direct mail « The Naked Idea

Idea Design

Creative and Strategic Communication for Charities

Home Work Biographies Blog Contact

A weekly look at how charities can communicate better with donors through design.

Archive for the ‘direct mail’ Category

Christmas in September

Monday, September 29th, 2008

How can I be tired of Christmas already… Oh – sorry – how can I be tired of the “Holiday Season” already? In the direct mail world, it really ’tis the season – oy yoy yoy… Everyone wants Christmas – but don’t say Christmas. Everyone wants pretty bows and patterns – but please no “Christmas trees”. It’s got to look good and festive – and only in 2 colours please!

It’s the season of the “year-end” appeal. The last kick at the can as they say – the last chance to convince your dear donor to please, please, please help us at this important time of the year.

The Year-End is very important for those charities that fund raise via direct mail. Its the calendar end of the year, which includes Christmas – a time of sharing and giving so it’s natural to tie those together. But why does everyone have to do the Christmas/Holiday Season approach?

A less common approach is what I like to call “The Steve Thomas Special” in honour of my former mentor – Steve Thomas… a collect gasp could be heard in the boardroom when Steve asked us to do “another thermometer package”. And then a groan.

But you know, they were always effective. The message was – it’s the end of the year – he’s where we are at financially – but this is really where we want to be. Real numbers. Real important. And with urgency please. And often/always with a big blaring thermometer.

Forget the sticky toffee, forget the bows and snowflakes – dammit people! We need your help before we get to December 31!

Good stuff.

So if you are in the midst of preparing for your last mailing of the year – have a good think on your approach. But for Pete’s sake, don’t mail it in a #10 – even if you are bent on the holiday theme – everyone is doing that…

Listen and this is important, I recognize the fact that certain things work – but often the ideas you see everyone else doing are performing average… find ways to make yours stand out more (how many times have I gone on about this?) and make your messaging urgent… intriguing… relevant… timely. It works.

So there’s a gift from me to you. Merry Christmas.

Posted in Basic Design, Two Cents, direct mail | No Comments »

Ugly Coupons

Monday, August 11th, 2008

I laughed last week when reading Jeff Brooks post about “Ugly Coupons Boost Fundraising Response“. Jeff writes:

“Print designers hate coupons. They’re ugly, blocky, inflexible, and they can violate more brand graphic standards than you can shake a stick at. Fundraisers love them. Because they promote response.”

He refers to those clip away coupons you see in print ads.

Here’s my two cents on direct mail coupons: I’ve done more 8.5″ x 3.5″ – 2/2 coupons in my career than I would care to admit. My response to Jeff’s post was this:

“Hate” is such a strong word. I actually don’t hate coupons. What I hate is clients who want a 50 word affirmation line (and there MUST MUST MUST be a check mark at the beginning of it), the lasered gift array set in 18 pt type, room for cheque and credit card info (with LOTS and LOTS of leading please!), room for the donor to write their email, opt ins/outs for e-newsletters, legacy info, logos, return addresses, turn over option for monthly giving, AANNDD it needs to show through the exterior envelope so there needs to be space for the donors lasered name and address and – right – don’t forget the fulfillment house needs coding below the name and also in the top right set in 12 pt OCRA type with 0.5″ of white space around it – and all of this needs to be designed (Please make it donor friendly!!!) on a 8.5″ x 3.5″ coupon. Hhhhmmmm. You’re right actually. I do hate coupons.”

Of course coupons lift response. Be it in print ads or direct mail packs. But when we begin to jam every piece of data collection and check box known to man kind on them – well – I would have to argue they aren’t very donor friendly anymore are they? And trust me I have quite a few shocking examples of this in my collection. Nothing say’s “you are a valued donor to us” like long lasered code numbers all over the place and 6.5pt type – does it?

Extra reading: Ted Grigg wrote first about this subject in his Reflections about Direct Marketing Blog in his post Avoid Coupons in Print Advertisements. True or False?

Posted in Basic Design, Two Cents, direct mail | 2 Comments »

Generation X, Y and whatever comes after that

Monday, July 28th, 2008

I know it has a lot to do with the company I keep, but there has been a whole lot of chatter for the past few years about “the next generation of donors”. The commercial sector has been having a similar discussion – except they don’t want donations. They just want to sell more stuff.

I think that this chatter has led to some suspicious reports about the death of direct mail and the reason why everyone in the fundraising sector has been jumping on the new media/internet bandwagon. There seems to be some search for the holy grail of donors – and from my chair – it seems that fundraisers think it is Generation Y. But what of the other generations? For each generation there is a ‘holy grail’ approach(es) to seeking and receiving donations. Have you already figured those out?

And speaking of Generation Y, I’ve been reading a fantastic blog as of late by Miriam Kagan called Generation Y Give. Miriam is a thoughtful and inspiring, Generation Y donor. And – yes, she does work in the sector at Merkle. I think you might be surprised by some of her observations. And I hope to have her featured in this space soon.

I’ve said it before. If you work in fundraising – you needent drop $4000 to fly around the world to a massive fundraising conference (although if you have the funds – it’s not a bad idea!), most of the NEW creative and strategic thinking is already here. It can all be found all across the blogsphere. From professionals to donors.

If you’re not in touch with some of the biggies, then, you’re not in touch at all.

Posted in Blogs, Inspiration, Two Cents, direct mail | 2 Comments »

Typography

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

As a designer and communicator, I love looking at type. If I had to choose between visiting a BMW showroom and caressing the curves of their latest vehicle or going online and oogling the most recent releases of type from the foundaries, I would choose option 2 every time.

Typography can be very human. It can be boring or expressive, slim or over weight, quiet or loud, sensual or rigid, male or female… I think you get the point. Knowing these things, and knowing the sorts of visual clues to look for when you are looking at type, helps you correctly identify which type face would be the best for whatever you are doing.

I was reading a post over at The Happy Donor about Type and Layout Tricks. Dan Shaw discusses some of the finer points of one of my favourite books, “Type & Layout: Are You Communicating or Just Making Pretty Shapes” by Colin Wheildon.

We almost all know that letters should be set in serif type, like a Times New Roman and headlines should be set in a sans serif, like a Verdana or Helvetica. But are we sure?

I have tried to convince a few charities to test that. Usually with little success. “What would be the point of that? We all know serif is the GOLDEN rule!”

First things first – test it. You might be surprised what your donors like. Maybe it will be serif, maybe not. Test doing a large print version (ala Readers Digest) of your letter. Try using different fonts.

Test, test, test and you will learn, learn, learn!!!

I will leave you with this. A few years ago, the CNIB (Canadian Institute for the Blind) teamed up with The Ontario College of Art and Design to do a little more current research into how we read type, what works and what doesn’t. You can download a copy of their findings by clicking here if you want. But to nutshell it for you, they found that typefaces like Verdana and Arial can be more readable than a Times New Roman. And for people with low vision require at least a 16pt to 18pt type size for maximum readablilty.

When was the last time you mailed a letter using a 16pt Helvetica to your donors? Never? I suggest you take a look at the report and then test, test, test… your donors will thank you for it.

Posted in Basic Design, Testing, direct mail | 1 Comment »

What is a “Creative Brief”?

Monday, June 16th, 2008

I got an email the other week from a client which basically said, “Remember that project we talked about for a few minutes back in February? Please go ahead and produce some “ideas” for me.”

Well – I guess the good news is that I am being offered a new job to work on. The bad news is, I now have to throw the ball back into the court of the client – a ball they more often than not – do not want.

I think some people think creative briefs are scary. They aren’t!

I think some people think creative briefs have to have all the answers. They don’t!

I think some people think creative briefs are hard to create. They are! And they should be!

The creative brief should be: brief, creative, direct, on brand, informative and inspiring! Like a very wise consultant once told me, “if my brief is boring why should I expect anything but boring creative?”

There a number of great resources out there for writing a brief and creative – creative brief. I particularly enjoyed Ted Grigg’s ‘Seven Essentials of the Direct Marketing Brief‘.

Remember that the road to great and inspiring creative from your creative team starts from a great and inspiring creative brief.

Posted in Basic Design, Inspiration, direct mail | 1 Comment »

A week of mail…

Monday, June 9th, 2008

For those of you who visit, I have mentioned my mother-in-law before. She is very much a typical Canadian donor – the target audience of almost every direct mail package produced. Every time she comes for a visit, she brings me her stack of mail which I eagerly tear through learning all sorts of things… Take a look at a week of mail…

This display is a bit different in that there are only a dozen white #10’s. Usually they are almost all white #10’s. I’ve also learned that Covenant House is on to something. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a white #10 package from them.

Steve Thomas always said you know something is working if you will see it again and again. So I would have to make an educated guess that Covenant House knows that if they produce anything EXCEPT for a white #10 envelope package, their results will be pretty good.

The other ‘learning’ here is really how much the mail all looks the same. Logo in left corner, address window, indicia, tagline…

A golden rule of marketing is in order to stand out from the competition, is to do the opposite of what they are. And in our market right now, it is safe to say the majority of charities are all mailing white #10’s all year long.

So here’s a free tip: Don’t!

Posted in Basic Design, Blogs, Inspiration, Testing, direct mail | 3 Comments »