Direct Mail Manager

Showcasing Creative Solutions

Situation: Last fall, when John Deere's construction and forestry division launched a smaller skid steer loader than had been previously available, the company saw an opportunity to target new audiences such as dairy producers and livestock owners.

The John Deere brand already has “a lot of loyalty in the agricultural market" from its agricultural division, says Holly McAvoy, direct marketing manager at John Deere Construction and Forestry.

Because many farmers work closely with their John Deere dealer, awareness and remembrance became the key goals for any marketing effort.

Approach: John Deere and McCullough Creative created three postcards that were mailed in quick succession in early November to 18,000 targeted names. The look of the postcards was “a little bit off the beaten track for us," says McAvoy, referring to the use of brightly colored illustration and humorous copy.

Honda revs up IT operations by ditching software upgrades

Honda Australia Motocycles & Power Equipment Pty Ltd (MPE) IT manager, Craig Bassett, has just completed a massive data cleansing exercise which was central to implementing a new two phase business strategy.

The goal, he said, is to drive customer retention and identify new revenue opportunities but this meant taking the company's marketing campaigns to a new level.

He couldn't do this with the company's seven year old contact database.

Honda MPE has a database of approximately one million contacts, but only around 250,000 of those are qualified.

Of the remaining 750,000, Honda MPE has little insight into details like their age, gender, occupation, customer purchase history, or even if the customer still owns a Honda MPE product. Bassett had run direct mail and e-mail marketing campaigns in the past, but was not sure he had targeted the right demographic, and had no way to measure the campaign's success.

John Deere gears up for “First to Know” e-mails

Farming retailer John Deere is gearing up its annual "First to Know" e-mail questionnaire to let customers sign up for which e-mails they like to receive.

The retailer sends out its "First to Know" e-mails once a year to its 150,000-person list to let customers pick and choose which products they are in the market to buy. Customers are then e-mailed offers for products that they have expressed interest in and can take these e-mails directly to a dealer.

"Instead of assuming that customers want what we think they want, we are going directly to the farmers themselves," said Steve Brubaker, e-business manager at John Deere Credit. "This is a win, win, win. It's a win for the customer, a win for the dealer and a win for the company."

Customers who sign up for the promotion are offered previews, exclusive discounts and financing offers on the products.

Mission and Mandate: The Ombudsman at NPR

Shepard joined NPR in October 2007 for a two-year appointment as Ombudsman. She and her office review e-mail messages, phone calls and letters that are directed to the ombudsman. Once a message is reviewed, it is then forwarded the appropriate staff member or station manager. If a reply is necessary, you will hear from us shortly. (However, if you prefer that your e-mail not be forwarded or aired, please state so in your message). We will forward some comments to local public radio stations, where appropriate. Please make sure to let us know which station you are listening to. If possible, also include the day and time when you heard the story you are writing about. Appropriate corrections will be made to significant errors of fact on air, on line and in transcripts.

Unfit to be a mother?

Once the adopters had been identified, the meetings were reduced to one day a week at a time and finally she was offered a "goodbye visit".

"My life will never be the same again," she says. "Somewhere out there is my baby and I don't know where. You can't explain the psychological effects of something like that. It's beyond words. It's beyond anything."

Government statistics show that 1,300 babies under a month old are now being taken into care and subsequently adopted, compared with 500 in 1997. Campaigners, including members of the legal establishment, academics, an MP and even some social workers themselves, are worried that we are returning to the draconian attitude of the 1960s, when society was more eager to whisk babies away for adoption than support mothers in keeping their children.

Toyota CEO welcomes green competition

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