The Negotiation

[Possumgal]

When customers came to me for a bulk mail piece - often a post card of sorts - they'd ask me what to put on it - how to word it.
I'm like; WTF! It's your business, not mine, how the F am I supposed to know?
I might have expressed that to them a bit differently.
But I would nearly always advise them to include some kind of giveaway, or coupon. It's astonishing the lengths people will go to if they think they're getting something for nothing.

Smart move. If you had any input on the content of the card, that would give the customer an excuse to blame you if the mail campaign produced poor results.

 

[keith1]

Smart move. If you had any input on the content of the card, that would give the customer an excuse to blame you if the mail campaign produced poor results.

I've never known a customer to require an excuse in order to blame the printer.
Customers tend to confuse printers with ad agencies. The difference of course being that printers accept their limitations, or simply have little desire to make up a bunch of fancy drivel to fill a printed piece. Ad agencies live in the world of bullshit and will make up anything. Actual knowledge of clients business an unnecessary bother.
However given that if I was designing the piece, hand in hand with the client, I suppose my input ended up on it in some way or another regardless. I usually forewarned those new to the game to keep result expectations to minimal at best and that it was largely an effort of repetition (several mailings) and name/logo recognition.
Some of my most productive efforts featured an image that had nothing what-so-ever to do with the business the mail out was for. It's all about grabbing attention. Stick a cat on the front and you're bound to find a lot more cat lovers than those interested in concrete foundations. Plus you get the 'they like cats, they must be nice people' crowd.
Reminds me of wine labels. Had a couple customers (wineries) who when we were designing the label for new product would ask for my input on the descriptive part of the label. The flowery bit that tells you about the wine's aroma, nose, taste etc.
I know nor care less about the finer points of wine other than to accept if it's offered.
Rich aromas of dill and applewood smoke, with notes of toasted marshmallow and banana, along with warm oakiness, cool acidity, and residual . . . .

 

[gordo]

Rich aromas of dill and applewood smoke, with notes of toasted marshmallow and banana, along with warm oakiness, cool acidity, and residual . . . .

That sounds like UV coating to me. Now aqueous coating. That there smells like a fine Chardonnay (Chardon eh? in Canaduh).

 

[keith1]

That sounds like UV coating to me . . .

With a hint of kerosene.