Drafting the right direct mailer

For these past two lessons, I worked on two drafts of direct mailers for two separate stakeholders with the aim of basically recruiting potential students for the University of Oklahoma.

The first one would be directed toward high school students between 16 and 18 years of age from the Oklahoma City Public Schools, located in the Oklahoma City metro area. Although socioeconomic status varies widely from area to area, the draft targets students for whom financial aid may be a deciding factor.

Here is the draft:

The second direct mailer is aimed at parents of these students. Because many of the students targeted come from diverse yet likely traditional backgrounds, this one attempts to speak to parents about the space OU can provide students to feel like they belong.

Here is that draft:

I liked that this lesson focused on real work, something I really could see being sent to me when I was in high school. I had practicing with photoshop, but the more challenging part was of course trying to figure out the stakeholders and that what kind of message I should target them with. Then it was trying to figure out how the images as well as the effects could emotionally connect with who I wanted to to reach with my message. For the second one I certainly thing there is a way to shorten the sentences, make them easier to read and understand. Still, I felt pretty good about both drafts.