Creative
With A Power Punch!
How To Make A Creative Effort More Successful
With The Injection Of Database Knowledge
This is a great time to be in direct marketing. Database
information is
becoming more plentiful and more accurate; and clients are finally seeing
the value in really knowing their customer. Together, this is giving the
creative department more tools than ever to hand craft creative that is
truly
response-driven and reaches the customer more intimately than ever before.
DATABASE-DRIVEN CREATIVE: A BRIEF HISTORY
In the "bad old days" everyone was in their
own corner. The creative team
would be given some basic demographics -- and like magic -- we'd have
to
guess what would appeal to the customer. There was no real contact between
the creative and the database marketing departments. Account management
was
the go-between, keeping the project on course. At the project’s completion,
the mailing took place, but frequently the creative work did not align
with
the database.
Who knew that this process was not just workflow, but alienation of purposes
that often resulted in less than targeted creative product that won beauty
contests
but failed in the mail?
Today, the creative and database departments share information to achieve
the
best results. This is a big change for most agencies and many companies
with
in-house creative. But this new workflow gives creatives the accurate
database information that enables them to develop campaigns that work
brilliantly.
In the ideal workflow, creative and database work simultaneously as a
team,
both driven by a passion for results. At the beginning of a project, the
database department shares customer information including demographics,
psychographics, trends and
customer idiosyncrasies with the creative team. This insures that creative
understands the database segments. As the project continues, the two
departments share progress reports on new findings and
creative development. This results in a unified, cohesive, marketing-driven,
targeted mailing that's prepared to touch the customer's heart, and wallet.
DATABASE-DRIVEN CREATIVE EQUALS IMPROVED RESULTS
The payoffs of the new workflow are handsome. Driven
by accurate database
information, the creative product speaks to customers in a voice they
hear
and trust, and truly enrolls them in the product or service. This generates:
o Better up front response
o Better relationships
o Better lifetime value
The more the two departments communicate, the better the results, as our
case
studies show.
WHAT INFORMATION DO CREATIVES NEED?
- Demographics. This is always interesting to know,
although now basic demographics
are somewhat over-rated because it’s too basic and too open-ended.
- Psychographics. This is defined as special idiosyncrasies:
Loves and hates
Predispositions
Perceptions
Personal information
This knowledge gives creatives excellent ammunition for reaching the targeted
audience.Understanding the psychographics of the average teacher gave
us the key to
creative that revived the Jostens Learning catalog. The catalog had design
style, but lacked authority and sales were in a slump. Teachers, it turns
out, purchase many of their own teaching tools out of their sometimes
meager
salaries. Jostens Learning software can be valuable to the students as
learning tools, but teachers also benefit from the softwareís special
ways of
tracking progress. Explaining this technology in sidebars supported the
teacherís purchase and reinforced how they, and their students,
could
benefit.
HOW SHOULD DATABASE INFORMATION BE GIVEN TO CREATIVES?
The Creative Brief is the best way to share data with
the creative team. This
is a structured format outlining key information including the project
description, marketing objective, audience description and their perceptions
of the product and of the competition, the action the client wants the
audience to take, and budget considerations. To receive a template for
a creative brief,
call 408 269 6871 and ask -- or email carol@worthington-levy.com.
WHAT PART OF DIRECT MAIL AND CATALOG CREATIVE IS INFLUENCED
BY DATABASE INFORMATION?
Every aspect of the creative process is effected by
database information.
o Copy writing
o Design
o Pagination (catalog)
o Merchandising
The voice of the copy, the design, even the type fonts are based on database
knowledge. In a catalog, the pagination and the merchandising ( technically
not part of the creative, but a close cousin in the chain of activity)
is
influenced by database facts.
WHAT DOES DATABASE-DRIVEN CREATIVE LOOK LIKE?
- It features special tricks and guides to involve
the customer.
For the Isuzu Trooper "BIG" package, we wrote on the outside
'Life Is Too Big
For Cars' and made the package REALLY big (probably the biggest flat the
prospects received all year). Inside, we played up Trooper's unique selling
proposition, TORQUE ON DEMAND, by including a removable rubber jar gripper.
When the recipient used this to open a jar, the gripper grabbed and tightened
onto the lid, thus illustrating how Isuzuís torque on demand tightens
as they
need it.
- It speaks with an authority that the customers understand and respect.
- It reaches to the depth of the customerís soul and feeds the
fantasy.
With The Great American Recipes "Come Home to The Foods You Love"
campaign,
International Mastersí first non-sweepstakes subscription effort,
M\S
Database Marketing tripled the subscription retention rate by using old
fashioned recipes to stimulate family memories and make the audience
emotionally buy into the concept that life was wonderful when food was
delicious.
- It accurately imitates the prospectsí walk, talk and attitude.
deliaís, a catalog targeted to teens, increased sales by using
phrases that
teens hear and use all the time and authentic visuals of teens hanging
out.
- It sells with compassion for the prospectsí fears and doubts.
People always want to look good and be rewarded for the decisions they
make.
The Lands End Corporate Sales Catalog increased sales by using headlines
that
emphasized the good things that will happen when the reader places an
order
with them. The photography showed quality merchandise. The copy reassured
the
reader that when they placed an order the job will be done right, it will
be
a people pleaser and they will be the hero.
- It anticipates each and every purchase question.
To boost sales for Fukutake Learning Land, a pre-school learning program,
M\S
Database Marketing broke the rule of not making a pitch letter look like
a
letter and created a colorful booklet-style letter with a month-by-month
calendar of everything the child would receive. This showed the parents
the
breadth , volume and value of the program. It left no questions unanswered.
CASE STUDY: 1999 ISUZU VEHICROSS SUV.
The launch of the 1999 Isuzu VehiCross SUV shows the
dramatic results that
can be achieved using database-driven creative.
O The Project
Isuzu asked us to develop A SINGLE direct mail package that would sell
the
first 500 VehiCross vehicles in 4 to 6 months. Our challenges were many:
a). The Isuzu VehiCross was a brand new vehicle with no selling history.
It
featured an outrageous design, was super-powered, sporty and cost about
$32,000.
b). There were only 10 vehicles in the country at the time of the launch.
This meant most dealers were unable to even give test drives.
c). We had almost no vehicle photos.
d). We had only a few prospect names from early requesters, as a result
of
some early public relations.
e). We had to maintain some brand identity to keep with Isuzu's franchise
look.
f). We had a VERY limited budget!
Based on customer research by M\S Database Marketing, we realized that
our
best market was 'the collector': people who want to be the first on their
block to have things that they perceive everyone else wants. Armed with
this
data, we positioned the VehiCross as a collectorís item and designed
the
direct mail package to look like a collectible itself.
O The Database-Inspired Creative
Beginning on the vellum outgoing envelope, we teased the prospects into
the
package with copy that read, "SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION OFFER ENCLOSED"
and a
tagline stating "Cars Prepare For Extinction." Inside, the vellum
letter
resembled frosted glass -- very collectible. The letter had a tone that
bespoke of the privilege of being one of the first, one of the chosen,
to
have this rare opportunity to drive and own a first-of-its-kind on the
American road. We played up the fantasy - this collectible vehicle will
carve
concrete, tarmac, dirt, mud, gravel, snow, sand and more. We made the
brochure bullet-shaped to symbolized speed, one of the big features of
VehiCross.
The special offer was very much driven by the nature of the prospects.
We
offered a signed, limited edition silver print photo by famed automotive
photographer Jesse Alexander. An item the first 500 buyers could hang
on
their wall and boast about. To appeal to their cognitive side - what's
under
the hood ñ we referenced it as "Rocket Science," again
appealing the
collector's ego. Linking photographer Jesse Alexander to the royals of
Europe
completed the appeal. Not until the back of the brochure did the prospects
get a first peek at the vehicle.
O The Results: A winning team!
- Better Response: We achieved an astonishing 83% RESPONSE, and sold,
some
sight unseen until the day of delivery, all 500 VehiCross SUVs within
the
first 3 months.
- Better Relationships: We learned more about the people who buy these
vehicles, and are better prepared for the next launch. Plus, we know better
how to sell the next 1000 VehiCross.
- Better Return on Investment: We pared down the mailing to only 1,800
of
the best prospects, then hit them with a package they couldn't resist
opening.
For more information: Worthington Levy Creative, 1515 Cherry Garden Lane,
San
Jose, CA 95125-4830. Phone 408.269.6871; fax 408.269.6754; carol@worthington-levy.com
.
