DM Diagnosis : What’s Not to Love?

Premiums with life spans still work … and might even end up on eBay!

I'm guessing that round-trip premiums like the toothbrush and American flag have longer shelf lives than many organizations typically see because they can be made into annualized, mission-driven campaigns.

There is one caveat to having donors return premiums to you, however. AdoptaPlatoon uses business reply envelopes, so it's picking up the tab for postage on returned premiums. If you don't use a postage-paid return envelope, you'll want to be sure the "Place Stamp Here" box indicates how much postage the premium requires if more than one First Class stamp.

I'm interested to see what happens with the little box of chewing gum AdoptaPlatoon mailed earlier this year, the first front-end gift I can recall from it to keep for myself. Although the box of gum shows through a second window on the carrier, rather than being hyped with a "Free Gift" teaser or headline on the letter, the premium is downplayed. It's not mentioned until Page 5 of the letter: "If you liked receiving the small box of gum I enclosed to get your attention, then think of how much more our troops in a war zone appreciate receiving an entire box of goodies from AdoptaPlatoon!"

It strikes me a bit like other can't-quite-throw-it-away items because it's peeking through the window — the kind of premium used to make a point rather than be a gift.

The nonpremium premium
Wounded Warrior Project's acquisition package also uses a second window to showcase a mission-based premium that is arguably not a premium: a First Class Purple Heart stamp paper-clipped to the letter/reply.

The copy is a classic, local-area fund drive with several personalization points using my city, state and name — but made even more compelling with the story of Jeremy, a young Army Ranger seriously wounded in Iraq.

The only mention of the premium is in the letter's headline: "I attached a 42 cent Purple Heart stamp because … wounded troops returning from war urgently need your response to WWP's [State] Fund Drive now!" Then, on the courtesy reply envelope, a box in the postage area directs, "PLACE YOUR FREE STAMP HERE," effectively making the Purple Heart stamp a round-trip premium.

But like so many premiums, this one might have been viable for only a limited time. If the U.S. Postal Service had not reissued the Purple Heart stamp for the fifth time as a 44-center following the last postage increase, this package would have been forced into retirement.

Between that and ever-evolving postal regulations and restrictions on mail formats, I think the mailers of dimensional premiums especially are intrepid fundraisers — in spite of what everybody says about "those tacky premiums." HOOAH!

Kimberly Seville is a creative strategist and freelance copywriter. Reach her at kimberlyseville@yahoo.com 

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