B brilliant t-shirt premium

“Brochures rarely lead to a sale. They lead to a sales call. So a brochure has to be engaging and hopefully viral.” -Seth Godin

Maintaining Perspective

To expect to develop a strategic partner relationship from a single touchpoint would be naive. Therefore, our recent B Series awareness campaign included many touchpoints in a variety of media to convey distinct and singular messages about our capabilities to a group of marketing executives not otherwise familiar with Brainstorm.

The Components

The B Series consisted of 7 primary touchpoints: 3 direct mail brochures, 1 HTML email, 1 personal text-based email, 1 personal phone call, and 1 letter.

The program also contained elements and destination points to support the primary touchpoints: a web page containing videos, 2 downloadable marketing tools, and an online survey about the campaign with a t-shirt offer and order page.

In this article we’ll touch on the primary components of the program with supporting elements discussed in future B Series articles.

Touchpoint #1

Four-page print piece. Entitled B noticed, this first mailer introduced Brainstorm and set the tone for the rest of the series. B noticed showcased a variety of our work by medium as well as industry, for clients large and small, thus establishing our capabilities. The headline, B noticed, implied that the reader could benefit from similar efforts.

The call to action drove readers to the web to download a free informational marketing tool.

We selected clear envelopes to maximize visibility for our bold “B” theme imagery and used a separate address card insert with promotional content on the back to enable us to use all four pages of the brochure for copy.

Touchpoint #2

Four-page print piece. The intent of our second touchpoint, B bold, was to build brand recognition by carrying through the look, feel and tone of the first mailer. It was also meant to entice the curiosity of anyone who hadn’t taken the time to look at the first piece by talking about breaking norms and placing trust in creative, unique, and innovative solutions.

The call to action invited the reader to go online where a second informational marketing download had been added.

Touchpoint #3

HTML email. For our third contact point, B innovative, we utilized the same basic design elements in an Exact Target HTML email. Using the same voice but a bit more direct to keep it brief, we referenced past touchpoints, talked about the marketing tools, and provided contact information and links to the downloads, this blog series, and our website.

Touchpoint #4

Four-page print piece. We went back to print for the B brilliant mailer, which spoke to our approach, thinking, and problem solving skills on behalf of our clients. The call to action drove readers to this blog and reminded them again of the marketing tool downloads. The continuity in look, feel, and name was intended to foster even more familiarity and positive feelings about our brand.

Touchpoint #5

Text-based, personal email. We utilized a personal email from one of three Brainstorm partners to convey a personal invitation, custom crafted for its recipient. We mentioned we would be calling to follow up in a week and offered a direct link to the marketing tools again if the individual had not yet downloaded them.

We sacrificed some measurability for a personal connection on this component. We’ll talk more about measurability in a future article.

Touchpoint #6

Phone calls. One week after the email, each of the partners called their contacts to follow up. The calls were low key with no hard sell tactics. Partners asked if the recipient had received the materials and what they thought of them. The final step was to request a brief meeting simply for a personal introduction.

Touchpoint #7

Monarch letter. This personal, executive-sized letter encouraged the recipient to give us feedback on our campaign via a very brief web survey we developed. We incentivized them with a free B brilliant t-shirt for their participation.

And, as with every touchpoint in the campaign, if the reader had not yet downloaded the marketing tools, we reminded them that they were still available.

The Progression

You can see the B Series advance from the first mailer with Brainstorm as an unknown entity to a phone call and in-person meeting which marked the start of a personal relationship with a potential client.

To the point of Seth Godin’s quote at the beginning of this article, the B Series represents just the first leg of a long-term trust building communication program.

Up Next

The B Series Part 4: Personalization

To read previous installments in this series click on one of the links below or click “B Series” under topics:

The B Series Part 1: Awareness Overview
The B Series Part 2: Strategic Design & Messaging