
The CLF’s teaser shows a drawing of a closed door. Beside the door frame there’s a line drawing of a child’s profile. Beyond it are three lines accompanied by some unreadable type.
The copy below reads, “LIVERight. Learn How.”
What?!
Being confounded by the verbal and visual teaser, I was sorely tempted to chuck the package. But being in the DM business, I investigated further.
It turns out that the letter is very informative. They make a strong case for support. And eventually you figure out that what they were depicting was a kid’s growth chart in which his abdomen becomes distended due to liver problems. So why didn’t they come out and say so?
TIP: Don’t present coined words/phrases like ‘LIVERight” in the hope of impressing or intriguing your audience. If you have a good story to tell, just tell it.
And if a drawing requires an explanation to be understood, it really needs to be thrown in the garbage before it sees the light of day. Otherwise, you’ll be destroying the grey cells of people like…
Dr. Bob
symbiomarketing@telus.net
posted by DoctorBob | 10:00 AM
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