Forest City Commercial Management
Strategic mailing fills shopping center
Situation
When Forest City Commercial Management opened The Orchard Town Center, a new mall on the northern border of Denver, it realized that a typical launch strategy — targeting households in a 10-mile radius with direct mail announcements — might not be successful because of the proximity of several other malls to the west and south.
Approach
Forest City asked Cohn Marketing to develop a launch strategy for The Orchard Town Center to drive traffic for the opening festivities in April. The agency used traditional data such as household income to pick target names, especially those located north of competing shopping centers.
“[Because] the center is positioned on a major corridor, we saw an opportunity to grab those commuters who live where there is no easily accessible shopping and capture that market,” says Cindy Jennings, director of client brand strategy at Cohn Marketing.
The direct mail piece highlighted the center’s shopping, dining and entertainment offerings using copy relating to orchards and harvests. It was mailed to 78,000 households during the mall’s opening week.
The mailer included a $20 gift card, which recipients were given three days to redeem. Recipients were asked to sign up for the center’s monthly events e-newsletter upon redemption of the gift card. The launch was also supported with local TV and radio spots.
Results
The direct mail piece had a 3% response rate, and 1,200 people signed up for the newsletter in April. –Chantal Todé
Agent Provocateur
Web site has intimate appeal
Approach UK-based lingerie company Agent Provocateur, which has relaunched its Web site yearly for nearly a decade, wanted to broaden its international reach with its latest site. Launched in early May, users can watch a video party clip and click on products to create their own digital catalog. The site, developed by Story Worldwide, also features e-cards and a game.
Results Visitors from the US increased 24% for the month immediately following the 2008 relaunch. –Mary Elizabeth Hurn
Mastic and Alcoa Home Exteriors
PURL bumps up response rate
Approach Looking to inform customers about a new brand alignment and increase direct response rates, Mastic and Alcoa Home Exteriors tapped Function to help out. In April, the agency sent mailers to 4,600 customers that included a personalized “thank you” from the company president and encouraged them to visit a personalized URL. Visitors were asked several questions about their purchasing habits.
Results By early June, the campaign had a 20% response rate. –Nathan Golia
Privateview
Julie Petroski
VP, group creative director, Targetbase
As a shopping enthusiast, I wanted to like the invitation for The Orchard Town Center grand opening. The “Bloom” concept wasn’t carried through the piece, which could have made for some charming copy. The mail panel’s “teaser paragraph” could have been treated graphically to make it more user-friendly. And when is the grand opening? “April 3-6” is on the mail panel, but only “April 3” is mentioned on the back. Once inside, the sushi photo stopped me because I didn’t know why it was there. What about a caption inviting the reader to dine at the mall’s Japanese restaurant?
The Agent Provocateur site lives up to the brand’s sensual (and often controversial) image. The video clip on the home page entices the user deeper into the site for more naughty fun — admit it, you want to know what happens next. The only letdown is the utilitarian navigation bar — it’s like putting flannel pajamas on the site.
Mastic and Alcoa Home Exteriors also knew its target and catered to its time-pressed builder/contractor customers. While it provided a catalog, the direct mail piece kept the communication simple from both a copy and visual perspective. The three steps emphasized how easy it is to take advantage of the offer. At the PURL, the all-caps copy block is tough to read, but the page focuses users on the one thing they need to do: input their e-mail addresses.
