Let me tell you about an incredible, new product launch that pulled in over half a million new customers… even during a recession!

What made it so successful?

Three words — Direct response strategies.

The product is a nutritional supplement popular in Japan.

The company, Sun Chlorella, wanted to break into the U.S. market. But the Japanese entrepreneur behind the product, George Higashida, couldn’t get enough of the product in the U.S. retail and health food stores no matter how hard he tried. The few stores that did agree to carry the product didn’t sell much of it, he was at their mercy.

And he felt chained to the whims of small, unpredictable groups of stores. George wanted a successful and profitable U.S. launch, and that meant direct-to-consumer marketing and advertising.

So, George found me and my CDGM team.

The Challenge?

We needed to turn an unknown, unappealing product — taking multi algae pills — into something American consumers would rush to buy.

Our mission was to…

• Generate profitable direct to consumer sales
•  Identify the right marketing channel, advertising materials, and ad target audience
• Develop a database of prospects ready to mail
• Create a loyalty/continuity program for repeat sales
• Cross-sell other nutritional products to the new database
•  And create an accountable system so that George and his team always knew the cost per sale

We tackled this challenge by breaking it down into strategic, achievable parts.

These included:

• Branding the company to stand out more for an American audience
• Positioning the campaign for our target market
• Targeting the right audience at the right time
• Identifying the product’s unique selling proposition (USP)
• Developing an irresistible direct response offer
• Using professional direct response copy rather than advertising or editorial copy to maximize sales
• And testing, testing, and more testing… always striving to improve results
• Developing a sophisticated response analysis program

We conducted the entire project in a way that allowed my team and George to immediately see the cost per sale. The return on investment was positive from the start.

Then, after the first campaign, we kept testing media and the creative elements, continuously growing the campaign and database. The testing enabled us to keep improving the results.

The components of the campaign included:

#1. Direct Mail. Both traditional envelope mailings and a magalog (a promotion written and designed to look like a magazine) — Click HERE for a video brief.

#2. Landing Pages. We had to create a special direct response landing page. Why? Because you should never market to your corporate website. Instead, market to landing pages that are designed to draw the consumer in, no distractions to the messaging and targeting the prospect with the right marketing theme.

#3. Bookalog. This is a promotion written and designed to look and feel like a book. In such a familiar format, it disarms the potential prospect’s natural tendency to dismiss advertising without a second thought — See HERE.

#4. Email. But not just any kind of email. Rather, a series of emails designed to remind the prospect about the benefits they can achieve with the new supplement.

#5. Digital Marketing. To keep the message in front of the prospect wherever they went online.

Today, Sun Chlorella is a household, nutritional brand in the U.S.

The Results:

Our marketing campaign generated more than 600,000 new buyers.

As an indirect result, we got buyers into retail stores, which opened the retail distribution network, where stores began to beg Sun Chlorella nationwide to be on their shelves.

We created a systematic reordering program, including aggressive auto shipment efforts, all of which generate repeated revenue with little additional effort.

And we successfully developed new product promotions, increasing the company’s profitability, and diversifying its product range.

We did all of this during a recession, economic crisis, and political drama.

Despite intense supplement competition, Sun Chlorella overcame its challenges and obstacles.

In the process, we helped create a new, multi-million-dollar corporation… all thanks to our direct marketing strategies.

You too can increase your leads and sales, even during these times of economic uncertainty. Call us at (615) 933-4647 or email Michael at [email protected] and let’s see what we can do about turning YOUR business into the next multi-million-dollar success story.