Pick the Winner – Oct. 2006 – An Astronomical Difference
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute is a nonprofit membership organization in California dedicated to finding signs of life beyond Earth. It’s staffed and advised by current and former Nobel Prize winners and other eminent scientists in a wide variety of disciplines. It is privately funded, principally by philanthropist Paul Allen, with some federal support.
The assignment was to develop two new membership packages targeted at amateur stargazers, astronomers and other scientists. There was no pre-existing control. The carrier envelope text, main sales letter and lift letter in each 6-by-9-inch package were written by a different copywriter, one of whom wrote the brochure and order card and developed the offer. All graphic design and layout were created by the same designer. So the test elements were the carrier envelope, the main sales letter and the lift letter.
To make an informed guess about which side of this A/B split test won by 74.4%, view the contents of both packages at www.directmag.com/pickthewinner.
MALCOLM DECKER ([email protected]) is an award-winning copywriter and creative director based in Westport, CT.
