We've all done it; picking up the weekly 'junk mail' browsing through it and recycling it after. (You ARE recycling it right?) There are studies claiming direct marketing (the junk mail in your mailbox, email inbox, the tear-away posters downtown, telemarketing, phone calls...etc.) is one of the most effective ways of advertising & there are others who think consumers are starting to become aware of the annoyance.
Basically direct marketing is simple:
an offer, the terms of the offer, the message, the action your needed to take in order to receive the offer (and an appealing theme that makes you resonate with the message such as humour or empathy.)
This semester we got to work with a real client to produce a campaign for her retail stores. We had a briefing meeting with her to find out her goals and the whole class was divided into teams and various objectives. The point of hte project was to start building a database of customers for our client. (That's why you get those targeted newslettersd and emails from the stores you subscribed to - you gave them permission!)
Our group wanted to promote our client's love and support for Cancer month (April) and her the Canadian Cancer Society. ALong with increasing customers to her store of course. We created posters, postcards, emails and a donation jar. In a way you could say our campaign succeeded in earning donations and word-of-mouth buzz for her store. But none of the donators wanted to give out their information and none of them wanted their coupon for completing the offer.
You can take a look at our Prezi presentation here:
Or go to my Portfolio at fb.com/Creative.Dunning
After all the hard work our group put in there were around 6 responses to our offer. I think if we wqere to ever redo this campaign I would have it so 'when customers filled out the ballot money would be donated for them.' I'm still very proud of all the work we did and I will certainly never under-appreciate 'Junk mail' again. I will give it the consideration it deserves (before realizing the offer still doesnt pertain to me and recycling it.)
Do you think with results like these that Direct Marketing is worth it for smaller businesses? I suppose it depends on the budget and experienced help you hire...???
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
The new 'Nuttier' Golden Rules?
If you haven't the time to read my article on Managing Allergies every day then Allergic Living has posted these 'Cardinal Rules' to live by when dealing with food based allergies. I have posted them below.
1. Never eat without your EpiPen auto-injector, period.
2. If you’re a child, never eat food that one of your parents hasn’t approved. If you’re an adult, don’t even think about that mystery food.
3. Read labels. Always. Know the ingredients of every food that enters your (or your child’s) mouth.
4. Learn to cook – well. No. 3 isn’t difficult if you do No. 4. And you’ll enjoy your food more knowing it’s safe.
5. Organize and Plan. Think through what’s to eat whenever you or your child will be eating away from home.
6. Always carry a safe snack. That way, you’re never stuck without anything to eat.
7. Speak up about your allergies. Always discuss menu items with waiters or chefs. Tell that guy you started dating that even a nutty kiss can have unintended consequences.
8. Parents: Teach your allergic children to manage their own allergies. Prepare them, but don’t scare them about peanut butter as a “loaded weapon”.
9. Don’t dwell upon what you can’t have; focus on what you can.
10. Manage food allergies, don’t allow them to run your life.
1. Never eat without your EpiPen auto-injector, period.
2. If you’re a child, never eat food that one of your parents hasn’t approved. If you’re an adult, don’t even think about that mystery food.
3. Read labels. Always. Know the ingredients of every food that enters your (or your child’s) mouth.
4. Learn to cook – well. No. 3 isn’t difficult if you do No. 4. And you’ll enjoy your food more knowing it’s safe.
5. Organize and Plan. Think through what’s to eat whenever you or your child will be eating away from home.
6. Always carry a safe snack. That way, you’re never stuck without anything to eat.
7. Speak up about your allergies. Always discuss menu items with waiters or chefs. Tell that guy you started dating that even a nutty kiss can have unintended consequences.
8. Parents: Teach your allergic children to manage their own allergies. Prepare them, but don’t scare them about peanut butter as a “loaded weapon”.
9. Don’t dwell upon what you can’t have; focus on what you can.
10. Manage food allergies, don’t allow them to run your life.
Managing Allergies 'all day, every day'
Growing up as a child with a food based allergy of any kind can be more than tough. It’s scary, confusing and stressful. You don’t feel like just another ‘average normal’ person in the world along with everyone else who can randomly call up dinner dates or take free samples in the mall. Not to mention the threat of cross-contamination and if the manufacturer’s leave out any crucial ingredients from their list.
Allergic Living wrote an article about Managing Peanut Allergies and said this…
“The only current treatment for this allergy is to avoid all traces of peanuts and peanut butter or other peanut-containing products. If your allergic child (or you) eats peanut with a known allergy, the drug epinephrine (adrenaline) will be needed to halt the reaction. But using the epinephrine auto-injector (EpiPen) is an emergency situation only, it’s not a treatment. This is why “avoidance” is the operative word for managing a peanut allergy.”
Here is my own variation of this list to help other children, parents and friends realize that even if we have a smile on our face it’s really hard dealing with allergies internally and socially.
Allergic Living wrote an article about Managing Peanut Allergies and said this…
“The only current treatment for this allergy is to avoid all traces of peanuts and peanut butter or other peanut-containing products. If your allergic child (or you) eats peanut with a known allergy, the drug epinephrine (adrenaline) will be needed to halt the reaction. But using the epinephrine auto-injector (EpiPen) is an emergency situation only, it’s not a treatment. This is why “avoidance” is the operative word for managing a peanut allergy.”
Here is my own variation of this list to help other children, parents and friends realize that even if we have a smile on our face it’s really hard dealing with allergies internally and socially.
1-Hand Sanitizer:It’s easy to mask this by politely offering sanitizer to your friends – but don’t let them touch the bottle; pour some into their hands for them. Even if they have momentarily forgotten about your allergy they will still see the act as courteous and you will have risked coming into contact with any transferred allergens.
2-Avoid Cross-contamination:
If you are having a get together or party where friends encouraged bringing food or ingredients to make a big meal together request fresh ingredients. This means they do not scoop a glob of the family’s butter and bring it. Someone may have put a peanut butter covered knife in that butter and they are now bringing it for you to cook with.
Make it a contest; give your party a ‘chef’s challenge’ theme and see who can buy the freshest ingredients. That way no one is bringing the family’s used products and you can read all of the packaging before it’s opened when guests arrive.
Make it a contest; give your party a ‘chef’s challenge’ theme and see who can buy the freshest ingredients. That way no one is bringing the family’s used products and you can read all of the packaging before it’s opened when guests arrive.
3-The fear of Label Reading:
If you feel uncomfortable reading labels in front of your friends, its natural – I still do. But there are ways around it; pretend you have never heard of the product or manufacturer before so while your friend explains to you how they ‘swear by it’ read the ingredients list BOTTOM TO TOP then again TOP TO BOTTOM. If you’re engaged in conversation your friends are too busy talking to fully pay attention to where your eyes are looking.
If you have a trusted friend who has always looked out for you and your allergy make it their job to keep your friends distracted while you read over everything. You’re the host after all so suggest that your guests start the party and you will tend to the food out of courtesy. Anything that may contain an allergen you then set to the side to put back in the fridge and when questioned remind them of your allergy and say that there was way too much food for the small table space anyways – so that they don’t feel too horrible for forgetting.
If you have a trusted friend who has always looked out for you and your allergy make it their job to keep your friends distracted while you read over everything. You’re the host after all so suggest that your guests start the party and you will tend to the food out of courtesy. Anything that may contain an allergen you then set to the side to put back in the fridge and when questioned remind them of your allergy and say that there was way too much food for the small table space anyways – so that they don’t feel too horrible for forgetting.
4-Make sure the ‘Higher-up’s’ know:
It may seem horrible awkward but your supervisors, bosses and teachers are here to help you and look after you. Even if it through an email or phone call make sure they know about your allergy.
Each new semester of college I remind my teachers of my allergy and it does help. When classes have parties they look after the food so that you can enjoy yourself.
When one of my classmates had peanut butter (I didn’t even notice at the time-hadn’t had my coffee yet) the teacher asked them to put their food away and move seats using the excuse they were too tall to sit at the front and that today we couldn’t be distracted by food.
If you can somehow let everyone around you know without that awkwardness it helps. My personal brand in the business world is now ‘the nutty marketer’ and my logo is a “no nuts” symbol. There is now no way that anyone who knows me or will meet me in the future will forget about my allergy or at least whenever they see my business card or websites they will be reminded or ask about it. It’s my own clever way to get the conversation started because not everyone can hold out their hand and say “Hi I’m Jessica nice to meet you, I have a nut allergy so please be careful.”
Each new semester of college I remind my teachers of my allergy and it does help. When classes have parties they look after the food so that you can enjoy yourself.
When one of my classmates had peanut butter (I didn’t even notice at the time-hadn’t had my coffee yet) the teacher asked them to put their food away and move seats using the excuse they were too tall to sit at the front and that today we couldn’t be distracted by food.
If you can somehow let everyone around you know without that awkwardness it helps. My personal brand in the business world is now ‘the nutty marketer’ and my logo is a “no nuts” symbol. There is now no way that anyone who knows me or will meet me in the future will forget about my allergy or at least whenever they see my business card or websites they will be reminded or ask about it. It’s my own clever way to get the conversation started because not everyone can hold out their hand and say “Hi I’m Jessica nice to meet you, I have a nut allergy so please be careful.”
5-Going out for dinner:
With any food based allergy you may never want to step out of your house other than to buy your own groceries. But going out for dinner with friends is possible. For me I’m thankful for Facebook because you can remind friends of your allergy online without having to see their reactions or listen to them apologise for forgetting or ridicule you and ask if it’s really that big of a deal.
If you do have friends that don’t try to understand your allergy then they aren’t very great friends to begin with and you should stick to hanging out with them in public areas or parks and never at their house or restaurants. True friends will be patient enough to include you in their plans and figure out a place where you can all go together.
Get your friends excited and see if you can coax out of them the options they are thinking of. This way you can call ahead and ask about the oils and products they use. If its unsafe or the chefs aren’t sure then communicate back to your friends so that reservations don’t get made and cancelled. This saves the embarrassment of asking once you’ve sat down and then you have to leave.
Again you could play the ‘courtesy card’ and offer to make the arrangements for them since they are such good friends. This way you can pick from your own handful of trusted restaurants without much worry.
If you do have friends that don’t try to understand your allergy then they aren’t very great friends to begin with and you should stick to hanging out with them in public areas or parks and never at their house or restaurants. True friends will be patient enough to include you in their plans and figure out a place where you can all go together.
Get your friends excited and see if you can coax out of them the options they are thinking of. This way you can call ahead and ask about the oils and products they use. If its unsafe or the chefs aren’t sure then communicate back to your friends so that reservations don’t get made and cancelled. This saves the embarrassment of asking once you’ve sat down and then you have to leave.
Again you could play the ‘courtesy card’ and offer to make the arrangements for them since they are such good friends. This way you can pick from your own handful of trusted restaurants without much worry.
6- The EpiPen, Medic Alert & Knowledge:
Children these days are cursed with growing up too fast at young ages. It’s considered normal to have a small purse in grade 3-4 because you’re mimicking your mother or favourite TV character. Take advantage of this and put your EpiPen inside the purse or backpack. That way it’s hidden from stealing/tampering hands and your child can still feel fashionable and safe.NEVER GO ANYWHERE if you don’t have your EpiPen with you. Again this is not a treatment but it could give you the extra time you need to make it to the hospital if anything should happen. I keep one in my school backpack, purse, laptop back and of course one at home.
Medic Alert jewelry is a great way to notify people of your allergy if you are still embarrassed or shy. Most conversations I have start with someone noticing my bracelet which gives me a chance to explain the situation to them. This jewelry lets paramedics and strangers know that you have a severe allergy. Sometimes when my friends forget about my allergy and are being insistent that I try something all I have to do is shove my hand out and when they notice the bracelet they apologise and back off. As a child it can seem irritating to have these things around but Medic Alert does a great job of having fashionable subtle jewelry that over time just becomes a part of your daily routine of clothing.Thursday, April 18, 2013
SLC your Outdoor Signage starts here!
Our second year here at SLC gave us the chance for our first 3 week work placement in the business world.
The Criteria? An assistant to a business (entrepreneur or corporation) permitting they have an office space or desk to work at. Some of us went to Toronto, Brockville or stayed in Kingston and since home for me is 5 hours away (sigh) I found a local start-up business who took me in for January.
It’s hard to explain ‘a day in the life’ because the daily tasks I was assigned hopefully won’t have to be redone two or three months from now after the company is well established. So this is more of a summarized reflection for future IMC’ers of what you will probably do if you get a placement with a start-up entrepreneur.
Sarah Toupin Inc. Outdoor Art & Business Signage is named after its owner, Sarah Toupin a French-Canadian artist, photographer & interior designer. Using unique weather-proof, UV resistant inks to showcase over 20 beautiful shades such as Cold Mauve, Berry smoothie, green Zen, Old Charm pink & Royal red. A state of the art Canadian printing & lamination process creates elegant signage with premium surface protection that is versatile and durable against the unforgiving climates that lead to warping, cracking & rust.
The first task I had was to update her database of business cards that has been accumulating throughout the past three or so years. Sarah goes to every ‘Chamber of Commerce MEGAMIXER’ and also took me on a fieldtrip to a Kingston Connections meeting. I had to organize the business cards into city/region/province and if they spoke English or French, then put them into a database binder and type all the information from each card into her Excel spreadsheet & Windows Outlook contact list.
The second thing we started was an ‘introductory’ direct email campaign explaining the business, owner and why the business' of Kingston should take up doing business with Sarah Toupin Inc. The next ongoing task was to redesign her promotional brochure and Photoshop old & new logos to be used on her website and social media. We created a press release to send out to the media during our ‘introductory blast.” I also created a certificate of authentication to be added to all product packaging and a ‘product fact sheet’ which was applauded for its technical & design accuracy by the head of the marketing department of the product manufacturer.
Sarah has endured many sleepless nights meticulously researching to find metallic photographic aluminum that provides year-round outdoor sustainability. Signage from Sarah Toupin Inc. can be withstand harsh wind & hail, can be rained on in thunderstorms, wont rust or crack during blizzards and keep its shape in scolding heat.
The first thing Sarah ever told me was "I didn't want to sell my clients controversial material that makes poor quality products. There is a great deal of trust needed in business-to-business selling."
We repositioned her Facebook page (the same with her Etsy online store,) and also created a Twitter & Pinterest account. I also edited her website as it was still under construction so there was a three-way of communication between Sarah, the website developer Wil and myself.)
Through those 3 weeks I learned a lot about Sarah and myself. We both share almost the same ‘perfectionist’ personality so every day was relaxed and entertaining but still full of daunting work. That being said I would highly recommend this placement to any ‘Gold personalities’ that love organization & precision. We revised and edited multiple items/assignments over a multitude of times so anyone with a high sense of patience is a strong asset.
Overall, it was a great experience and I’ve gained an invaluable friend who I am SO proud of. I’m so thankful to Sharon Kaye of Research&Writing Inc. for referring her to me. And I’m definitely thankful I took this program in order to have this opportunity. All future students should definitely take advantage of this and I know all of us ‘upper years and alumni’ will be here to help if needed – I know I will be!
For more information about Sarah Toupin please go to her website www.sarahtoupin.com
* To see some examples of the work I did for Sarah please go to my Portfolio fb.com/Creative.Dunning
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