Free postcard
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A free postcard or Free Card is a free distributed postcard often referred to as advertisement postcard serves. You can find them especially in the catering trade in special stands (also called displays) to take away free of charge. Many cards are also printed on the back with advertising messages and thus represent an alternative to the flyer , which is then only partially or not at all suitable for mailing. The names Edgar Cards and CityCards have meanwhile also emerged as generic terms.
history
The business idea first appeared in this form in Germany in 1992 with providers such as the Berlin company DinA6 Postkartenwerbung (today Dinamax Media ), the Hamburg company Edgar auf dem Karte or the Wuppertal Edition Pick Up . Internationally, this form of advertising is used earlier; in Denmark the company Gocard from Copenhagen was already distributing free postcards five years earlier, in Spain a company called Vangardia is said to have been active with this business idea as early as 1985 in Barcelona and Madrid .
The founder of the American free postcard company GoCard , Alan Wolan, first discovered the concept at the beginning of the 1990s in Berlin and initially worked part-time at the Berlin company DinA6 Postkartenwerbung before successfully exporting the idea to the USA.
Concept and funding
Free postcards have advertising motifs, but sometimes also editorial motifs or artist postcards . The artist and editorial cards are intended to encourage the target group to take the free postcards with them and increase the attractiveness of the entire range of cards, so the art cards act as so-called eye - catchers . Over time, the ratio of advertising to non-commercial cards shifted in favor of commercial cards (Edgar example: in 1998 there were just as many advertising and advertising-free cards in the display, in 2002 there were already twice as many commercial and art cards in the card holder ).
In the case of advertising cards, the customer pays the resulting design and production costs. The card stands will be stocked with the cards by distributors nationwide or regionally during the booked period.
The artist postcards are initially designed by artists who send in their motifs. If your motif is selected, it will be produced and distributed. Depending on the provider, the artist has to contribute a small amount of money or gets printing and distribution free of charge.
The artist and editorial cards are subsidized with the income generated by the advertising cards.
Another component of the concept of free card providers is to confront the target groups in the leisure environment with the commercial advertising cards, which are not necessarily recognizable as such at first glance. Often the advertising message only arises in the interplay between an advertising-free motif side and the back of the card. According to the providers, the postcards are perceived as unobtrusive by the consumer, as they can easily ignore the card display. However, if the advertising card is taken along and sent, the recipient is also confronted with the advertising message.
The target group can be addressed particularly well with advertising cards thanks to the optimal choice of location and product environment.
Card themes and motifs
In the commercial sector, there is hardly an industry that has not yet advertised on free postcards. This applies not only to those who have an affinity for the distribution environment - essentially the catering industry - such as manufacturers of beverages, food or tobacco products, but also, for example, to the automotive, film, furniture, music or telecommunications industries. Cards on social issues such as AIDS or drug problems are also issued by government or non-profit organizations . Many political parties have also distributed free postcards with campaign ads. In addition, cards appear with event information.
The advertising-free cards are essentially cards with sayings or artistic photographic or graphic representations. Corresponding cards appear regularly, especially on occasions such as Easter, Christmas, Mother's Day or at the turn of the year.
providers
There are several providers of free postcards in Germany. In addition to various regional publishers, cards from the CityCards , Edgar Freecards and large-format Platinum cards are sold nationwide, with CityCards being the brand of the Association of Free Postcard Publishers , an association of 21 regional providers that includes advertising agencies such as PPM Perfectly Placed Media GmbH and DINAMIX Media GmbH belong.
Free cards as a collector's item
Free postcards have been collected since the beginning of their existence. Basically, cards are either collected according to topic (e.g. cards for movies or in special formats) or from certain providers. Because of the consistent numbering since 1992, Edgar cards are particularly suitable as collector's items.
Misprints (analogous to the varieties in philately ), special cards (for example cards in special shapes, sizes, made of special materials or with pre-made samples) or specific series are particularly popular among collectors. In Germany, for example, cards with motifs from the Astra beer brand and internationally with motifs from Absolut Vodka are coveted collector's items.
A chronological collection of free postcards provides an overview of the development of advertising culture over the last few decades. A comparison of international free postcards that advertise the same product also provides insights into cultural differences. With the special cards, a technical development in the area of card production can be followed. While printing on recycled paper was already a specialty in the early 1990s, adhesive foils are currently the latest innovation. A film (usually with an advertising message) can be removed from the carrier card and - without adhesives - repeatedly applied to smooth surfaces.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Advertising lexicon
- ^ Die Welt , May 14, 1998, p. 18
- ^ Die Zeit , November 27, 1992, p. 26
- ↑ fotomagazin , 7/2001, p. 137
- ^ Matthias Streitz: Ideas export: Advertising ideas for America - copied in Berlin. In: Spiegel Online . December 30, 2003, accessed June 10, 2018 .
- ↑ Euro on Sunday , December 13, 1998, p. 83
- ↑ wörkshop , issue 3, October 2002, p. 78
- ↑ http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/FUDISS_derivate_000000005263/01_Backen.pdf Backen, Inga: Theory and Practice of Cinema Film Marketing Professional Marketing by Production and Distribution Companies, Pages 60–90
- ↑ CityCards> Contact. Retrieved August 11, 2020 .
