Hitmetrix - User behavior analytics & recording

Teradata Gives New Concept a Big Rollout

A three-part mailing by Teradata earlier this year to 10,000 business prospects has netted as many as 700 responses and numerous sales appointments.

Teradata, a warehousing solutions provider, ran the campaign to promote Teradata Warehousing, a customer relationship management program. Pricing begins around $500,000, and the sales cycle ranges from six to 18 months.

The effort was sent in three stages over several months, said Mike Boyd, creative director at BRC Marketing, the agency handling the campaign, because Teradata needed to convey several new concepts.

“Regardless of what way a company runs its CRM, this product will represent a major change in the way they do things,” he said. “It is a shift in their mind set and a major investment. It can be a hard sell, and you need a long and repetitive campaign in order to build a relationship.”

Teradata, Dayton, OH, primarily works with large companies in several verticals including telecom, cable broadcasting, manufacturing, transportation and travel.

The three mailings targeted 10,000 people, all prospects from an in-house database. Teradata targeted vice presidents and other senior management titles. The first drop was in late February and early March. The second went two to three weeks later, and the final piece was sent a month to a month-and-a-half after that.

The first piece was an oversized postcard mailer. The front read: “Do you hear me? I need answers. (Listen for your mail.)” The goal was to alert recipients that another piece was coming eventually.

The second piece came in a large box that read: I need answers. Are you listening to me?

When opened, five voices speak to the recipient, asking: “Do you have the answers?” Also inside the box was a cover letter outlining ways in which Teradata Warehousing can benefit a company along with a three-dimensional cube depicting the faces of customers. As a response mechanism, people could visit a Web site, call a toll-free number or mail back a business reply card to request a meeting. An offer for a free white paper was available at the Web site.

An incentive for setting up a meeting included a Microsoft X-Box video game system or an MP3 player.

The third mailing, which Boyd described as a “final lift,” was a letter reminding those who had not responded to contact Teradata to set up a meeting or to visit the site to learn more about Teradata Warehousing.

Recipients who responded to the first mailing did not receive the two other pieces. Boyd said that unlike many companies that continue to mail every piece of a multilevel campaign, Teradata chose not to mail once a person responded.

“We want to practice what we preach,” he said. “The idea is to show people that we can help them better understand what their customers want and give their customers what they want. If we just continue to mail to them after they respond to a mailing, it will look as if we aren't very good at what we claim to be.”

Teradata thought a large, multi-dimensional mailer would best help get its message across.

According to Mike Maguire, president of Structural Graphics, Essex, CT, the agency that designed the mail piece for Teradata, the more interactive the mail piece, the better the chance at getting opened and getting your message across.

“With all things being equal between a typical flat mailer and a dimensional piece,” Maguire said, “the more elaborate mail piece will get opened, resulting in a much better chance at getting people to interact and understand your message. Not only does it help you to break through and stand out, it gives you the chance to stick around and cause interaction.”

Boyd said he could not discuss the cost of the campaign but that the production of the box mailing was in excess of $20 each.

Total
0
Shares
Related Posts