Chicago–As the song says, “Fairytales can come true, they can happen to you…” And for Scottsdale, AZ-based Fairytale Brownies, a promotional fairytale of sorts came true–thanks to the cataloger’s name.
The food gifts marketer participated in a joint promotion with Dreamworks’ hit film “Shrek” this past spring. Fairytale Brownies supplied samples of its brownies at the local premiere of the film, an animated fairytale with a modern sensibility, and at showings in several major cities. In exchange, the cataloger was featured in all manner of advertisements and promotions for the film.
How did such a relatively unknown cataloger with annual sales of less than $10 million team up with a large Hollywood studio such as Dreamworks? According to Fairytale Brownies president Eileen Spitalny, when seeking partners for its “Shrek” promotions, someone at Dreamworks searched for “fairytale” on the Internet, found Fairytale Brownies, and contacted the company.
Spitalny shared this story during a session entitled “Small Catalogs: Unique Ways to Find Customers” during Catalog Weekend at the DMA Annual Conference here in McCormick Place. Spitalny also shared other unusual ways in which her company has succeeded in promoting itself. For instance, the company sent out a press release about its donations of surplus brownies and other baked good to a local charity; “Family Circle” followed up on the release with a brief article that resulted in more than 300 orders. Fairytale Brownies also helps sponsor a friend of Spitalny’s who is a racecar driver.
And last year the cataloger broke even on its investment in the driver, Spitalny said. (His auto, which is emblazoned with the company’s URL, is listed as a source on the drop-down menu that Fairytale Brownie uses on its Website to ascertain where buyers are coming from.) This year Fairytale Brownies may make a profit on Spitalny’s friend, as he is scheduled to be featured on a number of televised races this year.
Spitalny also mentioned that is aiming for 40% sales growth this holiday season. That’s down slightly from her pre-Sept. 11 goal of 50% growth. For the holiday season, Fairytale Brownies will be mailing three versions of its catalog in four drops, with a total circulation of 460,000. And the company will be adding an additional drop in the summer next year.