Ajit Balakrishnan, was the director of New Business Development and Strategy at Ideal Digital. Over the past two months, he had carefully crafted the high-level strategy for Ideal Digital's experimental marketing subsidiary, RealPostIt!, a venture that offered people the ability to send free, customized postcards in the mail to their friends and families. Businesses paid all costs, in return for the unobtrusive placement of their brand name and logo on the postcard. Balakrishnan was now focusing on targeting corporates who would be persuaded to become advertisers with RealPostIt! Although his network of advertisers was large, as a result of his previous business ventures and business relationships with small businesses, it was not large enough to sustain RealPostIt! He would need to reach out to large corporations and their marketing divisions. Balakrishnan planned to send a proposal to these corporations with an attractive cover letter. He needed to ensure that advertisers believed RealPostIt! had a value proposition worth pursuing.

Individuals could log onto www.RealPostIt.com and send two postcards through the mail per day, for free. The website was compatible with smartphones and tablets. After logging into the site, the consumers would first choose a picture, a JPEG file, to create the postcard. They could also choose a picture from a Facebook album or from a device's hard drive. They would then be prompted to send a personal message on the back of the card and enter the receiver's address. After the first two steps were complete, they would be given a number of "sponsors" (or advertisers) to choose from. The sponsor chosen would border the picture of the postcard. The border itself was unobtrusive and did not interfere with the picture itself.

Both the sender and receiver of the postcard would also receive a discount or a free-offer coupon from the sponsor. The sender received this coupon via email: the receiver, via an advertisement on the back of the postcard below the text. The RealPostIt! website was equipped with an advertiser's page (www.RealPostIt.com/Advertisers) that allowed interested parties to learn more about the company's value proposition.

Balakrishnan's postcard competitors were American-owned companies: Photogram and Postcard, who allowed a customer to customize and send postcards from a computer or smartphone; however, they charged $0.99 per postcard, while RealPostIt! was free. At the same time, Balakrishnan knew that these companies were large, had already acquired many customers, and had substantial financial banking; his was a small, fledgling Indian company. If he did not acquire advertisers fast enough, the large American players would mimic his business model, which was very different from the regular methods listed below:

Direct mails have very low open rates (1.38 percent), was an impersonal method, no emotional connection, costly and targeting was difficult while online impressions are difficult in terms of visibility, short term in focus, with click rate of just 0.95. If an organization runs an email campaign, it can receive similar open rates to the preceding two, but depended on the quality of the list acquired to whom such mails would be sent. Emails definitely have the chance to show results, but were short term in focus and highly unpredictable. Compared to these, traditional prints were very difficult to measure, no digital engagement, and costly.

Balakrishnan believed that RealPostIt created value - a unique and tantalizing value proposition from what is offered by others since advertisers would not be imposing themselves upon customers, would be offered "permission" to enter their homes and offer something of value. The product offered advertiser high visibility as postcards would be kept for years in their homes in full view, (mantelpiece, fridge, office desks and so on).After choosing a sponsor, the sender would be sent an exclusive coupon offer (a code on the back of the postcard), and the advertiser's brand would be seen in the border around the postcard, thus giving a great opportunity to be noticed.Moreoverit offered the geo-analytics of both senders and receivers and advertisers would be given control over campaign management. They could upload new creative designs for the borders and coupon and if RealPostIt! was being used in concert with another campaign, borders and coupons could be designed to complement that campaign. One of the important feature was online analytics that could measure return on investment, and the service offered budget control as well. This meant that advertisers could determine the way in which they could buy postcards (maximum number over a span, or a staggered plan, even a one-time plan).

Perhaps the greatest advantage was that RealPostIt! offered advertisers a chance to be seen while friends and family connected in an emotional way. The advertisers could ask themselves, 'When was the last time our brand ended up on a consumer's fridge?' Balakrishnan knew that emotional marketing was becoming popular in the corporate world.

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