What's the solution when you're afraid your product is going to be overlooked in a retail store where it will be just one of many items? The answer, use a direct mail campaign. The Pleasant Company's approach is definitely worth looking at more closely, since it provides a really good reason why direct mail should be used by some (and perhaps not by others). What makes this line of dolls so unusual and deserving of more attention than it would get on a retail shelf is the history part of the line of products. Here are not merely dolls for girls to play with, but history lessons to be learned with every one. This therefore is more than a Barbie or a Ken or a Cabbage Patch toy. By using direct mail and/or catalogs to provide information, Pleasant felt that "Direct mail was the best way to sell a relatively complex product line in a softer and gentler voice to girls, mothers, and grandmothers." (McDonald 147)
What made direct mail even more of a effective means to sell the product line was that it could provide endorsements by teachers and educators, something that would be impossible, if the line were merely displayed on a retailer's shelf.
The fact that not only dolls but also books were part of Pleasant's historical line, made it possible to do two effective direct marketing actions: One, to offer books to libraries for use by children there, and to sell them by direct mail to educators and to create displays at educational conferences. This is a multi-level exposure and sales effort that may not be original, but certainly is original in this particular product line.
The key here is- how to reach the consumer economically and meaningfully. Through libraries, endorsements, selling ONLY via catalogs, rather than diluting marketing efforts by having the product line spread thin on retail shelves as well as through direct mail. It is important, therefore, for any manufacturer to decide where to put his marke...