Happy Birthday to Me, from Anthropologie...

The single most effective piece of direct mail in the history of the world is the Anthropologie birthday discount. I have anticipated it and used it for at least eight years, which is pretty incredible for a piece of direct mail. What makes it so effective?

From my perspective, it works because instead of sending a cheap birthday card with no discounts (ahem...Southwest Airlines) or an uninteresting postcard, Anthro sends what looks and feels like a handmade, personalized birthday gift. It might be a fabric pouch with your astrological sign printed on it, or a birthday candle necklace. It's always creative, mostly adorable, sometimes reusable and always inexpensive for the company to produce. The discount is always the same - 15% off of regularly priced items. That isn't a great discount, but the combination of a bit of a discount plus the excuse of birthday shopping is enough to tip the scales. Other ways the company makes this direct mail piece effective include shipping it on a different day every year, not discussing it publicly and not sending it each year.

It's a smart promotion on the company's part because they're likely still making a healthy margin, given that they lured me into the store to buy something more expensive than I'd normally buy and they're only losing 15% plus the cost of the direct mail piece...and increasing brand loyalty by making customers feel loved. 

Below are some examples that others have posted of their much-loved birthday gift - permission to spend money that they likely don't need to spend on things they don't need. Thanks, Anthropologie!