Welcome to the Talon Mailing & Marketing July 2005
Newsletter:
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newsletter using your internet browser click here:
Organizations Return To Direct Marketing.
With
government restrictions on telemarketing and e-mail marketing, and more elaborate
spam filtering done by internet providers, companies are turning to a
tried-and-true method to reach consumers:
Direct Mail.
Direct marketing is on the rise. With declining newspaper circulations and
hundreds of television channels available, marketers realize traditional direct
mail is one of the best ways to reach consumers in an increasingly fragmented
media market.
In 2004, companies and other groups sent out 96
billion pieces of direct mail — up 12 percent from 86 billion pieces in 1999,
according to the United States Postal Service. Among the mailings are
not-for-profit fundraising, pre-approved credit card offers, un-addressed
grocery circulars, and "Dear Neighbor" coupon packages.
"Companies are trying to utilize mail as
opposed to telephone and the largest areas of growth are in credit card
mailings and mortgages," said Mark Aguinaldo, an analyst with the
marketing research firm Mintel International Group Ltd. in Chicago.
Industry analysts point to the successes in
blocking spam e-mail and marketing phone calls for the growth of the $49
billion direct marketing industry.
The latest report from the Direct Marketing
Association showed that 22 percent of businesses plan to spend less on
telemarketing to consumers in the next 12 months while 45 percent plan to spend
more on direct mail.
Client Profile: MTH Electric Trains
By Michael Borkan
Mike Wolf, founder and owner of M.T.H. Electric
Trains, became involved in model trains when he was twelve years old and began
working as a train assembler for a neighbor who manufactured toy trains in his
basement. Over time, Mike began a
business relationship with Lionel trains and then ultimately went out on his
own. Mike's Train House (MTH) was
established in 1980 and has become a leader in the train industry. MTH is known for their industry-leading
quality products and the many innovations
Mike and his staff have developed.
Ask any male who grew up in the 1940's or 1950's;
the annually produced Lionel Train Catalog was a big event. Young boys could hardly wait to get their
hands on the catalog to see what new products Lionel would bring to the market.
Fast forward to 2005: The demographics have changed considerably. Today's train enthusiasts are older and
spend a lot more money in the hobby. The
most anticipated catalog is no longer produced by Lionel, it is made by MTH. MTH which started as a very small business has
become an 80+ employee company and is recognized for it's outstanding quality
and as the most technologically advanced model train manufacturer in the
industry.
For the last seven years Talon has had the
distinct honor of mailing catalogs and newsletters for MTH. We assemble and mail approximately 55,000
catalog packages a year. We ship approximately
15% of the catalogs by Priority Mail to "Club Members" who pay annual
dues to MTH. The remaining catalog
packages are inserted with other pieces of literature, and then polybagged and
sent third or fourth class mail (depending upon the weight of the package).
Pictured above left: Our employees insert the catalogs into Priority Mail envelopes.
Pictured above right: Polybagged version is ready to be mailed. One side shows the catalog, the other side
shows the address and new product features.
Just as the train enthusiasts of the 1940's and
1950's could hardly wait for the new Lionel train catalog, today's hobbyists
are just as excited to get their hands on new MTH catalogs as soon as they are
printed. When MTH alerts us the
catalogs will be arriving at our facility, we quickly schedule and perform the
mailing project. Running two shifts, we
are able to assemble, sort and mail within several days. Mailings go out each day until the entire
project is finished.
The catalogs can contain 165 to 200 pages and is
produced on quality glossy paper. Many
train enthusiasts save the catalogs as a collectible item. To see the catalog on-line click here: http://www.mth-railking.com/catalog/index.asp
We are giving away two tickets to the Yankees and Mets! To win be the first telephone caller (please
call don't hit reply or email). Call
Michael Borkan at 631-667-5500 x 303.
One set per winner. All games will have fantastic seat locations.
Talon would
like to welcome the following new clients this month to our growing roster of
clients:
Mailing Clients
·
Quadrangle Quickprint
·
Gene Mayer International Tennis
New
Mailing Lists Housed at Talon (we house over 600 mailing lists)
·
Journal of Analytical Toxicology
Mike's
Favorite Links:
Here are
some links you probably are not aware of:
Did you
know Talon offers the following services?
Click on the links below to see samples.
·
HP High
Quality Inkjet (near laser quality)
·
Data Entry
(from 100 to 100,000 names and addresses)
·
Polybag
and shrinkwrap services
·
Merge/Purge
services with comprehensive reports that can instantly be retrieved from the
internet
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Do you
know of anyone else who would be interested in receiving our newsletter? Please let us know by email: mb@talon-mailing.com
To learn more
about our company, please visit our web site: www.talon.com or contact Michael Borkan at (631) 667-5500 x
303.
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