My girlfriend recently celebrated her birthday. While
she is not exactly in the demographic sought by MTV, she isn’t that old,
either. Which is why we were surprised when she received an offer to join the
AARP.
My understanding is that the minimum age to join the
American Association of Retired Persons is 50, and she is several years away
from that threshold. Besides, I doubt that either of us will retire at 50, much
less 60.
Creatively, the package is interesting.
Externally, the AARP leverages a self-mailer approach with a
nearly blind outer envelope; that is, the typical consumer would not note that
it is from the AARP, although the typical direct mail marketer would notice the
mention of ‘AARP’ in the universal postage indicia. Internally, the first
things an old person potential member sees are the card and the image of
the Free mini day bag. This suggests that the incentive is as much the Hero as is
the value of membership.
When the full letter is opened, a reader learns of all the
benefits. The copy on the left side is assumptive, opening with, “Please keep
this card until you receive your Membership Kit.” The copy on the right side
calls out the various benefits of membership.
The return envelope reiterates the benefits -- not of
membership, but of the mini day bag. For so much emphasis to be placed on this,
it must be quite a great bag. If the bag and membership are enough reason for
the reader to join the AARP, that person has to provide a stamp for the return
envelope. This is likely also an indication of the target audience, because
younger people such as my girlfriend are less likely to have a stamp -- they
would have preferred to respond online.
I presume that a large organization such as the AARP has put
in the time and effort to optimize their Control solicitation package. Perhaps
this is the first in a series of solicitations. However compelling the visuals,
messaging, and incentive, a Fail for List is appropriate. Maybe after mailing
to my girlfriend, they will target recent college graduates?
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| Response form tear-off |
Lesson: Target your mailings to the appropriate audience. Otherwise,
you waste production money and postage while potentially damaging your
reputation.
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| Response envelope flap |
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| Outside of response envelope |
