E-Mailed Invitations: Better Sidekick than Superhero.

A good friend called me the other day and asked if my wife and I were going to attend a fundraiser ‘gala’ for a local non-profit organization. I was on the board of this organization for a number of years and in addition to a substantial financial contribution, I also donated a great deal of time developing their brand identity and various marketing pieces.

My knee-jerk reaction to my friend’s question was fairly severe–in that I felt slighted, having never received an invitation. I know this because I have been granted a sensory gift. I can hear a mail truck from at least 4 miles away and ever since childhood, the shutting of the mailbox door causing me to spring into action! So, as the family’s snail-mail gatekeeper, I know for a fact that a gala invite had never touched down at the old homestead.

Feeling under-appreciated and disgruntled, I attempted to erase every mental fragment of this particular organization from my mind. But then…

It was brought to my attention that printed invitations had neither been printed or mailed. All correspondence had been done through e-mail! 

B-Z-Z-Z-Z! (ear-splitting wail of the marketing communications penalty buzzer)

Lets be completely serious. Despite being ultra-green and economical, the novelty of electronic messages evaporated several years ago.

My e-mail inbox has a leak so BIG, that six dozen, Hans Brinkers–would not be able to control the flow. 

As I constantly struggle to bring the inbox to ‘E’–even Gary Cooper would fall victim to the speed of my itchy trigger finger as it reaches for the 'unsubscribe' button. 

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Click. Gone. Next!

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In fact, I recently subscribed to a great new service, unroll.me, which bundles all of my non-personal e-mails into one bundle (my Daily Rollup), delivered once a day. 

The service also tracks e-mails that are not yet included in the digital package. For those, I have three choices:

1. Ad to my Rollup.
2. Keep in my Inbox.
3. Unsubscribe.

I can now out-draw Mr. Cooper, with my left mouse hand–even while blind-folded.

Returning to the invitation, there is a very good chance that while trying this trick (opposite hand, vision-impaired), I accidentally unsubscribed from this list–never to be invited again.

So here is what I strongly recommend in terms of event invitations:

1. Unless you are going to reach out personally to invitees–either eyeball to eyeball or by the telephone, a printed invitation is necessary.
2. A post card is fine. Just be aware that post cards do tend to receive excessive punishment as they travel through the USPS meat grinder.
3. In the case of the gala event (as described above), where tickets are a steep $75 each–a modest invitation mailed in an envelope meets the basic requirements of social grace. After all, you don’t expect me to show up in a sleeveless undershirt and cut-offs.
4. From an inter-family communication standpoint–you can’t thumbtack an e-mail to the family bulletin board. E-mail and refrigerator doors refuse to socialize.

Unless your e-mail list is rock solid, an e-mailed invitation makes a much better sidekick than an invitation super hero. Because, if you are like me, my ‘UNSUBSCRIBE' trigger finger–very seldom rests. – Doug.

Recent Work: SmartStand™ Retail Display System

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The newly designed SmartStand corporate mark.

EYMER BRAND Laboratories + Think Tank, recently completed a strategic marketing and visual brand building project for in-store display solutions provider, Kokley.

In addition to a new corporate mark, EYMER, copywriter Jim Montgomery (Montgomery Communications) and Jeff Hoffman (Squash House Media)–teamed up to produce a product video for use at a recent retail industry trade show, where the SmartStand was introduced to some of the world’s leading retailers. 

Work is now underway on print collateral as well as online promotional campaigns. – Doug.

ANTS Goes Marching One-By-One–Hurrah!

Tomorrow, Saturday, February 8, 2014, a relatively large flock of our Andover Newton Theological School friends, will be attending an enormous, yet peaceful demonstration in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Moral March on Raleigh, is expected to draw as many as 20,000 marchers to the southern city and is being described as “the most massive moral rally in the South since Selma!"

Issues to be addressed, include:

• Economic sustainability, alleviating poverty and expanding labor rights for all
• Supporting a fully funded, constitutional public education
• Healthcare for all, protecting Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and the Affordable Care Act
• Disparities in the criminal justice system
• Protecting and expanding voting rights and civil rights

The march has been organized by the Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) People’s Assembly Coalition.

This group includes members from the more than 125 North Carolina State Conference NAACP branches, youth councils, high school and college chapters, and over 160 other social justice organizations.

To learn more, please visit: hkonj.com

As you go through your busy Saturday, please think of these extremely dedicated people–as well as all of the GOOD–for which they march. – Doug.