A Perfect Direct Mail Piece:

When you can't fork over the money fast enough
(and no fancy-pants design required!)

It came in a simple 9.5 x 5" white window envelope. I almost tossed it out, until I glanced one more time at the return address: "Replacements, Ltd®, China, Crystal & Silver · Old & New.

A small image of a place setting, done simply in one color, formed the company's logo.

I thought to myself, "Hmmm, these people know EXACTLY what I need…more spoons!"

Sure enough, the company specializes in replacing pieces of (among other things) flatware that one might've purchased at one time.

We bought our silverware exactly 15 years ago, when we got married (September 12th, don'tcha know). Over the years, teaspoons disappeared - either tossed inadvertently in the garbage or mangled by the disposal. For months, I'd been talking about returning to the store to try and get replacements. I kept putting it off.

A third look at the envelope revealed that it was addressed to Margaret Gallo, which is my maiden name. This was no accident. Bridal registries must be fantastic databases for all sorts of retailers.

The insert was even less dramatic than the envelope. Two sheets of 8 1/2 x 14" paper, as plain as plain can be, printed in black ink only, crammed with copy and some small photos of silverware.

Among them…my spoons!

I scanned the product list to find out the price and, honest to Pete, I couldn’t get my credit card out fast enough. I called the 800 number, placed my order, and within a week, voila, new spoons.

I could have cared less about the mailer's design or the use (lack of use, actually) of color. This mailing offered exactly what I needed, so the sale couldn't have been any easier.

Could it have been any better? Only if I'd received the same offer about 5 years ago.

What's the bottom line? In direct marketing, nothing matters more than the right offer to the right person at the right time.

Easy to say. Hard to do.

I wondered who was behind this campaign. So I spoke with Jack Whitley, the company's Senior Vice President for E-Commerce. He's in charge of all communications - from their enewsletter to their web site to their printed mailings. (Get this: their enewsletter goes out every three weeks to 3.5 million subscribers. In plain text.)

"I like to separate usability from design," Jack said. "Some people equate elegant art with usability, but for us, that doesn't work." The company focuses on having prospects and customers find what they need quickly and easily, whether it's on their web site or in their direct mail pieces.

By the way, the company's product line includes 286,000 patterns. They have 12 million pieces of inventory. They have 11 million customers. This year, they'll send out 9 million pieces of direct mail.

Our conversation reminded me that we marketers can't let ourselves be blinded by fancy design. Content is what matters: The Offer! Are you selling what people on your list want to buy? Do you make it easy for them to buy it?

If you need silverware, crystal or china pieces to replace items that are lost or broken, go to www.replacements.com.

They made an easy sale with their mailer, plain and simple.

Comments? Talk to me at mdana@bostonprintbuyers.com.

©2008 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. You're free to forward this email to friends and colleagues: please do! However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.

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