A three-part mailer with donated Tupperware items helped Metro Orlando's Economic Development Commission make appointments with half of the executives who received it.
The not-for-profit corporation, which serves Florida's Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties and the city of Orlando, is dedicated to attracting business investment to the region. In mid-October, the EDC sent the first part of the direct mail package to 101 modeling-and-simulation executives and digital media executives, many of whom were signed up to attend a training and education conference held in Orlando last week.
The organization used a targeted list of names that it has had contact with in the past, and many of them come to Orlando yearly for the conference.
“Direct mail has become a viable tool for us now that we have put together real targeted lists of contacts,” said Maureen Brockman, vice president of marketing and communications for the commission.
The mailing, created in-house, used donated items from Tupperware, an Orlando-based company that is one of the commission's investors. Tupperware asked how it could help, Brockman said, and donated 1,500 items: 500 ice cream scoops, bottle openers and storage containers.
“After talking to Tupperware, we came up with the idea to use Tupperware products in the mailing — well-branded, customer-oriented products — and Tupperware is headquartered here,” she said. “It tied in really well.”
The first phase included a purple box emblazoned with the phrase, “Get the scoop.” Purple, orange, blue and green are the colors in the EDC's logo. Inside, a Tupperware ice cream scoop was nestled in crinkled orange shredded raffia. Affixed to the inside of the box was messaging that read: “You don't get to be the nation's hottest emerging center without people noticing.” Recipients were instructed to e-mail [email protected] or call an executive at the commission.
The bottle opener and storage container were used in the subsequent mailings. All three went First Class, and they cost $5 to $6 per package, not including the Tupperware items.
The commission sent a separate mailing to 156 executives in the site selection industry who specialize in helping companies find locations for businesses. This mailing was not in conjunction with a trade show or conference but was sent in time to invite these consultants to golf tournaments that the EDC sponsors.
Brockman said the group still has 250 Tupperware items left, so it plans to send a mailer early next year targeting the photonics industry to coincide with Photonics West, a conference taking place Jan. 21-26 in San Jose, CA.
“The conference won't be in Orlando but we will be represented there, so we will use the mailing as an opportunity to build booth traffic [and] to make appointments with us while we are there,” Brockman said.
Another mailing in the first quarter will target the financial services industry, an industry the commission wants to expand in the region.
Melissa Campanelli covers postal news, CRM and database marketing for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
