Relationships
In making promotional outreach, we steer clients to the groups and causes that will be the best fit for their objectives. We think clients should not only join but become active leaders in certain groups where they can have an opportunity to nurture relationships with persons they are trying to influence. We also value our relationships with the media—in whatever form they take these days, be it traditional print and broadcast or the new “citizen journalists” who blog, tweet and comment in other forms of social media.
Relationships may need to be forged with:
Management
News media
Employees
Green causes
Customers
Work teams
Stockholders
Supervisor
Focus groups
Family, friends
Case Study: Penreco
Situation:
Penreco, one of the oldest specialty chemical manufacturers in the U.S., was one of several manufacturers facing cutbacks and plant closures due to economic impacts. Penreco wanted to communicate to its customer base that it was still in business and continuing to specialize in the products they had come to rely upon. In addition to continuing a proactive media relations program, Ben created and orchestrated the delivery of a five-part direct mail campaign aimed directly at Penreco’s customers—the company’s most important relationship.
Objectives:
Inform customers that Penreco was still in business
Generate enthusiasm for Penreco’s primary products
Quiet fears that the company was going out of business
Solution:
An oversized (6” X 9”) postcard campaign was chosen as the primary communication vehicle because postcards telegraph information quickly and directly, they can be quite impactful visually and they can be read without having to open an envelope. What’s more, in today’s online world, large postcards received via snail mail tend to be more unusual and, therefore, read. We created a five-postcard series, with the first trumpeting Penreco’s 125+ years in the business and the other four highlighting their mainstay products. Postcards were mailed to all customers in the U.S. and abroad.
Results:
Sales representatives were the first to communicate that customers began to actually look forward to receiving the postcards. Penreco had never communicated with its customer base in this manner before, and this new campaign really caught their attention. Sales representatives reported fewer questions about Penreco’s financial health and more conversations about new product orders.