"Tiered Promotions Become The Champ"

By Josh Vasquez
Advantages: 2004SEPTEMBER

It takes time, timing, meticulous execution, persistence and planning to maximize excitement. And that means repeated hits, reinforcement and relevance. From a few days to a few months to a year, extended promotions offer you the ability and opportunity to power your point across
and keep money flowing into your pocket.

When it comes to building buzz in this industry, extended promotions work. They can snowball your client's promotional message and put it in the spotlight. They work by building on themselves with each successive hit as they create anticipation, set a mood, tone and theme, and do so with persistence.

By definition, these promotions involve more than one product given or sent with the same promotional goal in mind. Each promotion has a set objective and timeframe and produces measurable results. We pulled together some experts and asked them how it's done.

Location, Location, Location

Before you even start, you need to know where these promotions belong. "This kind of marketing isn't for safety programs," says Carol Smith, art director for Post No Bills Inc., (asi/297376), a division of CorpLogoWare LLC (asi/168827). "It's good for movies and for events like product or service launches - even bank-service promotions." It's also, she adds, a matter of timing. "This kind of promotion is only possible when you have enough time to plan and execute, like we do with our animated feature promotions. Since these movies take so long to produce, we can plan for the promotion and put it into action over a year before a movie's release."

Though it is a limiting factor, time is not the only deciding factor when it comes to choosing a prolonged promotion. "An extended program is for any campaign that has a long lifespan," says Michael Londe, director of sales at Summit-Nevins (asi/339129). "If you have something like a sales contest going on for four to five months, I think you actually need that extended program because the constant reminders keep the impact of the contest alive."

Do The Math

"Dun and Bradstreet once stated that a person doesn't mean 'no' until they've said it five times," says Bert Williams, president of Williams & Associates Ltd. (asi/360450). "What that means to us is if someone sends a one-shot promotion and the recipients don't respond at first, it may take two, three, four or five times before they really mean 'no.' It's worth it to keep at them even if only a few eventually say 'yes.'"

Others cite similar findings. "I've heard that in the insurance industry, the magic number of getting someone to respond is four different communications," says Karen Dobbs, director of marketing for Epsilon, a database marketing company. "That's just to get them to respond."

And this makes sense to her, as does the industry's age-old adage, repetition breeds awareness. "It's the general principle that the more impressions you get, the more developed your communication will be and the better relationship you'll have," she says. "Direct marketing is the same way; it often takes multiple hits to get a good response rate."

Hit Them With Your Best Shot

Just because you send out a plethora of mailings, however, doesn't mean they'll be noticed. "Typical top-level executives receive about 175 pieces of mail a week," says Ernest Nicastro, marketing consultant and copywriter for Positive Response (asi/297383). "So the biggest challenge isn't the number you send - it's making those mailings stand out." After all, as the saying goes, "You can tap dynamite with a pencil all day long, but hit it with a hammer and kaboom!"

Thus, the nature of what you mail may be even more important than repetition: "You could send all the #10 envelopes out that you want, but until your mailing has dimension and a point, they're just going to sift right through it," he says.

And getting someone's attention is only the beginning. You also have to show why it's important to them, and how the product or service fits into their business world. "It has to be relevant," says Williams. "Find a way to make your message relate to the recipient and then reinforce that with follow-up products."

E Pluribus Unum (From Many, One)

Once you've found what's relevant to your audience and promotion it's time to decide on one, unifying theme for your multiple products/mailings. "You need a theme; that's what keeps the promotion consistent and the consistency is what will establish it in people's minds," says Smith. "It's what ties it all together, what keeps people interested in it, what people remember."

But finding a theme isn't as easy as it may sound. If you're lucky, it's easy to see and a ton of time is saved. You're even luckier (according to some) if your client brings the theme with them. If they don't, it's your job to dig for one. And often, dig more.

"When I met with a client of mine it took two lengthy meetings to finally get to the foundation of the message and put that into a plausible theme," says Williams, though he freely admits to enjoying the process. And he's not alone in relishing the involvement.

"We love when we get to develop the theme ourselves," says Londe. "It allows us to show our creativity. The problem is it rarely happens."

Once the theme is established, it's time to pick the relevant products. And though there are thousands of different products to choose from, one thing's for sure: the first mailing is everything.

"The initial product has to set the tone," says Smith. "It has to be the most profound and most theme-depicting of the products chosen; otherwise, the theme may never have the chance to catch on." Post No Bills/CLW has provided some of the most creative extended programs for Dreamworks, including promotions for the clay-mation feature movie Chicken Run and the upcoming animated Shark Tale.

Is The Third Time The Charm?

Much like your teachers told you when it came to writing papers, you need to press the point. "It's a matter of telling them what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you just told them," says Londe. "It's a one-two-three combination."

And according to some, three's the charm. "We always try to do three touches," says Dobbs. "Though I don't know if I can say that three is a magic number."

Adds Londe: "I can't show any empirical evidence, but three just tends to be the number that reinforces and keeps the promotion in the forefront of people's minds. It seems to be the standard." He says it works like this: The first hit establishes temporary name recognition; the second extends the recognition time; and the third completes the message with the completion of the theme. It's then that it clicks and people say, "Wow, I really need to pay attention to this."

… Not Always

When there is more time and (gasp) more funds for promotions, you need not be limited to three hits. "We don't limit ourselves to three," says Dobbs. "We've done four and five hits and actually do a significant amount of two-hit promotions. And they can be just as effective - as long as they build anticipation."

Londe too, who won't dispel the myth of three, often does longer programs and has reached as many as 10 hits in 10 weeks.

But Smith takes the cake, having twice done year-long promotions, starting with a strong, tone-setting product and following with another each month. So don't limit your extended promotions scope to three when building up themes, messages and anticipation. Let your creativity flow and see where it takes you.

"It's different in all situations," says Nicastro. "I treat all situations individually and decide according to the needs of each. I think that's what made me successful with these promotions."

The timing in sequential promotions is as important as product and number of hits and is a fundamental part of planning. And while some stick to rigid time rules, the possibilities are as varied as the products or services promoted.

According to some, getting timing right is a formula. "It's easy to figure out timing when you have five weeks and five products - you do it every week," says Londe. "But when you have five weeks and three products, you need to do a little math. You need to work them into evenly spaced intervals. It doesn't work to have three products one week and not another for three weeks. It breaks the rhythm and momentum."

Distributing product too close together can sap you're promotions' strength as well. "When you get to doing a promotion every day, you no longer let the anticipation build," he adds. "Then they begin to expect it, too, which is something you really don't want.

"There's a lot of room for overkill, too, when it comes to frequency of product, like when someone is getting promotional products too often. When that happens they either ignore them or get bored of them."

Too long between hits, however, and you're tempting memory's fate. "Anything longer than a month is too long," says Smith. "Then the momentum has run out by the time the next products come." What's more, you'll be lucky if they even remember the theme.

Since timing and means of delivery are so important to the success of sequential promotions, this element should not be taken lightly and it could pay off to spring for a better delivery service. "Whenever I need something delivered in a timely and reliable manner, I never trust regular mail," says Dobbs. "I always use Federal Express or UPS or a similar delivery company. That way, there's more guarantee it will arrive on the right day and, sometimes, at the right time."

Breaking Up

There are other situations where multiple hits are helpful. "If you have a product or service that has multiple features or benefits, often it's too much information for your audience," says Dobbs. "And this is one way you can get it across - break it into sections, divide it up. That way they're not overwhelmed."

Londe also believes in this approach: "Getting a lot of information at once is intimidating to anybody. Who wants to read a 25-page explanation of what some company says they can do for them?"

Nobody.

Josh Vasques is assistant editor of Advantages.

Shark Tale Promotion Goes Swimmingly

Post No Bills Inc. (asi/297376), a division of CorpLogoWare LLC (asi/168827), needed to set the tone for a year-long "sequential" mailing for the release of Shark Tale, an animated feature by Dreamworks.

"We needed a product that was so unique that it would create enough anticipation to propel the sequential promotion through the entire year," says Carol Smith, art director for Post No Bills. "So we decided to create our own design from scratch."

Designed by Smith herself, the product is a carry-case diorama, featuring a set from the film. When the case is opened, the diorama pops up to show the set. The set includes specially designated places to put characters. A new character was sent each month until the scene was completed a year later.

"One of the most appealing parts of the diorama is its puzzle-like nature; it isn't complete until the final month when the last character is delivered," says Smith. And that, she says, keeps the first product in mind.

About 200 sets were sent to press contacts nationwide. "Though it's not done yet, we've already received news of impressed recipients contacting Dreamworks. And we credit most of that to the diorama."

Epsilon Toys Around With Success, Pushing Theme, Consistency

"We were looking to generate leads for Epsilon and focusing on selected companies," says Karen Dobbs, director of marketing for Epsilon, a database marketing company. And to get attention, they wanted to practice what they preached - versatility.

" We were looking to show that we work with clients based on their individual objectives, that there are lots of different ways to put pieces together and come to a solution, and that we bring about countless ideas to facilitate that," she explains.

Epsilon decided on a three-part, direct-mail promotion and selected 700 Fortune 1,000 companies as the recipients.

The first mailing was delivered on a Wednesday and consisted of a blue Lego board in a box and Lego people, accompanied by a descriptive brochure, mentioning how Epsilon can "put all the pieces together." It laid out what the advertising agency had to offer. The next mailing was delivered the following Wednesday and contained Lego stop signs, right-turn signs, trees, etc. The third and final mailing contained Lego blocks.

All three stages of the promotion followed the theme, "It takes the right pieces," and each week had a sub-theme. The first was "Think," representing the thinking people of Epsilon; that was followed by "Plan," represented by the signs, etc.; and the final mailing was "Do," represented by the building blocks.

The promotion was a resounding success, as the response rate was an impressive 49% and the promotion is ongoing. "People always respond well to toys, whether you're an executive or a child," says Dobbs. "And the consistency of the mailing being sent on Wednesdays helped keep the theme and anticipation alive."

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