A blog post by our Founder, Russell Lawley-Gibbs
The world’s first, ever, video activated direct mail piece was made by TV in a Card used by Xerox Emirates in 2010 to launch their new offices in Dubai International Print Media Zone.
Xerox Emirates had commissioned a new video introducing the new office and had decided to send out 100 of the TV in a Card as invitations to a select number of IT Managers. There were other videos borrowed from Xerox HQ introducing the new product range and capabilities and a number of more technical videos digging deeper into the advances Xerox had made in printing and solid ink.
As soon as the cards were produced and reached the hands of the respective IT Managers they were a hit. Now, the purpose of the TV in a Card became abundantly clear. Stories appeal to everyone. As a movie plays before your eyes, it is easy to latch onto – even complex messages are somehow easier to grasp and understand. Here was real evidence that a brochure, held in ones hand, with a video player fused into the card, was so much more effective than two dimension print, way, way more effective. Of course, IT Managers have an enhanced ability and desire to grasp complex information – but even the salespeople were glued to the cards, the receptionist, the doormen, everyone loved them.
The cards also caused a wave of interest within Xerox internationally and many offices have since used the TV in a Card for educational, sales and marketing collateral.
The wave of interest spread quickly beyond the Xerox Corporation to HP, Lexmark, Ricoh, IBM and beyond, with companies reporting huge response rates in comparison with their traditional marketing methods to date. Average response rates soured from the traditional 5%-10% for email and direct mail based campaigns to between 45% – 86%, with many companies reporting difficulty in coping with the enquiries being generated. Once company sent out 120 TV in a Card direct mail pieces to new prospects and received 86 meeting requests.
Hard response data is still sketchy, since companies closely guard this new form of direct mail, but judging by the repeat orders from over 90% of our customers, this new form of direct marketing is catching on fast.
