Advertising postcard
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An advertising postcard is a postcard used for advertising purposes (as opposed to tourism and greeting postcards). Because the postcard begins as a blank sheet of paper, the options for what may be advertised are endless. Postcards are used in advertising as an alternative to or complementary addition to other print advertising such as catalogs, letters, and flyers. Advertising postcards may be mailed or distributed by other means.
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[edit] Direct-mail
An advertising postcard that is sent in the mail directly to the recipient. An organization may send advertising postcards to their current customers, prospective customers, and/or names and addresses to which they want to target their advertisements. Direct mail advertising postcards offer an advantage over other direct marketing mail pieces, such as letters, because the recipient can see the message without having to open the piece of mail. However, they suffer disadvantages also. Because of their relatively small size, they cannot carry much content, and as their contents cannot be hidden from view, they are not viable where privacy or security are concerns.
Many traditional businesses use direct mail advertising postcards. Common examples include:
- Realtors - advertising new listings
- Political campaigns - getting the message out
- Doctors / Dentists - appointment reminders
- Others - lawn care, oil change, movie rentals, etc.
Though postcards have traditionally always been rectangular in shape, certain postal authorities, such as Canada’s Canada Post Corporation, do allow certain non-rectangular shaped cards to be mailed.[1] This has given rise to new marketing concepts such as round postcards or cards specifically die cut to match the theme of a particular campaign.
[edit] Non-mailed
An advertising postcard which may also known as a freecard or an adcard is a postcard which is designed and used to advertise or raise awareness of a company, service or cause. Some of these postcards have insufficient space to include a postal address and a message on the reverse side.
Generally found more often in venues frequented by the younger people (age 18-35), advertising postcards can be found in, nightclubs, restaurants, bars, cinemas, art galleries, museums, theatres, hotels, retail sites, universities and high schools.
Patrons can take them for free, and the success of the medium relies clever or discreet advertising slogans, attractive or ingenious images and production on good quality card stock with a traditional postcard back. One of the marketing concepts is that the cards are so attractive that people want to pick them up, save, show, or post them to a friend and say "have you seen this?". They can become print viral marketing.
A characterising feature of the cards is that they carry the publisher/distributor’s name and logo. The postcard displays usually have between 10 to 20 slots, and cards are changed on a regular basis so there is a continuing supply of new material.
[edit] References
- ^ "Canada Post - Create Compelling Direct Mail", canadapost.ca, http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/business/productsservices/marketing/compellingdirectmail2.jsf#More, retrieved 2009-08-17
