Wachovia Bank Card Services
Hey, direct mail works.

In the credit card industry there is little in direct mail that hasn’t been done tried once … or twice … or … Yet studies show that reactivating existing customers is still a profitable strategy for credit card issuers — and direct mail is a proven way to do it. So when Wachovia Bank was looking for new ways to increase activation and usage of inactive card members, it turned to us for innovative direct mail strategies.

	Program Management Creative Services Production Management

After reviewing cardmember profiles, usage patterns and competitive offers, we recommended testing three concepts: a rebate on spending during a promotional period, a limited-time sweepstakes, and a premium (gift) for minimum spending during a fixed period.

We designed each direct mail piece for maximum impact in the mailbox: cardmembers needed to know the benefit at a glance or they’d never even open the package. Each piece had a unique design targeted to the audience and the offer. Fulfillment also had to be easy — for the customer and the client. CCG coordinated fulfillment of the sweepstakes and premium.

Told you so.

All three promotions beat goal and were successful based on response rates and breakeven analysis. However, one was significantly more profitable and was selected for a rollout based on test results.

The premium promotion created the smallest lift in sales but doubled expectations.

The rebate netted a double-digit lift in purchases.

The big winner, with a three-digit increase in purchases, was the sweepstakes offer.

[You’re thinking those numbers are pretty vague, aren’t you? Sorry — we’ve been asked not to share actual figures.]