Thursday, June 29, 2006

Four Words

Is four words of copy enough to sell a car? Or at the very least, get me to want to learn more about it?

Maybe, but they’d have to be four really great words. And there’d have to be some exceptional imagery to go with those words.

But a recent direct mail piece I received from Jaguar USA just seems to fall flat.

Here is what the mailing looks like.

This is the mailing panel of the envelope:

.

This is the reverse side of the envelope with a large “XK” (referring to this specific Jaguar model). In the middle, the words “See it” are revealed through a die cut.

Inside the envelope is a carrier that holds a DVD. This is the side you first see when you pull it out of the envelope. The copy reads “Limited availability,” along with a phone number and a web address.

And this is the other side of the DVD carrier, with a picture of the car and the words “See it” that show through the envelope.

I’m not showing the DVD itself, but the design includes just a ghosted back “XK” and Jaguar logo.

So the body copy pretty much amounts to four words: “See it” and “Limited availability.”

Now I might play this DVD, but nobody has really given me much reason to do so. There’s not much to go on. Sure, the woman might look hot, but that picture of the car isn’t very flattering at all – certainly not for a car that starts at 75 grand.

Now I’m no art director, but this is a cool shot of the XK (from the Jaguar web site):

I have no idea what Jaguar’s brand standards guide says about the brand or its attributes. I do know, however, that the copy on Jaguar’s web site reads like this:

Staring is unavoidable.

A mere glance doesn’t do the Jaguar XK justice.

The more you look, the more you realize there is so much more to see.

And each step closer reveals another nuance that distances the XK farther ahead of any other sports car you’ve ever seen.

This approach isn’t bad at all. Something like this would have been far more evocative that just “See it.”

And the “Limited availability” copy? That could be more evocative as well. Perhaps “Available only for the fortunate few” would be more suggestive of what the message seems to be about.

I don’t think all that many people will be playing the DVD, but it probably doesn’t matter much. Even though this mailing was probably expensive, if even one out of a thousand prospects ends up buying a new XK, Jaguar USA and its dealers will be thrilled.

I just think they could have been even more thrilled with the results if they’d adopted a more powerful messaging strategy and execution.

Posted by Richard Bloch

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