© 2008 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative www.podi.org Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study

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Metropolitan Sales Company Captures New Business with Multi-Channel Brand Awareness and Sales Campaign

Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study www.podi.org © 2008 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative

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Project: Metropolitan Sales Company Captures New Business with Multi-Channel Brand Awareness and Sales Campaign

Vertical Market: Value-Added Distributor

Business Application: Direct Marketing/Lead Generation

Metropolitan Sales Company wanted to increase the number of point-of-sale VARs (value-added resellers) reselling its products and specifically increase the sales of its Epson line of printers designed for use in point-of-sale environments. Using a multi-touch, multi-channel promotional campaign, the company increased sales by 3% and acquired new customers.

Program Objectives

• Raise awareness of company and its products

• Add new resellers

• Increase sales

Significant Results Reported by User

• Sales increased by 3%

• 8% of registrations came from new customers

• Raised awareness and improved company profile

Description

Working wi , a 1-to-1 marketing services provider, Metropolitan Sales Company developed a multi-channel, multi-touch promotional campaign centered on a sweepstakes to win an all-expenses-paid vacation to the Caribbean. The 90-day campaign was designed to excite resellers about selling Epson’s line of printers and to encourage new resellers to purchase products from Metropolitan Sales Company. Resellers earned entries into the sweepstakes based on the specific model and quantity of Epson products they purchased during the promotion period. In addition to the cruise, which was awarded by a random drawing from a pool of qualified participants, the company gave away two $1,400 Weber gas grills and five pairs of $300 Maui Jim sunglasses. The campaign, dubbed “Sail Away,” used four communication channels, each with a personalized URL or specific trackable landing page as the primary means of response. The four channels included 1-to-1 direct mail, print display advertising, a Web site link on the corporate home page, and

th BlueSky ETO

© 2008 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative www.podi.org Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study

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telemarketing from Metropolitan’s internal sales team. The success of each initiative was tracked by a custom report page that recorded and tabulated each method of response separately and sent real-time alerts to Metro-politan Sales Company’s Business Development Manager, Samantha Tang. The 1-to-1 direct mail pieces were designed to be eye-catching and support the tagline, “explore the crystal blue seas. . . . sail away with Epson.” Five pieces were mailed in all over the 90-day campaign and each was personalized with the recipient’s name, product names, graphics, and a personalized URL. The first and second drops were full-color, 11″×17″ pieces, folded to 8.5″×11″ and mailed in a clear poly envelope. It was important to Metropolitan Sales that the appearance of the printed pieces reflect the professional and innovative image of the company, thus the use of clear envelopes, full color, and cutting-edge, relevant personalization. Subsequent drops consisted of oversized 5.5″×11″, full-color postcards. Metropolitan Sales Company’s mailing list was compiled from several sources. The largest component of the list was the internal customer database, which included current active customers and customers who once bought, but no longer do. The rest of the list was made up of subscribers to a popular industry trade publication and names it had gathered from industry associations and trade shows. When the company cross-referenced the sources, it came to see that the acquired lists contained a large quantity of prospects that were not in its internal database.

Metropolitan Sales Company Captures New Business with Multi-Channel Brand Awareness and Sales Campaign

Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study www.podi.org © 2008 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative

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The personalized URL drove recipients to a personalized landing page where the recipient could register for the drawing by completing a brief survey and updating his or her contact information. Prospects were also presented with the official rules for the contest, a list of products eligible for the promotion, and descriptions of all of the prizes.

all four multi-channel initiatives (direct mail, trade advertising, Web, and telemarketing) hit at the same time. Christopher Wright, Director of Sales & Marketing for BlueSky ETO, a former marketing exec himself, believes very strongly in integrated, multi-touch campaigns. “Research shows it can take as many as 8 to 12 impressions before a customer is ready to make an actionable buying decision. If we reach prospective customers through multiple channels in a short window of time, our response rates increase exponentially. Additionally, the more relevant we can be with our communication using 1-to-1 marketing tactics and strategies the more success we are able to achieve,” Wright states. Comprehensive results tracking provided by allowed Metropolitan Sales Company to evaluate accurately how well each of the channels performed. One-to-one direct mail significantly outperformed trade advertising and the Web, and compared favorably to telemarketing efforts by Metropolitan’s internal sales team.

BlueSky ETO worked with Metropolitan Sales Company to ensure that

BlueSky ETO

© 2008 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative www.podi.org Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study

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Samantha Tang, Business Development Manager for Metropolitan Sales Company, felt that the personalized URL feature was the strongest component of the campaign. “In my opinion, the personalized landing pages that matched the look and feel of the printed pieces were instrumental in the success of the campaign. The ability to personalize messages to each visitor and track their responses was a completely new concept to us. I feel that it greatly increased our response rates — and blew away our previous efforts using traditional, static direct mail. Our customers found the personalization comforting and it expressed an excellent image of our company, showing that we provide elite customer service.” Tang also stated that the biggest lesson the company learned from the project was which communication methods worked best, a lesson that will greatly affect how it markets in the future. Through tracking, Metropolitan Sales Company also learned that its internal sales team is very useful in communicating promotional messages, something they had not taken advantage of in the past. Since they were able to measure registrations generated by each sales rep, they now have a means (and a measurable reason) to include the representatives in future marketing programs and provide incentives for their efforts. Overall the program, which increased sales 3% during the 90-day period and created scores of new customers, was considered by Samantha Tang and Metropolitan Sales Company to be a success. Tang says that the company plans to use BlueSky ETO for similar projects in 2008 and is planning to have BlueSky ETO build a Web-to-print marketing collateral site for its VARs.

Award This application won a 2008 PODi Best Practices Honorable Mention in the Direct Marketing category.

Metropolitan Sales Company Captures New Business with Multi-Channel Brand Awareness and Sales Campaign

Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study www.podi.org © 2008 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative

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Client Metropolitan Sales Company

www.metsales.com

Since 1980 Metropolitan Sales Company has offered point-of-sale hardware to resellers across the United States. The company also offers a full line of Epson printers designed for point-of-sale environments. The company is headquartered in Lynbrook, New York.

Print Provider & Agency www.BlueSkyETO.com

Hardware Two HP Indigo 5000 presses

Software Bitstream Pageflex Mpower, FirstLogic data processing, Streamline Solutions’ PrintStream job ticketing

Finishing K2 UV coater

Target Audience Point-of-sale equipment resellers (current and potential customers)

Distribution Five drops, 5,000 to 8,000 pieces per drop

Date April – June 2007

BlueSky ETO

BlueSky ETO develops sophisticated web-based marketing storefront solutions…Engineered to Order. These systems provide marketers, and their channels, with streamlined tools to communicate and enable them to efficiently order, customize and control marketing materials, while maintaining brand integrity - swiftly, cost effectively, and without waste. Branded templates, content management, cost control co-op management, and comprehensive reporting are our primary deliverables. We don’t create your brand, we help you deliver it consistently and seamlessly - wherever it needs to be.

BlueSky ETO is the development and workflow automation arm of MSP, a single-source direct marketing partner offering comprehensive production capabilities from a 150,000 sq. ft facility in Pittsburgh, PA, staffed by over 450 professionals.