To get docs to attend a birthing center grand opening, agency marketers at Aloysius Butler & Clark (ABC) relied on picture-perfect vanity for its JFK Medical Center client in Edison, N.J. At the heart of the Wilmington, Del.-based agency's direct mail campaign, was the invitation for doctors to have their pictures taken with their staff or family at the Medical Center's grand opening this past Aug. 9.
For a personalized touch, the campaign used a JFK nurse to hand-deliver box-invitations for the birthing suite grand opening to 65 staff OBGyns that promised "Smile! You're about to be framed." on the cover and featured an invitation and picture frame inside.
And to promote the birthing suite to 250 other family practice docs and OBGyns in the New Jersey area, a direct mail piece featuring an educational poster and tear-off coupons on prenatal tips was sent out.
The picture-frame approach got office managers - who are physician information gatekeepers and often deluged with direct mail - to open the box and give the invitation to doctors instead of trashing it, said Susan Alcorn, JFK's VP of PR. And ABC's President John Hawkins pointed out that the three-dimensional cover artwork helped to break through the infamous "direct mail clutter".
The picture marketing ploy worked as more than 100 doctors showed up for the grand opening where they were taken on a tour of the facility and photographed for family or staff portraits.
The direct mail component of the campaign cost $35,000 and recently earned industry kudos from the New Jersey Health Care Public Relations and Marketing Association with a silver and gold PeRCy award. (AB&C, 302/655-1552; JFK, 732/632-1530)