Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design

84. Eat or Be Eaten: Appealing to Local Tastes and Cultural Understanding in a Local Marketing Campaign

When you work with clients across the country, sometimes the hardest challenge is marketing to your local audience. When Trace Newman Hayes decided to turn the focus of her New Orleans–based Skuba Design Studio locally, she had to look only at the “critters” found in southern Louisiana for inspiration.

“More than any place I have ever been, New Orleans has an abundance of critters that we have to live with,” says Hayes, principal of Skuba. “I chose to use some of the critters to get our message out in a comical sort of way.” Because New Orleans is “old school,” says Hayes, she decided to go with a direct-mail postcard to reach potential new clients.

Why It Works

If you're local to New Orleans, you know the place nutria rats, crawfish, cicadas, oysters, and termites have in your world. Imagine getting a postcard with one of these undesirables in your mailbox. Attention getting? We think so. A series of six postcards were designed, each with its own locally grown creature. By coming up with witty taglines to accompany high-quality photos, Skuba's direct mail is hitting home with New Orleans businesses. Many want to keep the postcard as a work of art!

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