Aus-Tex Printing & Mailing

Integrated Campaign to Establish Market Position

Research, Strategy & Creative Direction: Martin Manuel

Opportunity
Long-time provider of printing and mailing solutions, Aus-Tex Printing & Mailing, was exploring ways to align and combine capabilities to be more competitive. By emphasizing unique competencies in different segments, Aus-Tex stood to differentiate their offerings accordingly.

Discovery
Market research of the advertising industry indicated that direct response marketing accounts for more revenue than all other types of advertising combined. Additionally, the highest percentage of direct response is direct mail marketing - a segment which Aus-Tex has been serving for decades. Direct mail marketing appeared to be a very attractive segment which represented the highest marketing ROI for Aus-Tex.

Solution
Competitive analysis revealed a number of area providers, each boasting the same baseline qualities of speed, service and a quality product. No competitor had established a unique position. In addition, many providers touted their direct mail capabilities as "marketing solutions," but upon further inspection they fell short on strategy, messaging and creative. A market leader position was open for the taking.

Establishing our leadership position would be multifarious, and a direct mail campaign seemed appropriate to make our announcement. First, Aus-Tex had to offer real marketing services from research, strategy, execution to analytics. With our postcard, we explained our deep process for developing a message and a strategy as well as audience modeling and tracking response. Second, we wanted to show direct mail as part of a larger, integrated marketing effort. For this, our call to action was crafted to drive inquiries to our website. We used a unique URL and QR Code to send users to a hidden directory on the Aus-Tex website. Once online, they could learn more and initiate contact. A mobile-optimized version of the landing page was presented to mobile users. Finally, to bring our leadership position full circle, we drew attention to our USPS bulk mail permit number which, coincidentally, is Permit No 1.

Result
This postcard campaign was but the first step on long road of establishing and maintaining a market position. The web analytics allowed us to get an accurate count of online inquiries as access to the hidden directory was limited only to recipients of the card. Also, data capture on the landing page yielded a small percentage of highly qualified leads. Finally, our deployment of a QR Code has been a major talking point, and our direct mail initiative was recognized by the USPS. As a result, the USPS accepted Aus-Tex as an Alliance Partner which equates to preferred vendor status.



Above: The cover of the postcard clearly stating our position and inviting the user inside to learn why. Larger View




Above: Walking the reader through the process of creating a campaign.
Larger View.




Above: Walking the reader through the process of creating a campaign.
Larger View.