Loose Cannon: The Selling of the Election 2006
Reader Al Stanton recently sent in a request for an election-season direct-marketing-and-politics contest. Stanton suggested having folks submit either the most fitting theme song for Congress, or the best tagline to spur voting. (For the song he nominated Cher’s “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves,” and for the tagline he offered “Get service back in Congress: Make IN-cumbents OUT-cumbents.”)
I hear you, brother Al, and I salute both of your efforts. To give the contest even more of a DM-centric feel, I invite readers to submit examples of the following: An e-mail subject line; a direct mail package’s outer envelope; or a bumper sticker. Each should have one of the following two purposes: either swinging an independent voter’s vote, or convincing a non-voter to participate on Election Day.
Some restrictions, of course, apply:
E-mail subject lines must be 60 or fewer characters, including spaces. HOWEVER, entrants may also submit a 30-character-max “from” address, if it will boost open rates. Note that only subject and from lines will be considered: Images and text viewed through a preview window are NOT part of this contest. Also remember that the object here is less about selling the point, and more about getting recipients to open the e-mail.
Outer envelope designs do not require a mockup: A description of text and images will suffice (although mockups will be appreciated, and if possible posted.) Entrants should feel free to include descriptions of envelope graphics, postage, return addresses, windows, premiums, freemiums, and any other traditional tricks of the trade that boost open rates. HOWEVER, the contest is limited only to that which can be seen/heard/felt without opening the envelope.
There are no size or word restrictions on the bumper sticker slogans, save for this: They must be readable off a standard-size bumper sticker that is on a vehicle traveling at 55 MPH. (No novels, people.) HOWEVER, contest participants may mention the type of vehicle the bumper sticker would be posted on, if they feel it would boost the message’s effectiveness.
So there you have it: Six possible categories
