HP's small-business printer division partnered with WordPerfect to develop a coop marketing effort, and asked the agency to develop a lead-generation campaign targeted to small businesses (10 to 50 employees). Looking at the market, I decided that an effective approach would be to sell the ability to produce professional-appearing graphic documents as a cost-effective business tool for the prospect. Using as a hook the difficulties faced by many small businesses in the accounts receivables area, and employing proprietary laser personalization technology, my designer partner and I created what we called the "Ransom Note" piece.
The mailer suggested that the prospect was in the position of having to attempt invoice collection by sending a kidnapper's ransom note to his customers. The effectiveness of graphic design and personalization was demonstrated by contextual use of the same to address the prospect throughout the piece. This piece generated an outstanding 14.9% response rate of prospects requesting the follow-up marketing materials.
But the most impressive response came from prospects who kept the original mailer intact and responded using a photocopy of the reply card mailed back in a stamped envelope. These prospects wrote highly complimentary comments on their photocopied replies, some of which are shown here. An example of effective targeted advertising creating a strong positive relationship with customers.
