June 10, 2008

Yahoo! Happy Hour in a Box

So, Apple isn't the only company around with a network of developers working on cool software and tools for their platform. Yahoo! has an open development platform they call SearchMonkey, and they also are smart enough to realize that the participants are one of their key audiences. In fact, they apparently deserve no less than this awesome "happy hour in a box" featuring a Heineken mini-keg and six promotional beer steins. Now that's a nice direct mail promotion! (via Search Engine Land)

Posted by mark at 7:16 AM. Permalink: Yahoo! Happy Hour in a Box | Comments (0)

May 4, 2008

Ten Cent Real Estate Promotion

Here's a cool ten-cent direct mail promotion that our CEO received. A Prudential Homes realtor sent out ten one cent stamps when the postage rates changed, along with a letter reminding past clients that if they know anyone looking for a new home in the area, she's always happy to get referrals. This is a great promotion because it's inexpensive, yet thoughtful. Plus, since most people don't buy new homes too often, it focuses on capturing referral opportunities, which is an effective way to utilize your customer base in real estate.

Posted by mark at 9:37 AM. Permalink: Ten Cent Real Estate Promotion | Comments (0)

April 30, 2008

The Broken Vase Revisited

Vases, it seems, were made to be broken. Typically, a broken vase is used to sell super glue, but they've also been used to promote Greek restaurants. This time around, the promotion is for the insurance company AIG, and the idea is not to fix the vase, but to replace it.

Posted by mark at 6:45 AM. Permalink: The Broken Vase Revisited | Comments (0)

April 27, 2008

Deadly Direct Mail

When it comes to direct mail, there's nothing cuter than tiny little coffins. Wait! I mean, there's nothing deathier than tiny little coffins. Anyhow, this striking direct mail promotion was done by a pest control company. Inside the coffins was the tagline: "We don't give them a decent burial. You may." For starters, this is a great piece of direct mail because it gets people's attention. Moreover, the surprise it uses to get attention is actually related to their product. Lastly, hey, free little coffin!

Posted by mark at 4:09 PM. Permalink: Deadly Direct Mail | Comments (0)

March 13, 2008

The Greatest Direct Mail Show on Earth

If you're a direct marketing association, like the DMAM in Malaysia, and you have an awards show to feature the best in your industry, you'd better have a pretty killer mailer to announce it. They did not disappoint. The entry kit was personalized for each agency and beautifully made to tie into their "Greatest Show on Earth" theme. There's even a tiny miniature whip attached to the letter that exhorts the agencies to whip their entries into shape. (via Direct Daily)

Posted by mark at 8:27 AM. Permalink: The Greatest Direct Mail Show on Earth | Comments (0)

February 11, 2008

Onion Swagology: Say Chowder Egg

The Onion breaks it down for us:

Item: "1 Order Of Herby Eggz," a.k.a. an egg in a fancy promotional fold-out cardboard box, with grow-it-yourself seedlings inside

Promoting: The Cartoon Network series Chowder.

Relevance to product promoted: Unclear. The promo episodes included with the egg don't mention anything about little plants growing out of eggs, though they do feature a lot of other entertainingly surreal things.

Item quality: Hard to say, because we haven't tried to grow a plant out of it yet. The elaborate painted-box container is adorable and appealing, the egg is perfect, and the whole idea is pretty neat. We want to give it a 5 just on innovation, presentation, and memorability, but we might someday be forced to drop it to a 4 if it breaks our hearts in the plant-growing department and turns out to be just a porcelain egg full of dirt.

Posted by mark at 3:35 PM. Permalink: Onion Swagology: Say Chowder Egg | Comments (0)

January 22, 2008

Direct Impact: Cat Scratching Pad Preps Homes for New Drapes

This clever direct mail promotion includes a cat scratching pad as part of an announcement about a new line of drapes. Its a great example of taking a seemingly unrelated promotional product to successfully promote a product offering. (via Direct Daily)

Posted by mark at 7:22 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Cat Scratching Pad Preps Homes for New Drapes | Comments (0)

January 21, 2008

Direct Impact: Wilson Promotes New Driver with Balls

Wilson promoted its new long distance driver with some custom promotional golf balls. To make a point about just how far you can hit a ball with this new driver, the balls are imprinted with a form to add your contact message so when someone finds the balls they can return them to you.

Posted by mark at 7:11 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Wilson Promotes New Driver with Balls | Comments (0)

January 20, 2008

Direct Impact: Rolls Royce Paintings

If you're selling a Rolls Royce, your target market is pretty small and pretty selective. For this unique direct mail promotion, Rolls Royce sent out abstract paintings meant to evoke the classic image of the Rolls Royce to select potential buyers. Although it seems a bit crazy, we actually offer a promotional oil portrait painting, and it does sell.

Posted by mark at 3:06 PM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Rolls Royce Paintings | Comments (0)

January 19, 2008

Direct Impact: Hyundai Paper Lamp

This great promotion is a superb use of direct mail and a great interactive promotion. Mailed flat, this kit can be constructed to create a rotating lamp that features a Hyundai. The design is actually a traditional Chinese lantern design, and the promotion, which targeted the Chinese market, promoted a particularly fuel-efficient car. A great example of a promotion that's fun and interactive, while also educating consumers about the benefits of your product. (via Direct Daily)

Posted by mark at 2:56 PM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Hyundai Paper Lamp | Comments (0)

January 18, 2008

Direct Impact: Viral Marketing for Placement Agency

This striking direct mail piece purports to contain vials of live viruses, but luckily it's more innocuous than that. The accompanying literature encourages the hiring manager to use the enclosed viruses to infect employees, since the placement agency sending the piece is so confident it can find temporary replacements. The actual copy from the piece is: Just test us. Infect your employees. And see how fast Vedior sends the perfect replacement." (via Direct Daily)

Posted by mark at 2:44 PM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Viral Marketing for Placement Agency | Comments (0)

January 17, 2008

Direct Impact: Street Children Mobile

This promotional mobile was sent as a direct mail piece to raise awareness of the problem of homeless children in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was created for a non-profit that works to provide foster homes for these children. The mobile kit, which featured typical street items like broken bottles and syringes, was sent to German businesses who were already active in Bulgaria. Within 3 weeks of the mailing, 11% of the businesses contacted had made a donation to the charity, an astounding conversion rate! (via Direct Daily)

Posted by mark at 11:00 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Street Children Mobile | Comments (0)

January 16, 2008

Direct Impact: Life-size Burglar Direct Mail

The fold-out direct mail piece is a popular way to get someone's attention, whether you're raising awareness about colon cancer or home improvement loans. In this case, a life-size burglar unfolds from a normal sized envelope with the message that it's easy for someone to get into your home. Creepy, but perhaps it is an effective way to promote security services.

Posted by mark at 10:36 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Life-size Burglar Direct Mail | Comments (0)

January 15, 2008

Direct Impact: Growing Home Mailer

This promotional direct mail piece is a house that starts small, but expands as you continue to unfold it. It promotes a banks home improvement loan services.

Posted by mark at 6:33 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Growing Home Mailer | Comments (0)

January 14, 2008

Direct Impact: Timing Is Everything for Birthday Razor

This is definitely the kind of classic direct mail promotion that should be taught in direct mail school. Gillette sends a free razor to young men as an 18th birthday gift, hopefully the perfect time to reach out to them as they are developing the brand loyalties they will carry throughout their lives.

Posted by mark at 10:30 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Timing Is Everything for Birthday Razor | Comments (0)

January 13, 2008

Direct Impact: Interactive Cable Mailer

This unique promotion involved a direct mail campaign as well as cable television commercials to help people choose paint colors. Done for Colorama, a large Swedish home improvement chain, the direct mail piece included a length of coaxial cable to promote its television commercials, which feature full screen samples of popular paint colors, allowing viewers to see what the colors would look like in their living rooms. (via Direct Daily)

Posted by mark at 12:16 PM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Interactive Cable Mailer | Comments (1)

January 12, 2008

Direct Impact: Desperate DVD Direct Mail Detergent

This unique direct mail promotion for the Desperate Housewives Season 3 DVDs plays on a domestic theme. Detergent has always been a fruitful market for compelling packaging. The Turkish advertising agency R2D2 also did a detergent-themed promotion.

Posted by mark at 2:11 PM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Desperate DVD Direct Mail Detergent | Comments (0)

January 11, 2008

Direct Impact: Secret Detergent Message

In a move similar to this clever annual report, this direct mail piece contains a sample of detergent and a black cloth that washes to reveal a message...about the cleaning power of that detergent!

Posted by mark at 9:07 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Secret Detergent Message | Comments (0)

January 10, 2008

Direct Impact: Seal Baseball

Hopefully recipients of this direct mail package would find it hard to bat this ball around. Using the cute little face of a baby seal on a customized baseball, Animal Public is trying to promote a ban on seal products in the European Union. Presumably even though baseball is an American sport, EU leaders will understand the message.

Posted by mark at 7:03 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Seal Baseball | Comments (0)

January 9, 2008

Direct Impact: Matryoshka Doll Envelopes

This clever promo was done by a Russian travel agency to promote tourism packages to St. Petersburg. The envelopes mimicked the famous Russian nesting dolls and, at the end, revealed a tiny price for a trip to St. Petersburg. (via Direct Daily)

Posted by mark at 6:56 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Matryoshka Doll Envelopes | Comments (0)

January 8, 2008

Direct Impact: Colon Cancer Mailer

This clever and impactful (albeit gross) direct mail piece starts with the smallest mailable envelope, already an attention grabber. The flyer inside is folded with a progression of text describing how a tumor starts off small, then grows while you're eating, sleeping and going about your daily life. Finally, when the flyer is all the way open it reminds you not to wait until it is too late. (via Direct Daily)

Posted by mark at 6:47 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Colon Cancer Mailer | Comments (0)

January 7, 2008

Direct Impact: Behind Bars Mailer

This awareness-raising direct mail piece puts bars on an envelope window to illustrate the plight of political prisoners. By opening the letter, the recipient "frees" the prisoner, and hopefully is encouraged to make a donation or participate in letter-writing or other campaigns to pressure governments to release political prisoners.

Posted by mark at 6:43 AM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Behind Bars Mailer | Comments (0)

January 6, 2008

Direct Impact: Anorexia Mailer

This impactful direct mail promotion makes a powerful statement about the dangers of anorexia and other eating disorders using a customized belt that featured notches for slim, slimmer and dead. The mailing was targeted towards fashion designers and models and included a booklet full of facts about the dangers of anorexia and an invitation to participate in an online forum. (via Direct Daily)

Posted by mark at 1:35 PM. Permalink: Direct Impact: Anorexia Mailer | Comments (0)

December 30, 2007

Best of 2007: Best Living Direct Mail

Although it is essentially Sea Monkeys, this is easily the coolest direct mail piece I've seen in ages. It was done to promote the National Geographic Kids television channel and was sent to media buyers. The super scientific looking kit included everything you need to grow triops, a prehistoric, horseshoe crab-looking crustacean. They even included a CD that featured information and an interactive tool to track the triops' growth. I want one.

Posted by mark at 11:54 AM. Permalink: Best of 2007: Best Living Direct Mail | Comments (0)

December 27, 2007

Dell and Verizon Team Up with Targeted Direct Mail Promo

Here's a pitch-perfect direct mail promotion I received from Dell and Verizon Wireless targeting business customers. They selected an optical travel mouse as the giveaway product, the perfect choice for this demographic. With a combination of two strong brands, great print creative and a relevant, useful promo, this direct mail promotion was bound to be a success.

Posted by mark at 3:50 PM. Permalink: Dell and Verizon Team Up with Targeted Direct Mail Promo | Comments (0)

December 25, 2007

Gingerbread Man Raises Landmine Awareness

The holiday season is a great time to be thankful for all that we have, and to consider the challenges facing those less fortunate. This direct mail piece uses a holiday gingerbread man cookie to raise awareness about the terrible effects of landmines in order to raise funds to lobby against their use and remove the thousands that are in place around the world.

Posted by mark at 1:54 PM. Permalink: Gingerbread Man Raises Landmine Awareness | Comments (0)

December 11, 2007

Broken Vase Phone Photo Promo

Here's a cool interactive promotion. It starts with a broken vase sculpture that, from the right angle, becomes an intact vase. Viewers are encouraged to photograph the vase from the intact angle and send the photo to Henkel, the company that produces the super glue that the vase is advertising. The recipients then receive a direct mail promo piece that includes a product sample as well as a miniature version of the broken vase. As a bonus, they also get entered into a sweepstakes to win one of ten trips to Greece, a land known for its broken vases. (via Direct Daily)

Posted by mark at 10:11 AM. Permalink: Broken Vase Phone Photo Promo | Comments (0)

November 9, 2006

Growing a Client Base with Direct Mail

Here's a great promo from a group of landscape architects. It's basically a chia-card, or direct mail promo meets promotional plant. The unassuming card showing an architectural plan actually sprouts little "trees" if it is watered. One of the things I like most about this piece is that it turns something that is two-dimensional (and direct mail generally is) and turns it into something 3D, no glasses required. This ties in nicely with the fact that they are an architectural firm, too. If the company is known for environmentally-friendly landscape architecture, that makes the promo even better. I'm not sure, though since it seems to be in German and they are actually doing Landschaftsarchitektur. (via adverbox)

Posted by mark at 10:41 AM. Permalink: Growing a Client Base with Direct Mail | Comments (0)

June 24, 2006

Nemo Maki

We have a few fishy promotional items, but this is pretty darn cool. It was a direct mail piece to promote a cable channel's movie offerings, and it was a Cannes Lion Direct award winner this year. It also serves to show how important it is to know your audience. In this case, a great direct mail promo to cable operators would probably not be a very good happy meal toy. (via MIT's Ad Lab)

Posted by mark at 11:26 AM. Permalink: Nemo Maki | Comments (0)

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