"Send 'em one white sock"

Hi,

Direct mail pioneer Stan Rapp wrote a book called "Send 'em one white sock", the title referring to a mail campaign conducted in Australia. Single socks were sent out to prospects with the promise of a matching sock if they responded. This is yet another talent of old fashioned mail: you can send objects.

And objects can carry so much meaning. I achieved a 55% response to a mailing which launched The Park Hyatt, Sydney, aimed at 550 company directors of Australia's 200 largest companies. That mailpack - which cost $60/unit - included a slide viewer and 10 slides, a walkman-style audiocassette player with a 10 minute audio tour of the hotel, and a blank cassette on which they could dictate their answers to a survey. The survey results appeared in Australian Business magazine (a competitor of BRW) was launching a body we invented called The Australian Business Leaders' Forum. The surveys and reports were arranged through a partnership with the magazine which became a co-sponsor of the Forum. The surveys became quarterly. Members were rewarded with 2 free nights at this spectacular new hotel on Sydney Harbour, just beneath the Harbour Bridge.

This is why were went to such lengths. We had a 6 star hotel beneath a suspended railway bridge. How could we demonstrate the silence behind the double-glazed doors leading out onto the balconies looking over the bustling waterway? They had to hear it to believe it. Hence the cassette, etc.

The intrigue and interest of the various objects appealed to the child in our prospect.

Why such a small number of recipients? Tell you tomorrow...

Cheers!

Michael Kiely