Empire BlueCross BlueShield is courting human resource officers and company executives through a direct mail package featuring an X-ray transparency of the insurance provider's butterfly logo.
The transparency is a blue-shaded, acetate, see-through print resembling X-ray prints used by doctors. In addition to the butterfly logo, which also is being used in Empire print and television ads, the transparency bears a toll-free number to call for further information and the URL of the new Empire Web site, empireblue.com.
Empire's direct response agency, Stasi & Co., sought to drive traffic to the Web site as well as to generate leads for Empire, New York. Prospects were offered a free camera for calling the toll-free number and setting up an appointment with a sales representative.
The agency explored using various weights of paper for the campaign before settling on a heavy, durable stock. The stock was chosen because the agency hopes prospects will hang the mailer on their desks for future reference, said Dianne Stasi, president and creative director at Stasi & Co., New York.
The transparency is also flashy enough to stand out amid the many mail solicitations that Empire's prospects receive and interesting enough that prospects will not throw it away immediately, Stasi said.
The targets of the campaign were health benefits administrators, executives and human resources personnel with decision-making power over employee health benefit programs at companies with 50 to 250 employees. The prospects were drawn from lists provided by Dun & Bradstreet, Murray Hill, NJ, and were qualified by outbound telemarketers before receiving a mail package.
“They're inundated with a lot of mail,” Stasi said. “The challenge is to create something that stands out in the crowd.”
Empire dropped about 15,000 of these packages in early May, said Diane Koziel, account manager at Stasi & Co. The company expects results in four to six weeks.
The package comes in a 9-inch-by-12-inch manila envelope. In addition to the address window in the lower right corner, there is a square window in the envelope's center through which the transparency is visible. Above the center window, the copy “Your prognosis is excellent” is printed in boldface capital letters.
