Mount Horeb Mustard Museum
The latest catalog from the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum has been mailed just in time for the holiday season and will surely delight those dreaming of a "Yellow Christmas." Yes, Virginia, there is a Mustard Museum. In fact, this, the condiment museum's most recently tracked catalog, is definitely one of the most unique books in the mail this season. The 32-page catalog, appropriately named "Mustardbill," is a satirical spoof on Broadway's well-known "Playbill." Inside the 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" book, readers will find stage classics such as "The Sound of Mustard," "Mustardtown" and "Annie Get Your Bun." While poking fun at a few of Broadway's popular shows, the book is serious about mustard. Consumers will find every mustard under the sun, from Dill and Garlic Mustard to Raspberry Honey Dijon. The catalog also sells everything a mustard lover needs, including apparel, books and even mustard bath kits. Items range in cost from $2.25 for a single 4 oz. bottle to $150 for a gift box. Orders can be placed through the mail, online or by calling the company's toll-free number.
Nutrition & Healing
Nutrition & Healing, a monthly newsletter spearheaded by preventive medicine guru Dr. Jonathan Wright and published by Agora, is in the mail this fall with a new bookalog promotion. While the magalog/bookalog format is common for newsletters of this type, this is the first such effort tracked for Nutrition & Healing, which had mailed a 9" x 12" package control for several years. Like solicitations used by other health titles, Nutrition & Healing efforts are known for attention-grabbing, often alarmist teaser copy (i.e. "Are you paying your pharmacist...to kill you slowly?!") The new bookalog continues this trend but introduces a whole new fear factor. The headline on the front cover reads "The Soy Myth Exposed!!" Concerned prospects are encouraged to read further to learn more about how this "health-food sweetheart [soy] could actually cause cancer, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's." Perhaps even more notable than Nutrition & Healing's new format and copy is the addition of a three-year term. The full offer range is now $49/$79/$89 for 12/24/36 issues. It is rare for newsletters in this genre to promote a three-year subscription, but it may be a new strategy for Agora. The publisher's Health Sciences Institute newsletter introduced a similar offer in August. Regardless of term, Nutrition & Healing's premium incentives remain unchanged, with six free reports (collectively referred to as the "Library of Natural Cures") for all paid subscribers, plus one bonus report for those who reply within 11 days.
R. C. Steele
Direct mail pet supplier R. C. Steele has officially become the PETsMART Catalog with its recent October mailing, although the name change was actually years in the making. PETsMART, the largest U.S. retail pet store chain with 550 locations, has owned R. C. Steele since the mid-1990s, although it wasn't until early 2002 that it began making the relationship clear in its mailings. The first visual clue was the bouncing ball graphic of the PETsMART logo, which was incorporated into the R. C. Steele logo for the cover of a March 2002 catalog. The same mailing introduced customers to the PETsMART Charities' Adoption Center, although it was explained that the cataloger and retailer were merely "working together" rather than part of the same company. The charitable operation has been the main connection between the two brand names throughout most of 2002. The October book continues this tradition with cover teaser that reads, "You can HELP change their lives! ...see page four for details." Unfortunately, any explanation of PETsMART's pet adoption activities cannot be found on page 4, or anywhere else in the book, a small misstep in what was an otherwise expert handling of corporate re-branding efforts.
Seen in the Mail items are identified and researched by MarketRelevance.com, an online direct mail and email promotion tracking resource offered by ParadyszMatera. CM staff conduct the interviews.
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