The Lure Of Lobster

Plush toy lobsters, metal claw crackers and plastic bibs were used in a direct mail campaign by America House Communications for the Newport County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Other enticements included the chance to win a trip to Newport, R.I., and have lobsters shipped to contest entrants’ homes.
The mailer was sent to 1,500 meeting planners nationwide to help convince them to choose Newport for upcoming events.
About 150 planners–or 10 percent of the recipients–responded, compared with the average 2-3 percent rate of return for direct mail campaigns, said Martha Sheridan, vice president of the Newport agency.
It’s too early to say whether the mailer will result in any meetings being booked in Newport, Sheridan said.
Heather McLaughlin of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators in Baltimore, however, will make the trip.