Consumer Products

Marketing - Direct Mail

Situation

Golf courses depend on good weather for their revenue. If the weather exhibits any extreme - rain, cold or heat - for a period of hours, days or weeks, courses risk losing valuable tee times and as a result, revenue. However, what many course owners and managers don't know is that there is a method to offset lost revenue, similar to an insurance policy - weather derivatives. Derivatives are based on historical data to project the probability of bad weather days and their toll on a business. If weather conditions vary greatly from the historical standard, the policy pays out to cover resulting lost revenue. c21 client Horizon Weather Group was founded with a focus on selling weather analyses and derivatives to golf course owners and managers.

Challenge

Explaining a complex concept like derivatives is difficult enough. c21 was tasked with an even more difficult assignment - explaining the concept in a quick-hitting, memorable direct mail piece that would capture the attention of prospects in a single mailing and result in action.

c21 Solution

Getting into the mind of the customer, c21 came to the client with the concept of focusing the direct mail piece around one visual - a stunning, tropical landscape reminiscent of many of the golf courses targeted for the product, yet surrounded by severe weather conditions. c21 knew the image would help potential clients visualize themselves in a bad weather situation, and would hopefully entice them to turn the card over for more information - and ultimately to visit the Web site for even more information and a free, downloadable white paper explaining weather derivatives.

Results

The postcard and parallel Web site revisions were cost-effectively completed within a four-week period. Based on response to the direct mail piece, we tracked dozens of requests for the white paper and began to build the client's database while opening the door for future dialogue. Based on the campaign's success, the client decided to extend a similar marketing program to ski resort owners and managers.