You KNOW we love the Doggie Olympic Games!

Have you seen the ad we designed for the event, currently running in BOW-WOW! Magazine?

This campaign began with a whole lotta “Save The Date” postcards, a great strategy for the organizers of this event because they have been meticulous about developing and cleaning their mailing list.  Direct mail has drifted in and out of favor with marketers over the years but the quality of the list is, perhaps, the most critical factor in the success of a campaign.  Of course, the piece itself needs to be eye-catching, and particpant dogs gave us great options for an engaging cover photo:

The other thing to really watch in a campaign like this is to not over-do things.  The message has to be simple, straightforward and uncluttered.  The Doggie Olympic Games team was able to do just that.  They make the reader quickly aware of what they’re about and they ask for the sale.  In this case, that’s to save the date for the 2009 games.

The postcards went out over about 8 weeks in the early Spring and were followed up by a somewhat elaborate combination brochure & entry form:

This is an 11″ x 17″ piece which folds in half and then letter folds to a standard brochure size.  All that paper allowed the group to make the piece a self-mailer, with a registration form that could be mailed back without an envelope while also giving key information about the events for which participants can register and also about the mission of the group organizing this successful young festival.

It also saved the group time and money because they were able to combine multiple products from previous years into one piece, saving on both printing and mailing costs.  Because it self-mails, they save on envelopes and, because it folds to display size, it is easy for helper organizations to display for the group.

Only time will tell if this year’s re-design was successful but initial feedback has been highly favorable and early registrations are up so, we’re feeling pretty darned good about it!