He cover for the Oldsmobile Intrigue/”X-Files” movie direct mail piece was a plain brown envelope, which makes sense, given the television show’s bent toward conspiracy and enigma.
But nestled in the glossy booklet inside, among the six stills from the movie, was a premium offer. And the offer-six free tickets to “The X-Files: Fight the Future” (or any other 20th Century Fox movie)-was three times that being tendered through broad-based media.
No mystery, says General Motors promotion manager for the Intrigue brand Steve Braun. The sweetened offer reflected the increased value of the target receiving the package.
“With broad-based media, you never know what to expect. Research indicated that two tickets would not tip the scale if someone wasn’t already interested,” Braun says.
The 1.5 million pieces, mailed in early June, went to “conquest” customers: drivers who do not currently own an Oldsmobile product. The names were culled from Lansing, MI-based GM’s competitive database: drivers who own a Ford Taurus, Nissan Maxima or Toyota Camry.
In a happy coincidence, the demographic characteristics of Intrigue owners-families with children, college educated, age range 35-54, household income in excess of $60,000-dovetailed nicely with those for the television show, whose viewers tend to be aged 18-49, college educated, with incomes of at least $50,000. GM also found that “X-Files” viewers often watch with their families.
GM hopes to pull in between 30,000 and 60,000 test drivers to its mail offer (a 2% and 4% response rate, respectively) with perhaps another 55,000 drivers coming in as a result of national advertising.
While 4% may be a bit optimistic, the 2% figure isn’t: An “X-Files”-exposition-jacket-for-test-drive mailing earlier this year netted that return rate on a half-million-piece mailing.
According to Oldsmobile spokesman Jeff Roegner, 52% of those who take a test drive and are actively interested in purchasing an automobile end up buying an Intrigue.
“It’s like the show,” notes Roegner without a hint of paranormal paranoia. “You have to experience it to get all its secrets.”
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