VivaTerra Launches Catalog
The 56-page Winter 2004 edition promises products that combine "exceptional quality and design with eco-sensitivities." Rich earth tones are incorporated throughout the 10" x 7-1/2" book to underscore the catalog's harmonious relationship with nature. The cover, draped in deep red, features an abstract image that highlights the company's unique (and reusable) silk gift-wrapping. A brief table of contents is laid out in a grid on the inside cover with subject headings like "dine," "grow," and "bathe" accompanied by images that correspond with each. Items including chocolate gift boxes, natural stone dinnerware, handcrafted ceramic cookware, bedding, jewelry and organic Ecova skin cleansers and oils are presented in simple, yet vibrant photos that often display the products' many uses. Product descriptions are lengthy with special attention paid to environmental origins and traditions. Prices range from $29 for a slatted bamboo table runner to $449 for a hand-stitched silk duvet cover. VivaTerra encourages recipients to share their catalogs with friends since only a limited number are mailed. The catalog plans to mail four seasonal editions in 2005, and customers are directed to VivaTerra.com for further shopping needs. Trout Unlimited Uses Calendar as Bait As a part of its year-end fundraising drive, Trout Unlimited offered a full-sized 2005 wall calendar freemium. 
Enclosed in a 12" x 9" package featuring an image of the gift and copy reading "Your Official 2005 Trout Unlimited Calendar Enclosed," the promotion stresses the continuing strides toward the conservation of fishing waters made by the organization. The calendar's cover photograph shows an angler fishing in a picturesque stream. Opening pages detail Trout Unlimited's history, current mission and recent accomplishments. Each month features a watercolor image of a particular species of trout or salmon accompanied by an eye-catching photograph of the fish or its natural habitat. The calendar is mentioned in the opening of the one-page donation letter, which encourages donors to help the organization meet its yearly fundraising goal and reminds them of the "victories" (removing a hydropower measure from the Energy Bill and persuading New Hampshire to implement a new wild trout program advocating barbless hooks) already achieved. A $15/$50/$100/other ask ladder is included on the reply form. Trout Unlimited offers the following step-up incentives at the $50/$100/$250/$500/$1,000 donation levels: a Trout Unlimited fishing hat and "Modern Fly-Casting Methods" book; 24 flies; a Simms wading staff; a Fishpond's Thunderstorm gear bag and Gore Range tech pack; and a Winston LT5 fly rod.
New MHQ Voucher Borrows from Double Postcard
While moving from a double postcard to a voucher is a drastic change, the conversion is not always a complete creative overhaul, as seen in the latest mailing from Primedia’s enthusiast title MHQ The Quarterly Journal of Military History. 
The 4-1/4" x 8-1/2" package contains two components, a "Preferred Savings Order Form" identical to those utilized in the most recent efforts from sibling publications American History and Aviation History, and a double sided color insert that is inspired by the double postcards used by MHQ in the past. The majority of the insert’s copy is taken directly from prior double postcards, including a brief description of the magazine and three reader testimonials. The only new element of the insert is a headline that reads "Experience the epic battles of history as they really were!" The voucher features a hard offer instead of the soft 1-issue-free offers of past mailings, though the $39.95 for 4 total issues pricing and term is unchanged. (Primedia is the parent company of Direct magazine.)
The direct mail promotions appearing in Mail Stream are tracked and analyzed by ParadyszMatera, a media brokerage services company, through its MarketRelevance(tm) Promotion Library. Click here to visit their site: ParadyszMatera.com.
