Everyone's heard of Geico if you haven't you must be living under a rock. They advertise on TV and radio all the time, the reference to living under a rock comes directly from one of their latest television ads. Geico clearly understands the value of repetition and keeping their name and brand in front of the customer. Printing and direct mail is an effective way to get their message in front of additional eyeballs but only if they can guarantee the envelope is opened each and every time.
Recently I purchased tickets from Ticketmaster to the band Furthur, the latest incarnation of The Grateful Dead, I'm a bit of a deadhead from way back but that's a story for another day. The tickets came via first-class mail I opened them as soon as they arrived to be sure they were correct. Inside the envelope along with the tickets was a printed flyer advertising Geico insurance highlighting both their 800 number and website. I couldn't avoid it if I wanted to, if I wanted to see my tickets Ihad to look at the Geico brand and their message.
It's ingenious Geico includes their printed message inside an envelope they know I'm anxious to open. They overcame the biggest obstacle in direct mail getting the envelope opened so the message is seen. Everyone gets direct mail it's as big today as it's always been most people recognize it from a mile away and discarded it without even opening the envelope. That's one reason why the direct mail response rate is relatively low. Partnering with Ticketmaster allows Geico to guarantee that their printed insert will be seen by the end-user.
Its so simple I'm surprised I haven't seen it before; get the printed message in an envelope the the recipient will definitely open. Using digital printing technology they can modify the message based on the target market and measure the results with various 800 numbers and specialized web pages set up to measure ROI.
Geico has a huge marketing budget, television advertising isn't cheap and they do a lot of it. I wonder how well they can measure the response to a television ad versus the measurement they can get by printing a simple flyer,inserting it in an envelope they know will be opened, and including trackable phone numbers and web pages.
My guess is at the very least the cost per impression is a lot less than the TV spot. How can you get your envelope opened and make sure your message is seen?