I received sheets of personalized address labels today with a packet inviting me to donate to the Disabled American Veterans. I think they are a worthwhile organization, and I may make a donation.
I want to make a comment. Not about the tactic of sending me a free gift, and now I may feel obligated to donate. (Actually, I can't recall the actual term for this tactic, if someone knows what that type of solicitation is, please post a comment - Thanks.)
But about this... the packet included a post card sized color photo of a gentleman named Jim who is wheelchair bound due to injuries sustained while fighting in Vietnam.
On the back of the photo is the nice message below.
While it's made to look like this is a hand written note potentially addressed just to me - I know better. They send out too many of these mailers to make it practical to have people hand write each piece. So, they have to "fake" it a little and mass-produce a message.
However, in "faking" this message, why did they also fake the fact it's hand written? It's a "handwritten style" computer typeface.
Couldn't they have had someone hand write an original message and make copies of that? That would have been much more genuine.
The only reason I can think of for using a computer font is if they change the message for different mailers depending on the audience...
While this won't deter me from donating, these are the details that make companies who are trying to be small and personal look big and machine-like.
Paul, this reminds me of a remarkable man I met a few years back. He was a monk, in charge of fundraising for a Catholic School. He was remarkably successful and was quite good at not following "professional" advice. He ignored all the people who talked to him about databases and word processing, and sent personal hand-written letters to all potential donors.
This took him a lot of time, he said, but the impact was considerable.
I would imagine this might be even more effective today. We are all so bombarded with marketing-by-interruption that a genuine personal communication might stand out all the more.
Posted by: John Moore | April 16, 2004 at 03:11 AM
Unfortunately, the high-tech route of using a computer font is many times "easier" and less expensive than the high-touch route of handwriting a personalized note.
I do receive, from time to time, a one-page article that has obviously been torn from the pages of a trade magazine. Affixed to the article is a handwritten post-it note that reads something like, “I’d thought you’d find this interesting.”
The articles are not sent to me by a business colleague. Nope. It’s a shrewd direct mail ploy that always makes me linger a few seconds longer as I try to figure how they found the time to handwrite all those post-it notes.
Posted by: johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy) | April 16, 2004 at 07:15 AM
They also do not have to cleanse the handwriting before bringing it to press. In the DM work I've done, you 'd have to take the handwritten piece and scan it and basically re-trace the whole thing to make it work well in the presses.
In this case as it is on a picture though, I'd wonder whether it was in fact a real guy or just a picture they licensed.
I wonder if they've tested the use of real vs computer? It can't be much of a cost difference, must just come down to legibility and ease of use on their end. Most recepients probably don't think about it at all.
Kind of like the person campaign pieces you get "signed" by the President...
Posted by: Jonathan Greene | April 16, 2004 at 08:15 AM
The best name for the tactic of including a freebie in an unsolicited mailing is "reciprocation", as explained by Cialdini in his book Influence.
I dig this blog.
Posted by: diego from metacool | May 01, 2004 at 11:25 PM