Terry's Village
The gifts cataloger Terry's Village kicks off the Christmas season in the dog days of summer with its Holiday Preview 2002 issue.
Featuring a "Winterland Welcome Snowman" on its cover, the 100-page book (received mid-July) is comprised almost exclusively of holiday-themed merchandise. Though Terry's Village starts its Christmas sales push far ahead of the competition (most other catalogs marketing holiday merchandise thus far in 2002 have sold business greeting cards), it is not a surprising move. The catalog, whose covers often feature snowmen, typically features a pared-down selection of holiday goods year-round, and in fact showcased a "Fuzzy Felt Patriotic Snowman" on the cover of its Summer 2002 mailing. Consumers looking to get an early start on their holiday shopping are treated to a 20% discount on any order, in addition to the catalog's standard free shipping incentive with orders of $60 or more.
Parents Television Council
The Parents Television Council, dedicated to making television "a socially responsible entertainment medium," has mailed a new No. 10 package that expands the advocacy group's typical acquisition
pieces with a first-ever survey, premium and celebrity lift note from country music star Naomi Judd. An aggressive new outer envelope uses gimmicky promotional devices like "Urgent! Hand-Deliver Only!" and a rush response due date of "Before Next Friday!" to grab the recipient's attention. But it's the checklist of what's inside the envelope that's the true star of the piece, specifically the eyebrow-raising claim that "TV networks plan to introduce 'every crude word imaginable.'" The lengthy eight-page sales letter (combined with an inserted New York Times' reprint) explains the growing push for profanity-laced network programming, and introduces a new premium ("Personal FCC Complaint Enforcement Kit") to help concerned citizens more easily register complaints. A personalized survey, entitled "TV Community Standards Audit," is attached to the reply form which asks for donations of $20/$25/$50/$100/other. The reply form also contains an unusual request for an additional "$5 to $10 to defray the cost of preparation and postage" for the complaint kit premium.
Columbia House DVD Club
Veteran e-mail marketer Columbia House DVD Club takes a more targeted approach than the norm in a recent e-mail effort. Aimed at parents, the HTML message promotes "family favorites" rather than
Columbia House's "best sellers." The family focus begins with the subject line reading "Family DVDs 49 cents…get the picture!" and continues with images of popular children's titles (such as Dr Dolittle 2, The Princess Diaries and Shrek) incorporated into the message's body. In addition, the Web link included in the e-mail leads directly to Columbia House's family/children collection. The company's "best sellers" are not entirely ignored, however. The conclusion of the e-mail prompts parents to "indulge yourself too" with mainstream hits such as The Matrix, Pearl Harbor and Moulin Rouge. The e-mail includes the standard Columbia House DVD Club offer of four DVDs for 49¢ each plus $1.99 shipping and handling per DVD. Responders are obligated to purchase an additional four DVDs in the next two years.
The direct mail pieces appearing in Mail Stream are tracked and analyzed by Paradysz Matera, New York, through its online competitive direct mail and e-mail tracking tool MarketRelevance. Web address: http://www.MarketRelevance.com/newsletter.cfm
Network
charter offer of $19.95 plus shipping and handling for two wine selections for the first month of membership. After the introductory period, membership continues at a rate of $24.95 per month plus shipping and handling. Recipients are given the option to receive two red wines, two white wines or one of each with every shipment. Affinity gifts are a prominent benefit of membership, and this program offers an insulated wine tote with shoulder strap, cheese board, cheese cutter and restaurant-style cork puller. In addition, members receive the club's Wine Authority newsletter and a binder. Two added incentives are included in the package. First is a freemium insert, the 2002 Vintage Guide, listing the company's year-to-year ratings for a variety of popular wines. Second is a reply form to enter a monthly sweepstakes for a 12-bottle case of wine.
channel Bravo Network. The broadcast began March 1st with Friday night screenings of films that have won or were nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards, along with coverage of the 17th Annual awards show. Starbucks uses its 8" square self-mailer as "An Invitation to Attend a Film Festival in Your Living Room," which, not by coincidence, is also the perfect setting "to cozy up with a hot cup of our coffee." This is an intriguing alliance, as the independent film audience is likely a highly desirable "hip" market for the trendy coffee merchant. With the inclusion of a movie-listing insert and a coupon for $1 off a 12 oz. or larger bag of coffee, Starbucks reinforces its "At Grocery. At Home. At Last." motto by providing a logical way "to discover your coffee moment at home."
Where traditional co-branded credit cards (e.g. MBNA's Sharper Image Platinum Plus Visa or Chase's Shell Platinum MasterCard) offer discounts or rebates, Fleet's new card is tied to Working Assets' fundraising arm and offers no tangible perks to the user. Instead, for each purchase made with the card, Fleet's Working Assets Visa donates 10¢ to the Working Assets donation pool (50 nonprofit groups benefit annually from this money). Financial incentives are not entirely ignored in the #10 package, however. A fixed introductory APR of 1.99% on purchases and balance transfers is given until October 1, 2002. After the introductory period, the APR is variable, currently set at 13.99%.
