ESPN Shop Stirs Up March Madness
The catalog's cover, which looks a lot like a magazine, features images of Roy Williams and Bill Self, two of the collegiate head coaches chosen by experts at ESPN.com as likely Final Four participants. Many sports fans will appreciate the clever cover copy, "Family Affair: Who joins UNC, Kansas and Illinois in ESPN.com's Mock Final Four..." alluding to the shakeup that occurred at each of the three schools when Self and Williams left their respective coaching positions. Aside from the brief tournament discussion, the 40-page catalog serves up officially licensed professional and college team apparel, athletic gear, footwear and equipment. The product mix is divided up into three separate sections, a "Fan Shop," "Sports Shop" and "Lifestyle Shop." Each features an individual "Sportrait," a brief profile of a professional athlete. This time around two stars of Major League Baseball, Barry Bonds and Randy Johnson, join skateboarder Kenny Anderson in the spotlight. Prices in the catalog range from $16.99 for an ESPN College GameNight cap, available in 25 different college designs, to $109.99 for a Majestic Elevation jacket, promoted as "the same jacket that's worn on the field," and available in 14 different MLB team designs. ESPN Shop is a joint venture between ESPN and Footlocker.com, which already services the direct-to-consumer sports market through its Eastbay catalog. Defenders of Wildlife Protects Animals and Environment
Two recent promotions from Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit organization devoted to the protection of wild animals in their natural habitats, demonstrate the range of options mailers can choose from when soliciting donations for their respective cause. 
While one creative focuses on a specific issue of concern and rewards donations with a number of back-end premiums, another shifts attention toward the generic mission of the organization and offers up a couple of front-end freemiums. The first, a #10 membership package, serves as a petition piece to Alaskan Governor Frank Murkowski. As part of the Save America's Wolves Member Drive, the petition calls for an end to the aerial gunning program, which has resulted in the "slaughter of 147 wolves in only a short time." Recipients who make a donation along the $15/$20/$25/$30/$50/$100/$500/other ask ladder will receive all the perks of membership, including a backpack, Defenders magazine, DENlines e-mail newsletter and a 16-month calendar. Defenders of Wildlife mailed two versions of the latter creative, a 5-1/2" x 8" address label package that also features colorful greeting cards. While the promotion does not focus specifically on one wild animal, it also places a greater emphasis on wolves. Wolf pups appear on the front of the package and on the address label freemium. The same image of the pups is used as a design on one of the five greeting cards, along with images of polar bears, a hummingbird, black bear cubs and bobcats. A simpler ask ladder of $10/$15/$25/other is used and donations of $15 or more are rewarded with the Defenders magazine and either a cap or windbreaker.
Heartland America Offers Purchase Incentives
Heartland America, a catalog that promises "America's Best Bargains," recently mailed two versions of its March 2005 catalog. 
One features the regularly seen free shipping purchase incentive, while the other incorporates a less widely used 10% off discount. Both incentives are promoted in the upper right hand corner of the catalog covers, and accompanied by an asterisk. The asterisks lead recipients to sales copy below that further clarifies the savings. Free shipping is on most items and "oversized products have dramatically reduced shipping charges." The 10% discount is off each item, "up to $50/item" -- recipients are encouraged to seek more details when they place their orders. The incentives are further promoted on the address panels on the back of each catalog. Heartland America offers a variety of home tech merchandise, from DVD recorders to the latest technology in radar detectors. In addition, more general merchandise, such as DVD and video box sets, genuine leather bomber jackets and stainless steel pizza ovens are included. Items are heavily promoted with sales copy and elaborate descriptions. Prices, ranging from $14.99 for a pair of two-way radios to $499.99 for an IBM notebook computer, are displayed in bold red fonts, some of which look to be handwritten. A "Values of the Month" section, featured in the middle of each of the 36-page books, highlights a handful of special values with text such as "Our Lowest Price Ever!" and "Price Breakthrough."
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.
