Design firm Architects in Communications will begin a prospecting campaign next month targeting wireless providers nationwide after a January mailing drew an exceptionally strong — and unexpected — response from recipients.
AIC, Glendale, CO, designs towers, switch buildings and rooftop structures for wireless carriers. It sent the January mailing, its first direct mail effort, to 380 current and past clients to develop recognition for its new company name. The company previously was known as KCA.
More than 75 percent of recipients called to tell AIC they liked the mailer, said Walt Jenkins, president/CEO of AIC. What made the response all the more remarkable was that the piece had no call to action, though it did list the company's name, address, toll phone number and fax phone number.
The piece's draw was a three-dimensional pop-up of the type of communication towers the company builds placed in the middle of the four-page piece. Also included in the FedEx package was a crinkled blueprint of the type of projects AIC works on.
Combining the two core aspects of its business, communication and architecture, AIC has the following copy on the cover: “One man, Alexander Graham Bell revolutionized communication. One man, Frank Lloyd Wright revolutionized architecture.”
Inside, along with the pop-up, the headline reads, “One company, Architects in Communications will revolutionize your wireless design.” Other copy outlines four goals of the company that highlight its design strengths.
Goal No. 1, for example, reads: “Get it done. We work hard to meet your build out goals, helping your company achieve incredible milestones. Our staff of site designers is committed to rapid response and quick turnaround times.”
“The idea of the piece is to depict the clearest picture of what we can do so that someone who knows nothing about us will be able to tell what it is we are capable of,” Jenkins said.
Next month's mailing will go to 150 prospects, primarily CEOs, market directors and property design managers.
Jenkins said that between the 380 reached with the first mailing and the 150 targets for the second, the company will have contacted all the major wireless providers.
“We don't have that large of an audience to go after but there is a small number of players that make the industry go,” he said. “Every company sends those pens that don't work or notepads. We wanted to send something that would stand out on their desk and not only draw their attention but the attention of someone who came into their office.”
The May mailing will include the same elements as the January one but also will have a cover letter containing a call to action. Like the first one, it will be sent via FedEx.
Jenkins said the per-piece cost for the four-page mailer is $10.
AIC worked with Structural Graphics, Essex, CT, on the campaign.
