Continuity Marketing: Pleasures and Pitfalls

International Masters Publishers

One of the most curious continuity marketers—and, for a time, one of the most successful—was International Masters Publishers (IMP), a Danish organization that opened shop in California and, later, moved to Stamford, CT, where it is today. IMP’s signature mailings: a “sandwich pack” of 4˝ x 6˝cards on such subject areas as wild animals, gardening, cooking and health. What made the mailings unusual is that where most direct mail efforts “sell the sizzle”—make bold promises with powerful, benefit-laden copy, International Masters would “send the steak”—actually wrap 12 of its little cards in clear plastic and sandwich promotional material and the order card in the middle. When the prospect slit open the plastic wrap, a fascinating deluge of actual products would fall all over the table or into the person’s lap. Brightly colored and filled with information, the IMP card promotions delighted everyone who received them.