Most of my walks to the mailbox leave me with a yawn of boredom and this particular walk seemed no different.
My daughter, a Sr. in high school, applied to one school, (this makes sense if you know her), so most college mail goes straight to the recycle bin. But she couldn't resist opening this 1/4"x 5" x 7" box from Columbia College Chicago. Her comment when she opened it was, "I'm not going to this school, but this is really cool!" In the box was a stack of colorful cards. Each had an interesting photo and short saying on one side, with information about that aspect of campus life on the back. Pretty routine, but that's not the interesting part. The cards had a slit cut out on each of the short sides, and 2 slits cut out on each of the longer sides. They can be assembled into a nice tower by interlocking these slits. This really commanded our attention. I remember plastic toys like this from my childhood, (can't remember the name of them). Who thinks this stuff up? Someone at "The Nation's Premier Visual, Performing, Media and Communication Arts College" (or their advertising firm) in this case. They certainly backed up their point!
Here's that blend of one thing, an interlocking toy, to a completely unrelated field, college advertising. The whimsy was appreciated by my playful 17 year old. I'm left in awe of the creativity, and wondering what will show up in the mailbox next.
3 comments:
Smart tactic! The college may not have gotten your money, but they got your attention. Even if you and your daughter share their name with a few folks regarding the "tower", their marketing strategy paid off! Cool idea!
I'm notorius for not only throwing junk mail away, but tearing it up before even opening it. With that backdrop in mind...
I still have the cardboard replica of a data projector that was mailed to me at school. The idea that the "postcard" was a fold-and-assemble, full-scale model of the projector was too much for me to resist.
Marheting poys may not be exactly waht Pink had in mind, but the unexpected connection among disciplines is right on target!!
Lots attention goes into making new car brochures. These are "hot items" that my dad and brother pick up at shows and dealers; not neccessarily because they are interested in that exact car, but because some of the brochures/catalogs/magazines are so interesting and creative to read!
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