Direct Mailers: OU Recruitment Services – Pitch and Reflection

Hello again!

In this post I will be wrapping up my direct mailer design project that I have been working on for the past few weeks.  In recap, I was tasked with defining a stakeholder and a second stakeholder related to the first stakeholder. Then I was asked to create a recruitment mailer that would be sent to both groups.

My first stakeholder was high school juniors and seniors interested pursuing a college education in ballet.  My second stakeholder was the parents of those students.

Let’s examine my first mailer that was targeted at the students.

I chose an image of current and former dancers here at OU during an international tour to Austria. (I’m the second guy from the left, just fyi)

I appealed to the insight that I gained from my research – my stakeholders is greatly concerned with their future.  I reflected that in my appeal to their future career.

On the back of the mailer, I posed a question which I followed with a direct call to action.  In the left column of my mailer I showed the graphic logos of companies that alumni have received jobs and contracts. These companies would both be familiar and impressive to my stakeholder.  Finally, as a way to better familiarize and show OU Dance to my stakeholder, I asked them to follow OU Dance on social media.

Now for my second mailer! This one was directed at my second stakeholder: the parents of my first stakeholder.

The front of this mailer is very simplistic, as to not detract from the dancer or from the text.  The text wraps in a contour around the shape of the dancer.  I focused on the quality of education that students can receive in ballet at OU.  I utilized white space in an effort to not clutter the image.

The back of this mailer would appeal to parents because I created a personable letter from the Acting Dean of the Fine Arts College and Director of the School of Dance.  I echoed the direct call to action in the headlines as well as in the body of the letter.  I also touched on the quality of the faculty/staff in the letter – a point that would resonate well in my stakeholder.  I repeated similar elements in the right column of the mailer as I did in the first mailer.  I feel that social media invitation, especially Facebook, would be important to the age group that this mailer targets.

Finally, here is the pitch video that I created explaining many of the previous points and more! Enjoy!

Now, I’d like to address a few things in reflection.

1. How did react to what you actually did?

I like the front of both of my mailers. I’m still not crazy about the backs, but that is because I would to be able to create more interesting graphics and ways to relay information.

2. Now go one level deeper: Why do you think your reaction was what it was?

I think I’m still not satisfied with my technical abilities in the programs. That’s not a bad thing per-say, but I still don’t have the skills/knowledge to execute the ideas that I have in my head. I do feel that I’m getting more comfortable with the tools I am being asked to use, but it’s just taking time.

3. What are some differences you found between Photoshop and InDesign? Do you feel like you prefer either one?

I definitely love the layout capabilities of InDesign, it makes it much easier to align everything in the document.  I’m still figuring out the powers of Photoshop, but it is coming.  I have even started looking at tutorials for Illustrator in an attempt to find more tools with which to express the ideas that I have in mind.

Once again, I would love to be able to orchestrate the photoshoots, especially because in Photoshop everything is dependent on the pixels, and if the picture isn’t captured in a way that allows me to manipulate it effectively then it is worthless to me

Until next time!