Yankee Offers a New Look at New England
Yankee, a magazine dedicated to all things New England, mailed a subscription package including a Best of New England Guide to help promote its updated look. The front of the 5" x 11½" package reads "Do Not Bend," hinting at the enclosed guide. The back of the envelope features a horizontal window that reveals a colorful magazine cover. The faux-issue features headlines such as "27 Best Ethnic Dishes," "120 Top Events," and "270 Reasons to Visit." Inside, a list of the top five ice cream stands and the season's five best apples offer a taste of editorial. The enclosed Best of... insert features tips for restaurants, lodging, attractions, bargains, and more. A list of benefits attached to the "Preferred Resident Rate Discount Order Form" alerts recipients that "after 60 years in digest size, now Yankee has much more -- a new size, a new look, new content, and more…" The hard offer is $10 plus $1.97 shipping for six issues.
ASPCA's Multichannel Message Extends to DM
Beginning last fall, the animal advocacy group ASPCA started to reinforce their television message in direct mail promotions. The exterior package shows singer Sarah McLachlan in a scene from her longstanding commercial, with: "Have you seen me on TV? Here's how you can help today!" The letter was also updated from describing a dramatic rescue of an abused dog named Brutus to an emotional plea that references McLachlan's song "Angel" and drives home the message that members act as "guardian angels" to homeless and abused pets. The certificate-style reply form features images of rescued cats and dogs; donations along the ask ladder of $20/$35/$50/$100/other are equated with tangible services, like $20 to feed an abandoned dog or cat for 3 weeks to $100 to spay or neuter a dog or cat.
Elle Tries Speaker Premium
Late 2009/early 2010 continues to see experimentation from publishers with price and incentives. The latest from Hachette Filipacchi's fashion and beauty magazine Elle is a portable MP3 speaker system to new subscribers. The #10 package reads "Reply Requested" beneath the return address, sent by Elle Executive and Professional Services. Inside, an insert details the speakers that come as a free gift with subscription. The enclosed voucher reply form sells the magazine via hard offer of $12 for 12 issues, stating "Rush my FREE MP3 Speakers immediately!" Previous mailings from Elle were a hard offer subscription of $8 for 12 issues.
The direct mail promotions appearing in Mail Stream are tracked and written up by ParadyszMatera, a media brokerage services company, through its MarketRelevance(tm) Promotion Library. Click here to visit their site: <a href="http://www.paradyszmatera.com/direct.cfm"> ParadyszMatera.com.
