In assisting Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History with its new member-acquisition program, direct marketing agency Kobs Gregory Passavant, Chicago, will strive to convey the entertainment as well as educational value of the museum's exhibits.
“We will be appealing to both family groups and the intellectually curious,” said Kevin Leo, senior vice president and director of client services for KGP, noting that the agency was testing several different lists with its first test mailing that dropped at the end of February.
The museum's exhibits continue to get more entertaining and inventive, Leo said. A recent exhibit allowed children to sit in sand and dig for fossils to better understand archeological procedures. This summer, the museum will have an outdoor butterfly exhibit that visitors can walk through. It's these types of exhibits that the agency hopes to play up in mailings to prospects.
“We want to show that the Field Museum is not just intellectual, it's downright fun,” Leo said.
The first test mailing features Bill Kurtis, longtime newsman and hosts of specials on the Discovery Channel, encouraging prospects to join the museum. In a split test, the mailing offered some prospects a tote bag, which has been offered in the past, and others a geography trivia book as an incentive for joining. Results of the test were not yet available.
Kallet to Develop New
Rebate Programs for CPG
Fulfillment and rebate house Continental Promotions Group, Tempe, AZ, has selected strategic marketing agency Kallet Communications, Phoenix, to help it develop new rebate programs.
Specifically, the agency has been contracted to create rebate programs that could be used by CPG clients that market directly to consumers, said Karen Kallet, president of Kallet Communications. The rebate programs, which are under development, will be available to CPG clients in the second quarter of this year.
“Because technology has advanced so far and because consumer acceptance of rebates has grown so much, it's time for a new breed of rebate programs,” Kallet said.
Details of what form the rebate programs might take have not yet been released.
Garden Botanika Picks
O'Keefe Henry Direct
O'Keefe Henry Direct, Highland Park, IL, has been selected to provide strategic planning, circulation planning, merchandise analysis and creative direction for Garden Botanika Inc.'s catalog.
The work may involve creating a new look for the catalog, which has a circulation of 15 million, said Peter Henry, O'Keefe Henry senior vice president.
“There will be a creative evaluation, but we'll also study their overall strategy and circulation to make sure it's as efficient and effective as it can be,” Henry said.
Garden Botanika, Redmond, WA, was founded in 1990 and has 300 retail stores. O'Keefe Henry Direct, founded in 1993, is a direct marketing consultancy whose clients include Anheuser-Busch Inc., St. Louis; Elvis Presley Enterprises, Memphis; and Aquascape Designs Inc., West Chicago.
