The promotion we conceived was themed "Join The Company We Keep" and capitalized on the idiosyncrasies of the marketplace. This focus was achieved by promoting, in a direct mail campaign, Schutz's Fortune 500 clients. The mailer was oversized and designed to look like an invitation, complete with hand-written personalization. Inside the mailer was a series of individual sheets each highlighting an industry leading Schutz client. Each sheet depicted the display designed for the client in a montage with their logo blended into the art. The direct mail campaign was supported by a space advertising program which played off of the theme and utilized the same look.

Once the program was developed, our next task was to create the list of buyers. Schutz supplied us with the top 175 non-client national purchasers of P.O.P. displays. Through telemarketing, we established the location and buyer responsible for displays. The 312 prospects that we derived from this list were broken down into the three Schutz sales regions. The names were compared with those in the Schutz sales database and any discrepancies were ironed out.

The initial mailing was directed towards two of the three sales areas and included 100 individuals. Those prospects that responded to the direct mail piece were offered three response options; a brochure, a disk-based presentation or a sales call. The disk and the six-page brochure each highlighted thirteen different displays while the disk added interactivity and music to enhance the presentation. The disk was created to portray Schutz as a cutting edge marketer, a perception Schutz felt would differentiate them from their competitors. The results of the mailing proved Schutz right. Four of those responding asked for a brochure and 34 asked for the disk. Six asked for a salesperson to call. Overall the direct mail campaign had a 44% response rate and, after reviewing the disk, 23 of the 34 individuals that requested the disk asked for a sales call.

Once the prospect received their response package, the corresponding salesperson was notified. If the request was for a future need the salesperson would establish when he should recontact the prospect. If the need was more immediate, they would schedule an appointment. Those prospects that declined a sales presentation were reentered into the database for additional follow-up mailings and phone calls.

For this program we totally revamped Schutz's sales presentation. Until this time they had been using separate slide and video programs. Their main complaint had been that they had to switch between the two media and that they were locked into a very linear presentation. The laptop program that we designed combined still-photography and video into a ten minute, half hour or hour long interactive presentation. The photos were all produced in 24-bit color allowing for high quality representation even when enlarged for group presentations and the video was interlaced into the program for the greatest impact.

Initially the presentation was housed on a laptop in the corporate office and the Vice President of Marketing personally flew around the country to give the presentations. As the presentation became more successful, the laptop was shipped to the local salesperson and they conducted the sales call. Currently, Schutz has two laptops in constant motion across the country and several CD-ROMs in Europe, with one of their affiliates, presenting their capabilities.

As a separate entity, the laptop presentation has been as successful as the direct mail portion of the program. In the P.O.P. industry successful sales presentations result in the opportunity for the display manufacturer to create a design for the prospect. Thanks to the interactive laptop presentation, Schutz raised their success rate from 4 out of 10, the industry standard, to 6 out of 10. Now, the sales force insists on using the laptop in all sales calls.

When we first showed the interactive presentation to the President of Schutz he said that “this makes our competition look like Fred Flintstone with a stone ax”. He was right. The digital mailer and the presentation portrayed Schutz in a new high-tech light in their marketplace. Most importantly, though, they significantly increased their opportunity for business.

Results Summary
Direct Mail Campaign - 44% response from a list of 100 prospects; 34 individuals requested the disk mailer, 4 a brochure and 6 a sales presentation. 23 of those who expressed an interest in the disk later asked for a sales call.

Interactive Laptop Presentation - Close rate went from 4 out of 10 to 6 out of 10.