3/31/2020

Coronavirus Guidelines for America: Late and Hard to Read

I received a postcard with “PRESIDENT TRUMP’S CORONAVIRUS GUIDELINES FOR AMERICA.” It was dated March 16 and arrived in my New York City mailbox on March 28.

COVID-19
Coronavirus Guidelines
Mailed Standard Rate
Let’s look at this postcard from a direct mail marketing perspective. The primary objective of the postcard is to motivate people to take action to prevent getting the virus that causes COVID-19, while the secondary objective is to motivate readers to visit coronavirus.gov for more information. It merits a Fail for Creative for a few reasons.
  • White text on a black background is neither easy to print nor read, especially in italics at 9-point font size. 

COVID-10
If you can read the good hygiene tips, you don't need glasses.

  • The Call to Action to visit coronavirus.gov is visually lost.
    • On the address side, below a couple graphical icons, the website is suggested as a place to go for more information
    • On the copy side, it sits in the corner without a description of the site or a reason to visit it. It is in a good location relative to the layout of the postcard—and bold compared to most of the other content; however, the line starting “EVEN IF YOU ARE YOUNG,” with a blue background, is what draws a reader.

Perhaps the small postcard is trying to accomplish too much in too little space.

Lessons:
  1. If your copy is small, make sure you have proper color contrast.
  2. Make your call to action prominent.


[Edit: Removed commontary about postal rate used, as this was mailed EDDM.]

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