Postcard Advertising during the Dot.com Bubble Era

I mentioned earlier that I picked up a box of collectible advertising post cards at an estate sale auction recently.  Some of the postcards in the collection are for New York City businesses that were trying to launch during the now infamous Dot.com Bubble.

One of the companies trying to etch out a niche for themselves in New York  City was Social Circles.

Social Circles billed themselves as New York City's first activity and social network club.

Talk about an idea that was ahead of it's time, Social Circles decided to compete with the 175 year old old school social clubs and take their version online.

They tried two different postcard campaigns to promote their social networking site.  The first one (above) was a fold - out mailer which tried to sell membership into the site with a 10% discount. With the 2nd postcard, the company (or agency) decided to cut out the fluff and just went with a simple old-school design and a short memorable message.

Another Dot.com Bubble Era advertiser was the Travel| Gear | Community | Adventure site  GORP

Unfortunately, this postcard doesn't define specifically what GORP had to offer.  The back of the postcard declares that

"GORP Can Help You

From mountain hiking in Australia to fishing int Montana, GORP is your resource.  Plan a vacation, find the right gear and get advice from the experts. Whatever you need, GORP GETS YOU OUT THERE."

It's always a bad sign when a company doesn't know what problem they're solving for consumers.  GORP created an eye catching postcard - but without strong selling content - the postcard is doomed from the start.

This is not the fault of the agency or the copywriter.  Since a copywriter gets direction from the owners of a company, he/she could only work with what they were given.

In stark contrast, a postcard with a well defined message in the collection was for New York Waste Match Advertising Postcard.

New York Waste Match was an online service offering access to a database where artists, designers and manufacturers could locate raw materials at significant savings.

Not surprisingly, the company still survives today though under a different name and url.

Defined focus - and an understanding of the problem you're solving are key ingredients to creating a compelling, selling advertising postcard campaign.

Other Dot.com Bubble Era postcards from the collection include:

Loco Soda Advertising Postcard

Siegelgale Branding and Communications Agency Postcard 

Madison Square eshow

Netcom

NY Today New York Times Advertising Postcard

It's easy to see that these postcards are from the Dot.com Bubble era.  It's kind of hard to remember what it was like when a business was unique because they had a web presence... but that's exactly what it was like way back in the early 2000's.

Postcard Advertising: Two Highly Collectible Advertising Postcards from 1998

I recently picked up a box of unposted, unused collectible advertising postcards at an estate auction. Two particularly interesting collectible advertising postcards are from 1998.

One of  the most visually striking collectible postcards features a beautiful black and white photo of an African Bull Elephant by by Peter Beard. The postcard was created to promote the retrospective exhibit in New York City, "Carnets Africains."

Peter Beard has always been passionate in his perpetual war against the unethical game hunting of elephants and other wildlife in Africa. He has spent long stretches of time in Kenya photographing the beauty and destruction of big game.  He has collaborated with many well-known artists such as Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol and Andrew Wyeth, as well as the writer Truman Capote. His images of The Rolling Stones during their 1972 American tour are among the most iconic in the band's history.

The black and white photo of a bull elephant missing a tusk is both powerful and poignant.

Another interesting find in the collection is an extremely rare still sealed 1998 Grand Central Commemorative Limited Edition Collector Postcard Set.  This limited edition set of postcards was issued to celebrate the 1998 restoration and  rededication of the 1913 landmark Grand Central Terminal.  The restoration was done by the New York firm of Beyer Blinder Belle and the Limited Edition Collector Postcard Set was issued to thank customers of the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority).

The Grand Central sticker with logo is still intact, sealing the collection of postcards inside the frosted translucent envelope.

It's f

Advertising Self Mailer GoCard Social Circles New York's First Activity & Social Club

Social Circles Self-Mailer Advertising Piece

The thinking behind SocialCircles.com was simple: create an online community where New Yorkers could meet and mingle.

It's a tried and true concept.  New York City is home to many exclusive social clubs, a few dating back to the early 1800's.   According to Guest of a Guest, the ten most exclusive social clubs have membership dues that are measured in thousands of dollars and use unmarked club houses to protect their member's privacy.   Whether it's The New York Social Club, SoHo House, Norwood or The Belizean Grove - becoming a member of one of the elite social clubs takes more than money.  Sometimes you need to be well connected to join - for other clubs nothing short of having the right parents will get in.  One thing all of these successful social clubs have in common is the promise of keeping out the "wrong people" to allow members to socialize with the "right people."

Unfortunately, the founders of SocialCircles.com weren't able to focus on a single target audience : a.k.a a "Niche Market".   The website and club no longer exist - but the postcard was hidden in a box purchased at a recent estate sale.

While this advertising piece is post card size and it offers a 10%  discount to anyone presenting "this postcard" when signing up, the fact that it folds out to reveal copy inside makes it a self-mailer.

inside social circles self mailer

Despite being a self-mailer, I'm not quite sure how this piece was mailed however.    Here's a photo of the back of the card and as you can see, there isn't any space available for the destination name and address.  

back of mailer

Perhaps the plan was to either pass out the mailer at a trade show or on the streets - or perhaps enclose it inside an envelope.

It's a colorful collector's item now.  Check out the listing on ebay for this unmailed piece.