turn your holiday “junk” mail into marketing gold
Little did you know what you may consider junk mail is really gold for anyone concerned with selling products or services (which is about everyone).
Why? Because it gives you a very valuable source of information. Here’s a simple test that you can conduct during the holiday season. Save everything from your mailbox for a day or two and put it all on your kitchen table. Now, just take quick a look at the pile and ask yourself, “What stands out?”
“This seems pretty simple, but it’s incredibly instructive,” said Julie Mangels, queen imagineer of julsdesign. “You’ll probably notice that a lot of it looks similar. In advertising, similar is safe, but similar rarely stands out.”
Pick up whatever in the pile catches your attention and look at it closely. WHY does it stand out? Is it clever? Funny? Garish (with HUGE STARBURSTS!!)? Minimalist (white in a sea of Technicolor stands out like a beacon)? Unexpected? Poignant? No-nonsense?
“The goal of your marketing should always be to get attention first, and deliver the right message second,” said Juls. “A lot of marketing fails to get attention, which obviously damages your return on marketing investment.”
Now comes the tricky part: get attention in a way that’s compatible with your overall brand. For example, HUGE STARBURSTS may get attention, but they’re probably not right for someone selling luxury cars or a bank with a reputation (brand) for being safe and conservative.
A great case study of how to how to bust through the holiday clutter in a brand-friendly way comes from one of the kings of branding, Coca-Cola. There’s a popular myth that Coke created the modern image of Santa Claus — big belly, red suit and hat, white hair and beard — to sell soda pop. While it’s not true that the current image of Santa was created by advertisers at Coke in the 1930s, it is true that Coke took previous renditions of Santa, modified them a bit and put a bottle of Coke in his hand. BAM, they instantly stood out in the 1930s.
“Not only did Coke use Santa to stand out, but they used him to enhance their brand over the long term by associating their product with the happy, jolly, fun version of Santa,” said Juls. “Coke has done that over and over again for decades, which is why they are a powerhouse when it comes to branding.”
So make some notes this holiday season on what seems to work for others. Those ideas could help you build marketing pieces that both advance your brand and stand out from the crowd in 2011.
