Archive Observations: Automobile Maintenance & New Movers

In the last several months, as auto sales in the United States have fallen, the Who's Mailing What! Archive has seen an uptick in mailings promoting automotive maintenance. In June, for example, Audi mailed a 6" x 8-1/2" self-mailer that is all about selling the company's "Service Promise." Benefits such as easy appointments and free transportation are presented as a part of the excellence of the dealership's service team. A tear-off panel includes special offers for brake service and wheel alignment (Archive code #361-689782-0806). The Summer edition of Discoveries, Saab's customer newsletter, promotes online registration with the Saab Owner Center as a convenient way of keeping up with vehicle maintenance. One panel of the 6" x 11-1/4" self-mailer includes clip-out coupons for special pricing on various services (Archive code #361-172570-0806).

Besides nameplate dealers, service shops have also stepped up their efforts to keep current customers coming in to have their vehicles serviced. Both Jiffy Lube (Archive code #361-688277-0806) and Grease Monkey (Archive code #361-715253-0806) mailed 4-1/4" x 6" single postcards offering oil change specials. In an environment of tight credit and job anxiety, it's a good way to keep the customers you already have.

Also, the Archive has received a fair amount of offers over the years courting new movers. From supermarket coupons to offers for appliances and soft goods, it's good business to prospect for customers settling into a new home in a new neighborhood. Now we can add cell phone service to that list, thanks to a June mailing from AT&T. In a one-page letter mailed in a dual-window #10 envelope, the company offers two Bluetooth-capable camera phones as an incentive to activate a new line of service. The special offer, according to AT&T, is "one less thing to worry about" (Archive code #808-171624-0806C).

Grand Control Update & Profiles
The 12 newest Grand Controls (controls in the mail for three or more years) joining the Archive include mailings by The Hartford (Archive code #452-178519-0806), Common Cause (Archive code #601-171851-0806), Healthy Years (Archive code #250-703481-0806), WLIW (Archive code #602-174924-0806), Ronald McDonald House of New York (Archive code #613-358990-0806), American Express Blue For Business (Archive code #544-172047-0806) and AARP (571-171581-0806A).

Two mailings from Omaha Steaks join the six other offers from the company that already have achieved Grand Control status. Although neither has quite the impact of the classic Herschell Gordon Lewis mailing (Archive code #355OMAHAS0500DX), it isn't difficult to understand why they've lasted. An offer mailed to the company's best customers starts off with a bang -- almost literally. An illustration of an exploding firecracker on the #10 outer envelope calls attention to the main offer: a $19.99 sale. A four-page, four-color brochure vividly displays a dazzling array of items available at the special price, from filet mignons highlighted in the letter, to sole almondine and lobster bisque. With a "savings certificate" buck slip as a reminder, customers are directed to order by mail or phone. Mailed in June of the last three years, it's become a pre-Independence Day tradition (Archive code #355-171626-0806C).