Prominent Personalization Layout Change

Meher Montessori School case study

Client information

Founded in 1972 by Executive Director John Page, Meher Montessori School is an AMI accredited Montessori school serving children from 2 1/2-12 years of age. It is located in Altadena, adjacent to Los Angeles. The AMI accreditation is of special significance because of the estimated 3,800 schools in the United States that call themselves "Montessori" only about 190 or a slim 5% are formally recognized by AMI. AMI, which stands for The Association Montessori Internationale, is the organization founded in 1929 by Dr. Maria Montessori to train teachers in the Montessori Method and accredit schools. Dr. Montessori, founded AMI to preserve the authenticity and integrity of her Method. All of our teachers hold the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) diploma in addition to their undergraduate degrees.

Campaign objectives

Increase enrollment during a difficult economy.

Target market

Parents of children, ages 2-1/2 to 12, who live within the Altadena community.

There is a keen interest in developing in their children independence, initiative, self-confidence and self-discipline.

Castle Press solution

Personalized postcard mailing

Mailing list

A mailing list of 13,814 families was pulled using the following criteria

Zip Code
Household income
Children residing in household
Age of children residing in household

First postcard mailing

First postcard results: 15 school visits and 3 applications in January.

personalized postcard with school children

Second postcard mailing

Second post card results 41 school visits and 24 applications to attend school in May. This version of the variable data postcard resulted in doubling the response that was achieved in the prior school year.

Changes in design were to reduce background clutter, make the child and family name more prominent.

personalized postcard with young student

Results

This improvement would equate to a potential increase of $173,000 in tuition revenue.