BY CHRISTINE MERSCH
When people hear "Volvo Group," the car brand comes to mind. But after selling the Volvo automobile business to Ford, Volvo Group had a hard time letting customers know about its other capabilities.
Volvo Group also deals in transport-related products and services, including the manufacturing of heavy trucks, buses, construction equipment, marine and industrial drive systems, and aerospace engines. In addition, the firm dabbles in financial services, providing finance and leasing options, insurance, repair and maintenance plans, plus credit card offers for small businesses and fleet companies.
"We're in an unique situation," says Marjorie Meyers, manager of Corporate Communications for the North American division of the Volvo Group. "We sold the car division five years ago, yet we've found that with journalists and financial analysts, we're still perceived as just a car company."
Showcasing Diverse Capabilities
Looking for a way to showcase its other work, Volvo Group turned to Burton Hall & Associates (BH&A), a creative services group that works mainly with technology-based companies. "The client's target audience was sometimes confused and not quite sure where everything fit within the company," Hall says. "Volvo wanted an engaging way to connect with them."
Hall had a concept of using 3D cards, and the idea was well-received by Volvo. The client was precise about the copy it wanted to appear in each ad, and Hall tapped creative and printing firm Structural Graphics, Essex, Conn., to make the concept happen. Structural Graphics is neither an advertising agency nor a printing company, but it tackles anything related to marketing campaigns in the print industry. It's a frontrunner in using pop-up technology in advertising, and it also works with slides, puzzle pieces and other unusual forms of marketing.
Hall says one key to a successful pop-up campaign is using tangible images--trucks, buses and boats--that are conducive to the multilayered technology used in these types of ads. Print providers need to choose pictures that have depth and are inclusive within the frame of the card, Hall says.
Another key ingredient to a successful mailing campaign is sending out multiple mailings, Hall says. Volvo Group's project consisted of six sequential mailings of pop-up cards, sent in weekly increments. Each 5 x 7-inch card opened with a question, such as, "Who is the world's second largest bus manufacturer?" The answers were always "Volvo Group," then the text provided supporting facts to support the answer.
Each card advised recipients to keep an eye out for the next mailing and to "Collect all 6." Using dimensional graphics in multiple mailings, rather than sending one mailing or creating one insert ad in a magazine, adds impact to a marketing campaign, says Mike Maguire, president of Structural Graphics.
Five mailings focused on the variety of Volvo's business endeavors and were sent to Volvo's North American contacts in New York and Washington, D.C. The last mailing was split into two cards targeting separate audiences: The New York mailing was sent to people in the financial community and members of the business and financial press. The card, featuring a pop-up displaying the Volvo symbol on NASDAQ, stressed Volvo's involvement in investor relations and communication. That card also talked about the company's worldwide operations and manufacturing facilities in more than 30 countries.
The New York mailings for analysts and journalists included a reply card on which recipients were asked specific questions. Plus, Volvo Group offered merchandise such as shirts and hats to the first 25 cards returned, prompting recipients to reply.
The Washington contacts are more focused on government relations, so that mailing was aimed at people who work in government agencies. The card, featuring a pop-up of the Capitol building, highlighted Volvo's equipment manufacturing facilities in nearby states such as Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Tennessee. Reply cards weren't sent to the Washington audience because of government restrictions on the amount of money people can spend on gifts.
"We did get responses from a third card sent that we didn't get from a first card," Meyers says. "I also got some leads through the reply cards and some positive responses from the analyst side."
Solid Relationships Key Success
Structural Graphics said the entire process--creating, editing and sending out approximately 2,000 mailings--took approximately eight weeks to complete. BH&A worked as the key facilitator--Structural Graphics and Volvo Group didn't interact much with each other.
"Basically, our engineers came up with a template format and we created a paper model of the product," Maguire says. "Once it was approved, we provided the template for the mailings and BH&A applied the art" to each one. Structural Graphics sent the finalized templates to its printer, waited for Volvo Group to approve the proofs and mailed the final product.
Meyers complimented BH&A for its creativity, and says she's currently working with the company on another marketing campaign. "We had a lot of good feedback both externally and internally," Meyers says.
In the 17 years BH&A has been in business, Hall has worked with Volvo Group numerous times. He says the two firms have a good working relationship because Volvo Group is clear on what it wants to accomplish, and it trusts BH&A to provide quality products. BH&A, in turn, chose Structural Graphics to put the idea into action because of a long history of working well together. "I can communicate concepts to them, and they understand," Hall says. "They are very good at the engineering, and there is very little miscommunication. There is precision in their understanding and execution."
