Direct marketing loses its grubby image
DM Welcome to the Classic Media Club!
DM Welcome to the classic media club! DM is no longer promotion-driven, as Cannes clearly demonstrated this year. DM has found a new place between branding and a permanent customer approach. This is not surprising: what has become apparent in Switzerland is already a reality worldwide. DM is too expensive to run promotions and collect addresses that cannot be used. DM is becoming the "classic" medium when it comes to highlighting brands, positioning products and addressing the right target group. As a result, DM is moving ever closer to traditional advertising and is seen as a complement to it. The age of cross-media has dawned: TV teasers for a homepage are used to collect addresses, and mailings and e-mail are used to deepen the dialog. This was also the big topic on the jury. And not only at DM. Amir Kassaei, Chief Creative Officer DDB Group, said: "Crossmedia got me - on the right foot! We no longer do anything for VW that doesn't take place in different media. The launch of the new VW GTI has shown this, and more campaigns in this direction will be presented this week in Cannes."
I will keep my fingers crossed for him, because the GTI campaign was convincing: the 70s were not only revived on TV. The 70s were also found in the mailing in the form of pins that picked up on the theme.
Then, however, we as a jury were also somewhat disappointed. Much of what was submitted as an "Integrated Campaign" in the Lions Direct category was poorly implemented. Under Integrated, the TV commercials were simply found on the web. There was no trace of a step-by-step guide for the consumer until they were ready to get in touch with the brand in person. Lawrence Gold, Chief Creative Officer Draft Chicago, kept asking the question: "Where is the fil rouge?" The red thread that runs through response TV commercials via the Internet and mailings.
Of course, it is more difficult to be creative with envelopes for flat mailings than with boxes, where there is simply more space to package the ideas. But there were some surprising ideas: for example, a dollar bill carefully folded into a shirt in an envelope with a reference to an ironing service that takes just as much trouble with the real shirt. Or a mailing that showed darkly tanned skin with age spots in the envelope window. And when you took the letter out, you saw that the only place where the sun could shine through the window was where the letter was covered in crab marks.
Police games still popularAn old idea came up again and again. And therefore failed the jury. However, customers seem to like it, because you still often see detective game mailings. The police are looking for murderers; pseudo-files with blood-soaked pictures and police reports are sent out. And the highlight: the searches continue on the Internet, as if the idea in the mailing wasn't enough.
If you also have such an idea, remember that hundreds have already presented it before you. The same idea also works with fake missing persons ads or a love letter from a prostitute you know. There's only one tip: stay away from such ideas! Concentrate on the product and create a good dialog campaign that introduces the potential customer to the brand step by step.
Juror at Lions Direct 2005, Partner at Alex Schmid Direct, Zollikon
This is also Cannes: Alex Schmid from Alex Schmid Direct is chauffeured to dinner with his wife in a sponsored rickshaw.
Smoking well in the in-store "Le Bâlio": Cinecom sales manager Daniel Pauletto and ZKB advertising manager Bernadette Grossenbacher.
For the first time, radio commercials will also be judged in Cannes. Because spots live from language, the jurors have a particularly tricky task.
Representing all the good spirits in Cannes: The bar crew from Pictorion - Das Werk with Anis, Julia and head mixer Felix Ehrenreich (from left).
Murderer CSI is looking for you as a murderer. Dear agencies: You dreamed of ideas like this when you were a boy. Better leave it alone as an adult.
Souvenir from the Sea Who doesn't like to think about a walk on the beach? But the cross-section shows that one layer consists only of civilization waste: cigarette butts, for example. This is how journalists were convinced to write about the pollution.
I shouldn't be here A mailing that you are sure to open: Someone writes to tell you that they shouldn't be here anymore. Who could that be? Someone who has been cured of cancer and is allowed to live on.
"Classic medium": Ralf Doller, Swiss Lions Direct judge.
Ralf Doller
I will keep my fingers crossed for him, because the GTI campaign was convincing: the 70s were not only revived on TV. The 70s were also found in the mailing in the form of pins that picked up on the theme.
Then, however, we as a jury were also somewhat disappointed. Much of what was submitted as an "Integrated Campaign" in the Lions Direct category was poorly implemented. Under Integrated, the TV commercials were simply found on the web. There was no trace of a step-by-step guide for the consumer until they were ready to get in touch with the brand in person. Lawrence Gold, Chief Creative Officer Draft Chicago, kept asking the question: "Where is the fil rouge?" The red thread that runs through response TV commercials via the Internet and mailings.
Of course, it is more difficult to be creative with envelopes for flat mailings than with boxes, where there is simply more space to package the ideas. But there were some surprising ideas: for example, a dollar bill carefully folded into a shirt in an envelope with a reference to an ironing service that takes just as much trouble with the real shirt. Or a mailing that showed darkly tanned skin with age spots in the envelope window. And when you took the letter out, you saw that the only place where the sun could shine through the window was where the letter was covered in crab marks.
Police games still popularAn old idea came up again and again. And therefore failed the jury. However, customers seem to like it, because you still often see detective game mailings. The police are looking for murderers; pseudo-files with blood-soaked pictures and police reports are sent out. And the highlight: the searches continue on the Internet, as if the idea in the mailing wasn't enough.
If you also have such an idea, remember that hundreds have already presented it before you. The same idea also works with fake missing persons ads or a love letter from a prostitute you know. There's only one tip: stay away from such ideas! Concentrate on the product and create a good dialog campaign that introduces the potential customer to the brand step by step.
Juror at Lions Direct 2005, Partner at Alex Schmid Direct, Zollikon
This is also Cannes: Alex Schmid from Alex Schmid Direct is chauffeured to dinner with his wife in a sponsored rickshaw.
Smoking well in the in-store "Le Bâlio": Cinecom sales manager Daniel Pauletto and ZKB advertising manager Bernadette Grossenbacher.
For the first time, radio commercials will also be judged in Cannes. Because spots live from language, the jurors have a particularly tricky task.
Representing all the good spirits in Cannes: The bar crew from Pictorion - Das Werk with Anis, Julia and head mixer Felix Ehrenreich (from left).
Murderer CSI is looking for you as a murderer. Dear agencies: You dreamed of ideas like this when you were a boy. Better leave it alone as an adult.
Souvenir from the Sea Who doesn't like to think about a walk on the beach? But the cross-section shows that one layer consists only of civilization waste: cigarette butts, for example. This is how journalists were convinced to write about the pollution.
I shouldn't be here A mailing that you are sure to open: Someone writes to tell you that they shouldn't be here anymore. Who could that be? Someone who has been cured of cancer and is allowed to live on.
"Classic medium": Ralf Doller, Swiss Lions Direct judge.
Ralf Doller
