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Solutions November 2005
case
study
Get
Monster Direct Mail Results
Monster.com,
the large online job board, risked
$4 million for three 30-second
TV ads during the 1999 Super Bowl
to promote its little-known company.
The ads were shot in black-and-white
and featured children saying things
like, “When I grow up, I
want to be a yes-man.” The
message: Find a better job at
Monster.com.
The
gamble paid off big.
Prior
to the Super Bowl, Monster.com
had averaged 5 million visitors
per month and 600 job searches
per minute. Immediately after
the Super Bowl ended that night,
Monster.com logged an astounding
2,900 job searches per minute.
The company experienced a 450
percent increase in unique users
in the 24 hours after the Super
Bowl. Revenue between January
1999, when the ads first ran,
and September 1999 increased 265
percent.
For
the next six years, Monster.com
ran pricey Super Bowl ads and
continued to grow. Before its
first Super Bowl ad appeared,
Monster.com recorded about five
million visitors per month in
1998. Today, the Maynard, Mass.-based
company boasts nearly 25 million
unique visitors per month.
But
while the ads got the Monster.com
name and brand recognized among
job seekers, Monster.com’s
conversion rate among employers
using their site for hiring was
low. The reason: traditional print
communications such as direct
mail could not offer a clear idea
of how the service worked.
Enter
Linking Solutions, a full-service
marketing communications firm
located in Chaska, Minn. When
Barry Johnson, Linking Solutions’
president, learned that Monster.com’s
direct mail pieces had a low rate
of return, he and his staff put
together their own solution and
pitched it to the firm. “When
I read that Monster.com sent out
14 million flat mail pieces to
prospects and customers and had
only a 0.05% response rate, I
knew we could help,” Johnson
recalls.
To
capture the attention of human
resource prospects and clients,
Linking Solutions devised a unique
eye-catching package that maintained
the pre-established playful motif
of Monster.com. The cardboard
package was designed to look like
a small triangular pet carrier,
complete with air holes on one
side. Two of the sides have signs
reading “Handle with care.”
The front of the package is dominated
by a ragged hole where the lenticular
image of the Monster.com brand
icon “Trump” is peeking
out and the Monster.com logo can
be seen. Underneath in bold letters,
“Release The Monster!”
is written. On the bottom, another
warning sign is written saying,
“Triangular Trumpasaurus
Traveler” with an outline
of Monster.com’s famous
monsters.
Inside
the package, prospects found an
upscale silver CD case with the
Monster.com logo and name embellished
on the front cover with air holes
at the top and the CD-ROM inside.
A trifolded pamphlet, slipped
into one side of the box, held
the lenticular-printed 30-minute
calling card in place to be viewed
through the ragged hole. At the
bottom of the package is an introductory
letter and explanation on how
to use the CD-ROM and pre-paid
calling card.
The
interactive CD-ROM is embellished
in colorful images and text with
a portion of the monster and the
words, “Release The Monster!”
“The
CD-ROM three-minute demo of Monster.com’s
offerings proved to be the perfect
medium for not only explaining
Monster’s services, but
also letting prospects try them
out,” says Johnson. “In
addition to descriptions, the
CD-ROM offered a tutorial section
that walked viewers through the
site’s capabilities. But
what really piqued the interests
of our hiring recruiters were
the three special offers to be
found if they watched the CD-ROM.
These included a $50 discount
for a one-time ad; a discount
to search for applicants from
Monster’s resume list; or
a discount to place multiple ads
on the site. Plus, the CD-ROM
offered downloadable software
that kept prospects informed of
specials from Monster via automatic
alerts on their desktops.”
To
encourage even a higher rate of
viewing, Linking Solutions included
a 30-minute lenticular calling
card activated by an 800 number
in the presentation. “The
lenticular-printed card itself
was a memorable marketing piece,
giving the Monster brand new life
in print,” says Johnson.
“It enhanced the brand messaging
of Monster.com’s direct
mail package and added value to
a prepaid calling card. Plus,
it captured the attention of the
recipient with a unique lenticular
packaging style that was in keeping
with the “Release the Monster”
campaign—revealing the fun
animated lenticular card. More
long-term, the card would also
reinforce the brand while being
used as a prepaid phone card.”
A
number of firms were involved
in producing the package. Maximum
Graphics of Chaska, Minn., printed
the pamphlets and packaging; OlymPak
of Minneapolis printed the lenticular
cards; and the Duplication Factory,
Chaska, Minn., produced the CD-ROMs
and assembled the packages.
In
the spring of 2004 for a 3-month
period, Linking Solutions sent
out 30,000 “Release The
Monster” packages to a nation-wide
market. Monster.com provided the
list of potential employee recruiters.
The boxes were sent as is by the
U.S. Postal Service with no outer
container or protection. While
the boxes were considered an odd
size to send by the USPS standards,
the additional mailing costs were
well within the Monster.com budget.
“We
felt the ‘Release The Monster’
package was an extension of the
firm’s playful image that
would attract attention,”
says Johnson of Linking Solutions.
“And it did. The package
produced a 4-6 percent response
rate and helped the firm generate
new leads and additional revenue.
The flat direct mail pieces being
sent by Monster.com were not generating
interest. Our high-end, dimensional
interactive package piqued interest,
and the lenticular phone cards
were carried around for months,
thus generating further brand
reinforcement. The Monster.com
audience is employee recruiters.
They’re very busy people
who receive lots of mail. We needed
to attract their attention with
an intriguing package. Plus, this
direct mail piece shifted Monster.com’s
advertising from a national program
to a more regional localized market.”
While
the Super Bowl ads put Monster.com
brand in the mind of every job
seeker, the direct mail packages
sent by Linking Solutions put
the firm in the mind of every
human resource manager.
—Debora
Toth
Think
outside the box: “When
we consult with clients, we try
to think of new ways for them
to communicate,” says Johnson.
“Often, lenticular printing
can be an eye-catching yet economical
way for them to get their brand
recognized.”
Make
sure a client’s direct mail
campaign and marketing strategy
co-exist: “You often
need to sit down a few times with
the client to think about both
strategies and make sure they
mesh together.”
Use
a variety of techniques, not just
print: “When we put
together this package for Monster.com,
it became clear that they needed
something that sizzled. It had
to be more than just print. By
adding lenticular and an interactive
CD-ROM to a dimensional package,
we brought their message to life.”
Keep
up-to-date with postal requirements:
“This type of mailer was
unusual in its size and dimensions.
We were able to devise a perfect
package—strong enough yet
light enough—to carry the
CD and the pamphlets yet stay
within our client’s budget.”
Use
local firms to complete your project:
“We used three local firms
to print, reproduce the CD, and
print the lenticular phone cards.
By using local firms we know,
we were able to complete the job
on time, keep track of the budget,
and maintain high-quality standards
thoughout.”
