Businesslike mailer chosen over promotional-looking piece

Connect Direct's final results from its latest business-to-business direct mail test for Impresse Corp., Sunnyvale, CA, an e-commerce services portal aimed at printing professionals, pointed to exactly what the agency said it has learned time and again about targeting corporate prospects with direct mail: Stay away from what works in the consumer sector.

"Our job is to bring the formula to the table that has the best chance of succeeding for our clients," said Howard J. Sewell, Connect Direct president. "And in all our experience in business-to-business direct marketing, 95 times out of a 100, the plain envelope beats the teaser copy version every time."

Sewell said promotional-looking direct mail may work when targeting consumers, but they spell "time waster" to the serious business professional.

"It's a risk to do this kind of thing," said Michalene Edwards, spokeswoman for Impresse, which has tried self-mailers and simple business envelope campaigns.

Edwards said she strategized on a tighter focus with Connect Direct, creating a business-looking campaign aimed exclusively at graphic designers - but one with color and one without. The results were almost indiscernible.

"My feeling was that graphic designers are very visual, so we tried a test with color and one without. Yet we ended up with a 6 percent response on 30,000 pieces mailed across the board. That was great. But given the cost of printing the color on the envelope, which was four-color, I wouldn't do it again. It did a little better, but statistically not enough to warrant the expense. I'm glad we purposely didn't use an outer envelope teaser on that version, even though a lot of agencies swear by them."

Edwards said she now agrees - anything that deviates too much from a business look will get tossed. "For us, the fear is that it may make the piece look like junk mail," she said.

"What we tell our clients is that the challenge is not about getting your direct mail piece noticed," Sewell said. "It's about getting it delivered to the right person's desk."