"Would you like a coke with your product-sandwich?"

How many times have you been asked the above question at your local wine store?

"Huh?" you say.... okay, so maybe you weren't asked the question explicitly... instead it was embedded in the array of differently priced wines displayed throughout the shop.

For those of you who, like me, know little about wine, when was the last time you went into a wine store and bought the cheapest wine on the shelf? When was the last time you bought the most expensive wine on the shelf? My guess is that most of you can't recall the last time you did either because when you go to the wine store you "play it safe" and usually buy a wine priced "somewhere in the middle". I know I do.

Little did you realize that your local wine store was employing a product-sandwich strategy, drawing you helplessly towards that mid-priced bottle of wine! And you thought you were in control! :)


What is a Product-Sandwich Strategy?
In a nutshell, the strategy involves creating/selling a (very) high-priced version of your product so that the next price down appears more moderate in comparison. Often times this "next price down" would be considered expensive by the customer in absolute terms, but in relative terms (i.e., next to your "Rolls Royce" model) it appears reasonably priced. If implemented successfully, the net impact on your business is a boon in sales of the mid-priced version.


Why does the Product-Sandwich Strategy work?
The Product-Sandwich strategy is based on the principle that when buying an unfamiliar product or service people tend to purchase a mid-priced version of it. Why? It all comes down to risk aversion - fear of making a bad purchase and flushing money down the toilet bowl. This toilet-bowl-infused aversion is the reason we shy away from the pricey models ("How much better could that stereo possibly sound?") and reject the cheap ones ("I bet this stereo would die after a month!").


Can I use a Product-Sandwich Strategy in my business?
Businesses that sell hard-to-value goods (e.g., perfume, body lotion, wine, caskets), or whose target customers tend to be product novices are generally best suited for a Product-Sandwich strategy.

• Think selling perfume to people who don't know the difference between eau de toilette and the water in their toilets.
  
• Or selling car oil to someone who doesn't happen to have a name embroidered on his shirt.

Make sure customers are made aware of the range of price points
One critical success factor for any product sandwich strategy is to ensure that your customers are aware of the different price points of your products, most notably your high-priced version. It is this awareness that leads your customers to view the mid-priced products as the mid-priced products, and hence the "safe, yet reasonable choice".


What do you think?
Have you ever employed a product-sandwich or similar such strategy? If so, how successful was it? What did you learn? What worked? What didn't work?

What ethical issues, if any, does this bring up for you? Do you view this as psychological manipulation or just good, plain marketing strategy?

Please share your experiences, comments, thoughts or questions.






Additional info sources on Product-Sandwich strategy & the psychology behind it

• Dan Gilbert's presentation at the TED Conference (podcast)
  

• Stumbling on Happiness (Dan Gilbert's great follow-up book to his TED talk)

• Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials)

• Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

...and for those who really hate wine stores & happen to have iPhones

• Reviews of iPhone wine apps
  

read more

"Would you like a coke with your product-sandwich?"

How many times have you been asked the above question at your local wine store?

"Huh?" you say.... okay, so maybe you weren't asked the question explicitly... instead it was embedded in the array of differently priced wines displayed throughout the shop.

For those of you who, like me, know little about wine, when was the last time you went into a wine store and bought the cheapest wine on the shelf? When was the last time you bought the most expensive wine on the shelf? My guess is that most of you can't recall the last time you did either because when you go to the wine store you "play it safe" and usually buy a wine priced "somewhere in the middle". I know I do.

Little did you realize that your local wine store was employing a product-sandwich strategy, drawing you helplessly towards that mid-priced bottle of wine! And you thought you were in control! :)


What is a Product-Sandwich Strategy?
In a nutshell, the strategy involves creating/selling a (very) high-priced version of your product so that the next price down appears more moderate in comparison. Often times this "next price down" would be considered expensive by the customer in absolute terms, but in relative terms (i.e., next to your "Rolls Royce" model) it appears reasonably priced. If implemented successfully, the net impact on your business is a boon in sales of the mid-priced version.


Why does the Product-Sandwich Strategy work?
The Product-Sandwich strategy is based on the principle that when buying an unfamiliar product or service people tend to purchase a mid-priced version of it. Why? It all comes down to risk aversion - fear of making a bad purchase and flushing money down the toilet bowl. This toilet-bowl-infused aversion is the reason we shy away from the pricey models ("How much better could that stereo possibly sound?") and reject the cheap ones ("I bet this stereo would die after a month!").


Can I use a Product-Sandwich Strategy in my business?
Businesses that sell hard-to-value goods (e.g., perfume, body lotion, wine, caskets), or whose target customers tend to be product novices are generally best suited for a Product-Sandwich strategy.

• Think selling perfume to people who don't know the difference between eau de toilette and the water in their toilets.
  
• Or selling car oil to someone who doesn't happen to have a name embroidered on his shirt.

Make sure customers are made aware of the range of price points
One critical success factor for any product sandwich strategy is to ensure that your customers are aware of the different price points of your products, most notably your high-priced version. It is this awareness that leads your customers to view the mid-priced products as the mid-priced products, and hence the "safe, yet reasonable choice".


What do you think?
Have you ever employed a product-sandwich or similar such strategy? If so, how successful was it? What did you learn? What worked? What didn't work?

What ethical issues, if any, does this bring up for you? Do you view this as psychological manipulation or just good, plain marketing strategy?

Please share your experiences, comments, thoughts or questions.






Additional info sources on Product-Sandwich strategy & the psychology behind it

• Dan Gilbert's presentation at the TED Conference (podcast)
  

• Stumbling on Happiness (Dan Gilbert's great follow-up book to his TED talk)

• Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials)

• Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

...and for those who really hate wine stores & happen to have iPhones

• Reviews of iPhone wine apps
  

read more

Grow or die! Product fertilizer to grow your top line

Apologies on the overly dramatic, “please-read-me!” title. I figured I’d jump into the pool with the rest of the bloggers attempting to get the attention of the 1.6 billion of you bouncing around the virtual world.

Anyhow, you’re probably familiar with the phrase, “whatever stops growing eventually dies”. And, while I don’t subscribe to this black & white, morbid declaration, we all know that when it comes to your business, growth is essential.

So in the spirit of doing my little part to help get our economy back on its feet, I’ve decided to write a series of brief articles about different growth drivers (tools, frameworks) you can use to grow your products & your business, and perhaps even add a few inches to your height. So let’s get started…


Growth driver #1: develop different versions of your product to suit different usage scenarios

Take mustard. Yes, mustard.

You’re at a baseball game with some friends. Perhaps you’ve enjoyed a few beers. You head out to one of the fine stadium restrooms to reduce your inner-bladder pressure, and you decide to pick up a hotdog on your way back to your seat. Guldens, right? The perfect neon-yellow goo to spread on your ‘dog. No questions asked. Right place, right time. Guldens all the way.

Flash forward 2 months. You find yourself at a very formal cocktail party. Pinkies out, fancy degrees flying about, drinks you would otherwise never drink, people doing their best to inject British-inflexions. You make your way over to the hors d'oeuvre table and sample a selection of finely smoked meats. Grey Poupon, anyone? Again, no questions asked. Right place, right time. It’s a Grey Poupon moment.

(sorry, I just couldn't help but include the most classic Grey Poupon commercial ever produced. enjoy!)



Let's put aside the mustard and put growth driver #1 to work for you:
1. Make a list of the different situations in which your product or service is used (or needed).

2. For each scenario you’ve identified, jot down those characteristics or dimensions that make it different from the other scenarios on your list. Characteristics could include the physical environment, the people you’re with, your main objective at the time you use the product, your main reason for needing the product, the time of year, the activity you’re engaged in at the time you need the product, etc.

3. For each scenario ask yourself what changes you could make to your service in order to provide greater value to your customers given the unique characteristics of the situation.

Examples could include adding complementary services, increasing or decreasing the performance level of certain features or dimensions, adding or eliminating certain features, making changes to physical dimensions of the product, etc. Whatever you come up with, it should be dictated by the unique needs of your customer under the given scenario.

Real-world examples of growth driver #1. Different versions of the product for different usage occasions.

• Candles: For romantic dinners, for keeping the bugs away when camping, for festive holidays, for scenting the air, for birthdays.
• Travel insurance: For safaris, for ski trips, for family vacations, for cruises, for long-stay trips, for international trips.
• Suits: For hot climates, for formal events, for casual events, for outdoor events, for weddings, for funerals.

What other examples can you think of? Please share them with us in your comments.

Happy growing!

-------

Additional posts that discuss growth strategies:

• Innoviation via other worlds: a tool for generating powerful ideas for your business
• Enhance your innovation by tapping your product's value-creation web

Great books that discuss scenario-based product innovation:

• Marketing Imagination, New, Expanded Edition 

• The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Strategies for Continuously Creating Opportunity in an Age of Uncertainty

• What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough Products and Services
  

read more

Grow or die! Product fertilizer to grow your top line

Apologies on the overly dramatic, “please-read-me!” title. I figured I’d jump into the pool with the rest of the bloggers attempting to get the attention of the 1.6 billion of you bouncing around the virtual world.

Anyhow, you’re probably familiar with the phrase, “whatever stops growing eventually dies”. And, while I don’t subscribe to this black & white, morbid declaration, we all know that when it comes to your business, growth is essential.

So in the spirit of doing my little part to help get our economy back on its feet, I’ve decided to write a series of brief articles about different growth drivers (tools, frameworks) you can use to grow your products & your business, and perhaps even add a few inches to your height. So let’s get started…


Growth driver #1: develop different versions of your product to suit different usage scenarios

Take mustard. Yes, mustard.

You’re at a baseball game with some friends. Perhaps you’ve enjoyed a few beers. You head out to one of the fine stadium restrooms to reduce your inner-bladder pressure, and you decide to pick up a hotdog on your way back to your seat. Guldens, right? The perfect neon-yellow goo to spread on your ‘dog. No questions asked. Right place, right time. Guldens all the way.

Flash forward 2 months. You find yourself at a very formal cocktail party. Pinkies out, fancy degrees flying about, drinks you would otherwise never drink, people doing their best to inject British-inflexions. You make your way over to the hors d'oeuvre table and sample a selection of finely smoked meats. Grey Poupon, anyone? Again, no questions asked. Right place, right time. It’s a Grey Poupon moment.

(sorry, I just couldn't help but include the most classic Grey Poupon commercial ever produced. enjoy!)



Let's put aside the mustard and put growth driver #1 to work for you:
1. Make a list of the different situations in which your product or service is used (or needed).

2. For each scenario you’ve identified, jot down those characteristics or dimensions that make it different from the other scenarios on your list. Characteristics could include the physical environment, the people you’re with, your main objective at the time you use the product, your main reason for needing the product, the time of year, the activity you’re engaged in at the time you need the product, etc.

3. For each scenario ask yourself what changes you could make to your service in order to provide greater value to your customers given the unique characteristics of the situation.

Examples could include adding complementary services, increasing or decreasing the performance level of certain features or dimensions, adding or eliminating certain features, making changes to physical dimensions of the product, etc. Whatever you come up with, it should be dictated by the unique needs of your customer under the given scenario.

Real-world examples of growth driver #1. Different versions of the product for different usage occasions.

• Candles: For romantic dinners, for keeping the bugs away when camping, for festive holidays, for scenting the air, for birthdays.
• Travel insurance: For safaris, for ski trips, for family vacations, for cruises, for long-stay trips, for international trips.
• Suits: For hot climates, for formal events, for casual events, for outdoor events, for weddings, for funerals.

What other examples can you think of? Please share them with us in your comments.

Happy growing!

-------

Additional posts that discuss growth strategies:

• Innoviation via other worlds: a tool for generating powerful ideas for your business
• Enhance your innovation by tapping your product's value-creation web

Great books that discuss scenario-based product innovation:

• Marketing Imagination, New, Expanded Edition 

• The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Strategies for Continuously Creating Opportunity in an Age of Uncertainty

• What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough Products and Services
  

read more

How to unleash the power of context and turbo-charge your marketing

There are few more powerful insights you can generate than learning the main contexts in which demand for your product/product category arises. Having such knowledge will allow you to elevate your marketing and develop deeper, more profitable relationships with your customers.

------------

Step 1: identify the most frequent demand contexts
The first step in unleashing the power of context is to identify the different contexts in which demand for your product is triggered. Think of yourself as a detective attempting to answer the questions:

• Under what situations do people become interested in my product?
  
• What triggers their interest in my product? (Events, changing circumstances, etc.)
  

In sleuthing your way to an answer, you may find that there is a series of events that take place before demand is sparked. You will also likely learn that there are several distinct demand contexts for your product, some of which will occur with far greater frequency than others.

Your key objective in step 1 is to assemble a list of those demand contexts that account for at least 75%-80% of total demand for your product/product category.


Step 2: ask the 6 power-questions to elevate your marketing strategy
For each of the most frequently occurring demand contexts for your product, ask the below six questions:

1) How can I tweak or reconfigure my product to better meet the consumer need in the given context?

2) Are there complementary products or services I should consider offering, whether though my company or a partner?

3) How might I adjust my pricing to better reflect the value provided by my product within the given context?

4) How can I more effectively communicate & position the value provided by my product within the given context? Is there specific imagery, tonality & language I should use in my marketing communication?

5) Are there any changes I should make from a channel perspective, whether it be my channels for building awareness, for selling, or for servicing customers?

6) How can I detect when demand has been triggered for this given context? Can I actually identify these people with some degree of certainty? (Dig deep to answer this crucial question. There is almost always a way)
(Note that some of the questions may not be pertinent for certain product categories and demand contexts)


Let's make this pop! with a brief real-world example

Product du jour: Cars

Step 1: identify the most frequent demand contexts for cars
-The lease is expiring on the existing car
-The price of gasoline jumps and the person owns a gas-guzzler**
-The car is old & worn out (tail pipe tickling the pavement, etc.)
-The car died & resuscitating it would cost a whole lot of money
-The person is moving from the City to the ‘Burbs

Step 2: ask the 6 power-questions for each frequently-occurring demand context for cars
**Below I've answered the questions for the demand context in which the price of gasoline jumps and the person owns a gas-guzzler

1) How might we tweak our cars to better meet the needs of the owners of gas-guzzlers?
We could develop a fuel-efficient car or one that could run on cheaper types of fuel (given the long R&D cycle for new models, auto companies are always best suited to have such a model either always available for sale or one that can easily be ramped up for production)

2) Are there complementary products or services we should consider offering, whether though our company or a partner?
We could develop services or partnerships that would cheapen the price of gas - e.g., partner with credit card companies to develop attractive cash-back rewards on gasoline purchases

3) How might we adjust our pricing to better reflect the value that our cars provide to owners of gas-guzzlers?
Consumers who are feeling increasing pain at the gas pump are likely willing to pay more for a car that will significantly reduce their “gas pains”... Then again attempting consumer-level pricing can be tricky and a risky move from a brand perspective (not to mention the current distribution structure for cars does not readily lend itself to such a pricing strategy).

4) How can we more effectively communicate & position the value provided by our cars to owners of gas-guzzlers? Is there specific imagery, tonality & language we should use in our marketing communication?
We could position our cars as “fuel-smart” alternatives that could save them thousands of dollars, which could be put towards more enjoyable things than gasoline, such as a much-needed vacation in the Caribbean(!)

5) Are there any considerations we should make from a channel perspective, whether it be our channels for building awareness, selling, or servicing?
(Response not included to maintain brevity)

6) How can we detect when this demand trigger has been fired? Can we identify the owners of gas-guzzlers during a spike in gas prices?
Knowledge of rising gas prices is a layup - CNN & our local gas stations would make any major rise in gas prices abundantly clear. And, there are a number of ways to identify owners of “gas-guzzlers” with fairly good precision, starting with identifying the geographic distribution of SUV sales & SUV dealerships.


Your assignment
1) Select one of your products or services – especially one that you believe has the most “improvement potential” & could provide the most upside for your business.

2) With a pad & pen in hand, walk the product through Step #1. Also, ask colleagues and friends & family to complete Step #1. And, hold a brainstorming session if timing & calendars permit. (I’ve always found the collective IQ of a good group to be far greater than any one individual flying solo)

3) Take each of your top demand contexts and run through Step #2. For this step it is particularly valuable to hold a brainstorming session or two, as the collective brainpower of your colleagues in this step can be the difference between a $1mm idea and a $10mm idea.

4) Share your experience with us here on the blog, including any interesting things you learned from the process and, of course, any successes you have to-date.


A note on business strategy & demand context
In a future post I’ll be writing about the role that the demand contexts of your product should play in (re)designing your business strategy. Depending upon a number of factors including the economics of your business and the positioning of your brand, there are likely certain demand contexts that you would want to focus your efforts upon. More to come on this, so stay tuned...

And, as always, please feel free to leave a comment, question or shout-out.

Sources: car demand contexts based upon 2005 study by the American International Automobile Dealers (AIADA).

read more

Marketing & the 5 W's: why every marketer should take a journalism class

Journalism 101. Who, what, when, where, why, how?... these key dimensions that are the foundation of journalism can also be used to design great marketing & segmentation strategies, and to turbo-charge your innovation efforts.

The 5 W's as they have been dubbed, can serve as a powerful tool for gaining deep insight into the contextual nature surrounding the need for and use of your product. I like to think of the 5W's as the marketing equivalent of an industrial-grade power shovel, allowing you to "dig deep" so you can get to those precious consumer gems that lay beneath your feet.

Context is king
Powering the 5W's is the essential notion that everything that we do is embedded in a context, and the better you, the marketer, understand the different contexts in which the need for/use of your product occurs, the better equipped you will be to develop marketing strategies or innovations that truly pop!

How do I use the 5 W's?
The simplest way to begin using the 5W's is to start with the most basic question and loop it through each W:

• {When/Where/Why/How/For whom} might the need for my product arise?

Spend at least 5-10 minutes on each W, making a list along the way. Allow your thoughts to percolate; don't be afraid to make assumptions - you can always validate them in the future. Do the exercise again a day or two later - often the most insightful thoughts will come after a period of incubation.

As you begin to use the 5W's, one thing that will become clear to you is that one or two of the Ws will often be more relevant to your product than others. You'll also notice that the Ws will frequently interact with each other in meaningful ways, and that you'll often want to drill down on a given insight using "follow-up" Ws. Note these interactions and drill-downs and allow them to generate further insight into the contextual nature of demand for your product. Often the deepest insights lay in these pockets.

Gatorade: a brief example of the 5 W's in action
Let's take Gatorade, that cold, refreshing beverage that most of us have purchased at some point in our lives. Reaching into our magic hat of W's, we come up with "Where?", leading us to ask, "Where might the need for Gatorade arise?"

Given that Gatorade is 'the ultimate thirst quencher', I begin to think of places where the need for thirst-quenching is likely to arise. A few examples that come to mind include basketball courts, hot climates (e.g., Phoenix, The Mojave Desert), marathons, and the Dead Sea.

Let's reach into the hat again... this time I pull out "When?", leading us to ask, "When might the need for Gatorade (thirst-quenching) arise?" Some initial thoughts that come to mind include summertime, playing sports, during a long hike, the morning following a night of drinking, a few hours after eating extremely salty food, and last but certainly not least, during a prolonged bout of diarrhea.

Let's now drill down on one of the "When's" - during a prolonged bout of diarrhea - and ask, "Where might such bouts occur?" One thought that comes to mind is certain poor villages around the globe where outbreaks occur regularly. Gatorade could be used in such places to quickly rehydrate people, especially children, who can die from the dehydration caused by the outbreak. Needless to say the potential benefits to Gatorade, the Gatorade brand, and the people of such villages would be numerous.

5 W's Recap
How to use the 5W's for developing marketing strategies & for business innovation likely merits an entire book; perhaps we'll put one together in the near future. Hopefully in this post I've given you a little taste of how one of the bedrocks of journalism can also serve as a potent tool for marketers & innovators alike. Much more to come.





More posts on the 5 W's:

• 5 Ws innovation framework
• Using the 5Ws to reduce customer churn
  

Check out my favorite business books

read more

Marketing & the 5 W's: why every marketer should take a journalism class

Journalism 101. Who, what, when, where, why, how?... these key dimensions that are the foundation of journalism can also be used to design great marketing & segmentation strategies, and to turbo-charge your innovation efforts.

The 5 W's as they have been dubbed, can serve as a powerful tool for gaining deep insight into the contextual nature surrounding the need for and use of your product. I like to think of the 5W's as the marketing equivalent of an industrial-grade power shovel, allowing you to "dig deep" so you can get to those precious consumer gems that lay beneath your feet.

Context is king
Powering the 5W's is the essential notion that everything that we do is embedded in a context, and the better you, the marketer, understand the different contexts in which the need for/use of your product occurs, the better equipped you will be to develop marketing strategies or innovations that truly pop!

How do I use the 5 W's?
The simplest way to begin using the 5W's is to start with the most basic question and loop it through each W:

• {When/Where/Why/How/For whom} might the need for my product arise?

Spend at least 5-10 minutes on each W, making a list along the way. Allow your thoughts to percolate; don't be afraid to make assumptions - you can always validate them in the future. Do the exercise again a day or two later - often the most insightful thoughts will come after a period of incubation.

As you begin to use the 5W's, one thing that will become clear to you is that one or two of the Ws will often be more relevant to your product than others. You'll also notice that the Ws will frequently interact with each other in meaningful ways, and that you'll often want to drill down on a given insight using "follow-up" Ws. Note these interactions and drill-downs and allow them to generate further insight into the contextual nature of demand for your product. Often the deepest insights lay in these pockets.

Gatorade: a brief example of the 5 W's in action
Let's take Gatorade, that cold, refreshing beverage that most of us have purchased at some point in our lives. Reaching into our magic hat of W's, we come up with "Where?", leading us to ask, "Where might the need for Gatorade arise?"

Given that Gatorade is 'the ultimate thirst quencher', I begin to think of places where the need for thirst-quenching is likely to arise. A few examples that come to mind include basketball courts, hot climates (e.g., Phoenix, The Mojave Desert), marathons, and the Dead Sea.

Let's reach into the hat again... this time I pull out "When?", leading us to ask, "When might the need for Gatorade (thirst-quenching) arise?" Some initial thoughts that come to mind include summertime, playing sports, during a long hike, the morning following a night of drinking, a few hours after eating extremely salty food, and last but certainly not least, during a prolonged bout of diarrhea.

Let's now drill down on one of the "When's" - during a prolonged bout of diarrhea - and ask, "Where might such bouts occur?" One thought that comes to mind is certain poor villages around the globe where outbreaks occur regularly. Gatorade could be used in such places to quickly rehydrate people, especially children, who can die from the dehydration caused by the outbreak. Needless to say the potential benefits to Gatorade, the Gatorade brand, and the people of such villages would be numerous.

5 W's Recap
How to use the 5W's for developing marketing strategies & for business innovation likely merits an entire book; perhaps we'll put one together in the near future. Hopefully in this post I've given you a little taste of how one of the bedrocks of journalism can also serve as a potent tool for marketers & innovators alike. Much more to come.




More posts on the 5 W's:

• 5 Ws innovation framework
• Using the 5Ws to reduce customer churn
  

read more

CoNtEXT iS KiNg

All good marketing requires a rich understanding of context - environmental and personal.

We are always embedded in a context. The time of day; the weather; the people we are with or not with; our location - at home, at the doctor, in a store, at work; our present goals, objectives and activities; our current emotional states & energy levels... to name only a few dimensions...

When I am standing on a packed subway platform during my Monday morning commute to work, with coffee in my left hand and organizer in my right hand, I'm in an entirely different context than when I'm in upstate New York in the fall, walking through the woods with my lovely wife & our charming French Bulldog.

While I remain "Doug" in both situations, my environment and my state of mind could not be more different. While my values, beliefs & views of the world might remain relatively fixed in both situations, my needs, objectives, mental filters, and basic physiology likely diverge greatly.

In a nutshell, good marketing requires a deep, rich understanding of context. People's needs, objectives & mental filters are dramatically influenced & shaped by their environments. Given this basic tenet, marketers need to align their strategies with the environments in which their target (and existing) customers find themselves.

To give a basic example, if your main customer acquisition channel is direct snail mail, you need to develop your mailer with an understanding of the context/environment in which your mailers are likely to be viewed.

While research can help you identify the most common contexts in which people open up their mail, for the sake of this example let's say assume it's in the evening just after coming home from work. Let's also assume that people look through their mail in one sitting, and thus will view your mailer as part of quickly sifting through a stack of other mail, most of which will be quickly identified as "junk mail". Let's take our premise one step further and assume that the process of sifting through mail is a frustrating one as people try to "separate the wheat from the chaff".

So that's the context you need to keep in mind as you develop your mailer. All of the decisions that you make about the mailer (envelope, copy, design, cadence, pieces, sizes & shapes, colors, etc.) should be made keeping in mind this context, which should heavily influence your decisions.

to be continued...

read more