Family ties - direct mail techniques for political campaigns - 24 Winning Ideas

Making Your Mail Get Up Close and Personal

Political advertisers should recognize that direct mailers are also direct marketers.

The almost obsessive attention to the measurement and analysis of response data that characterizes direct marketing has a parallel application in measuring political advertising.

Direct mail fundraisers are well aware of the phenomenon of "package fatigue." (This occurs when a particular mail package or genre of mail packages contaminates the universe into which it is mailed and thereby alters response patterns. The usual effect of this phenomenon necessitates a reformulation of the "offer.") Yet while many political professionals attempt to analyze the efficacy of message, few attempt a systematic analysis of the messenger.

We analyzed a number of heavily contested California primary races to determine if there were any similarities among the most effective issues or types of communication vehicles that drove those issues home. There were.

Direct marketers tend to think in terms of cycles. A fundraising package can be resurrected a year or even several years after it has run its course. The recycling of Life cereal's "Let Mikey try it" commercial is an obvious example of an idea whose time had come and gone, and then come again.

So it was in California, where many of the victors dusted off several campaign techniques that voters hadn't seen in a few years. In particular, tabloid newsletters and the "spouse letter."

Almost without fail, campaigns seemed to profit greatly from these seemingly nonpolitical mailings. The spouse (or daughter or mother or other family member) letter worked irrespective of the party, ideology, or orientation of the candidate employing the tactic. In some cases, tracking showed jumps of as much as 15 to 20 points following the delivery of one of these letters.

There seemed to be a premium placed upon those mail pieces that appeared personal as opposed to political. Slick brochures, in some cases, had a contrary effect to what was intended, marking the sender as "the politician," although that's conclusionary and the purpose of this type of analysis is to focus not on the "why" but the "what." Nevertheless, it did happen and it was measurable.

Another vehicle that was particularly effective was one of the oldest forms of political mail, the tabloid.

Tabs that most resembled small hometown newspapers seemed to be the most effective. Many campaigns were using the tabloid because they didn't have the budget to print more traditional political mailings. Not only were the tabloids able to address a number of issues, but in many cases they cost only one-third of what coated stock campaign brochures cost.

The tabs we produced had every appearance of a small town newspaper, including letters to the editor, editorials, and editorial cartoons. (I still have a stack of change-of-address cards mailed in by recipients who had moved but didn't want to miss the next issue.)

So effective was the tab that in the only race we lost in 1992, the opponent produced an exact duplicate of our tab and "withdrew" the paper's endorsement of our candidate just days before the election. (Nice shot, Rich |Schlackman of Campaign Performance Group~.)

To enhance credibility, candidates needed to go the extra mile in 1992. Annette Pombo, wife of newly elected Congressman Richard Pombo, added the Pombo's home telephone number to the handwritten letter she sent to voters.

Not surprisingly, she spent a week answering hundreds upon hundreds of calls. Equally unsurprising, more than half of the callers just wanted to see who would really answer. Who really answered was either Richard or Annette.

There were more votes in the households of those who called the Pombos' home than in our margin of victory on election night.

See what kind of delivery vehicles are working. Recognize "package fatigue." Pay as much attention to what is working as you do to why it is working. (The former is often measurable by objective criteria, while the latter is more likely an exercise in speculative self-delusion.) And don't hold back on anything that will make your voter contact more believable. For the '90s, credibility is the name of the game.

Wayne C. Johnson is president of Wayne C. Johnson & Associates, Inc., a Republican consulting firm in Sacramento, CA. Six of the firm's seven clients were winners in November.

COPYRIGHT 1993 Campaigns & Elections, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group