BirthdayPak Gives Direct Marketing a New Look…Free Gift Cards?

Direct marketing is generally annoying, ignored, and disliked. Think television commercials, radio spots, and advertisements in your mailbox. None are paid much attention, and most make it difficult for marketers to measure their ROI.

There is something to be said, however, about tangible marketing materials. Things like receiving photos your hired photographer took on a branded USB instead of a burned CD make a difference in a brand’s perception and equity.

Consumers today are demanding to know: What can your brand do for me? Why is it different from the others? Will it deliver on its promise?

Enter BirthdayPak. Talk about a win-win. Here’s how it works:

1. Companies who are looking to advertise send BirthdayPak promotional gift cards for distribution. (Gift cards, loaded with money on them, not coupons.)
2. Women sign up online, entering their address and birthday. (Sometimes BirthdayPak uses things like magazine subscription databases to distribute the cards–making the arrival a complete surprise to the birthday girl!)
3. BirthdayPak puts together a birthday pack in the form of an oversized card with various local vendors’ gift cards and mails it to the woman during her birthday month.
4. These vendors get customers in their stores or restaurants, which drives word of mouth marketing, creating a buzz surrounding their brand. The businesses get the chance to give the BirthdayPak-receiving women their best client experience. There’s no better marketing than that.

Want a closer look at BirthdayPak’s strategy? Check out this short video below, it’s really neat. Can’t view it here? Watch the video on Youtube here.

As stated in the video, BirthdayPak leverages a woman’s “treat yo self” mentality during her birthday month, especially the high-class, high-income women that BirthdayPak specifically targets with their distribution of restaurant, salon, and boutique gift cards. The women who receive a BirthdayPak typically have a disposable income and are much more likely to return to the places they visited as a direct result of the cards they were gifted.

The cards aren’t given in trivial amounts either…some are loaded with $40!

On the BirthdayPak website, the four steps that the company outlines as their strategy are as follows:

1. The Engagement
2. The Intrigue
3. Activation =  Permission (women must activate their set of cards online)
4. Sharing the Fun

To be honest, most everything I’ve been taught in marketing classes thus far has said that direct mail simply isn’t effective or efficient. Hat’s off to BirthdayPak, which proves that this theory doesn’t always hold true. BirthdayPak is direct mail I can stand behind. Apparently, I’m not the only one. The company won the 2012 Benjamin Franklin “Benny” award for Direct Marketing Excellence by the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association.

But what do the women who have received BirthdayPaks in the past say?

“Wow! I could not believe it last night when I opened the mail and saw this BirthdayPak! I called to schedule a massage (something I have been putting off for many months), and they took me that same night! What a tremendous savings, plus, I ended up signing up for a membership at Hand and Stone since I enjoyed the service so much! Will tell everyone I know about BirthdayPak!”    – Krista M., Chalfont, PA.

“Receiving my BirthdayPak in the mail was such a wonderful surprise…and I intend to use every one of my gift cards…I’m celebrating my 50th birthday this week and receiving this was very special…
thank you, BirthdayPak!”   – Phyllis M., Edgemont, PA

 

Neat concept, huh? Want to learn more about BirthdayPak? Check out the company’s website here. Want to sign up to receive one? Click here. Already received your BirthdayPak and want to know how to make the most of your cards? Read my post on stretching the value of your gift cards here.

What do you think about BirthdayPak’s strategy? Does it change your view on direct mail? Comment below & let’s chat!