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EDITOR'S NOTE: René Gnam,
an expert in scientific measurement of advertising investments, is a
seminar leader, author, and active consultant for many small and
large companies. He recently videotaped America's first television
series on Direct Mail for KET/PBS.
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Nearly every direct
mailing, except those promoting travel, relies mainly on the copy to
sell. But with travel promotions, you are selling Excitement and
Pleasure, Service, Knowledge, and Professionalism.
Yet, most travel agents are
content to use the quick printer around the corner, the guy who uses
black ink on white paper. Most travel promotions I receive from
agencies, except for shells, location brochures, and airline
folders, are dull, uninteresting and lifeless.
Put some life in your
mailings. Put some color in every promotion piece you produce. Do
NOT rely solely on the free rack brochures you receive from hotels,
resorts, airlines and tourist boards.
Examine every
letterhead...every form...every envelope.
And then...put some pizzazz
in them.
Crimson Travel Service,
in Cambridge, Mass, uses a #10 standard business envelope, just as
you do. But it's printed in three different colors: purple, orange
and gold. Color gives the recipient a feeling of action and
excitement. It's hard to toss an envelope from Crimson Travel
Service.
Remembering that you are
selling only five items -- Excitement, Pleasure, Service, Knowledge
and Professionalism -- please incorporate photos and illustrations
in your mailings to sell me Excitement and Pleasure. Show me many of
the places you'll send me to. Show me the enjoyment I'll have. Then,
use photos of your staff people, with explanatory copy of what they
do to make my travel easier, to tell me about your Service,
Knowledge and Professionalism.
If you're primarily after
business travelers, show me smiling executives being treated kindly
by smiling hotel clerks. If you want vacation or resort travelers,
show me a kaleidoscope of photos that depict what I'll get when I
arrive.
Color and photographs used
to cost more than plain, old black and white. Today they cost the
same or less. But they intrigue. They excite. They make me long for
the adventures and pleasures you're giving me. And if you can make
me long for an adventure, you've started me thinking about using
your services.
Your customers are
fickle.
They love you today, but
they'll book their trips elsewhere tomorrow. So you have to
capture their attention with color and photos.
But, your copy absolutely
must stress your Service, your Knowledge and your Professionalism as
well as how you make it all so easy for the traveler.
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