any response to the letter writing campain.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I have only known of b5 for one year now.(and 4 months

). and i love it. its a bit hard for me to get the new b5 and write mail(snail or email) since im
from denmark(europe). Im still very eager to know the progress. If you have receieved any response, no matter how unimportant it is, please post here to make me happy

.

Sincerly

Tobias Ussing

 

[westtim]

We will not get a response from SFC. The most anyone of us will get is a postcard acknowledgment from USA network. This does not mean that they don't hear what we are saying. In fact I wager that Save Crusade letters to SFC as well as good ratings on the B5 reruns contributed to the creation of Rangers.

We will get our response when Rangers goes to series. So if you've not written a letter to SFC please do so.

The sponsors are a different story. They DO respond. In fact our Save Crusade letters were forwarded to the president of TNT (We did not know at the time that TNT *wanted* Crusade dead, but that is another story) from Coca Cola. Sponsors do care what you the consumer think. This is because you are keeping them in business. SFC cares what the advertisers think because they are keeping SFC in business. So the moral of this rambling is SEND LETTERS TO THE SPONSORS as well.

------------------

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

The point of a letter-writing campaign is not for us to get a response. A letter to Sci-Fi is not going to generate a letter from Bonnie Hammer saying, "You know Joe, I wasn't going to do this series, but your letter convinced me." More often than not a letter to a network will generate a form letter, or no response at all.

A letter to a sponsor sometimes generates a response. I'd say about sixty to seventy percent of the sponsors I wrote during the Crusade campaign sent a letter back, some of them specifically addressing points I had raised in my letter, or even quoting from it verbatim. But, again, these letters can't provide any answers. All most of the sponsors will do is thank for you writing, say that they care what the public thinks of the shows they advertise on, and assure you that your letter has been passed on to the appropriate people. Sometimes this is the sponsor's media buyers, sometimes the network, sometimes both, along with the studio.

This is the reaction we're hoping for. If the decision on Rangers is a close one, we're hoping that a lot of sponsors passing on positive feedback from viewers will help sway Sci-Fi. But if this is the case, we'll probably never know it.

Since you're in Denmark, this isn't an effort you can really contribute to, unfortunately. You're not the target consumer of most of these companies, and a glance at the postmark or return address is all anyone will need to know that you did not see their commercial - or that if you did, you saw it on a bootlegged tape in a country where their product isn't sold.

Right now the question is whether or not Rangers gets sold to an American network. Once that happens folks can start lobbying stations all over the world to carry it. I'm sure Warner Bros. would be very happy if you did. But the first hurdle is to get a series on the air here.

Then we can start worrying about keeping it on the air

, and getting it beamed around the world.

One battle at a time.

Regards,

Joe

------------------
Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

i didn't expect people to get answers alla "because of your mail we will make rangers". i heard that people got stuff from the letter campaign about crusade. wanted to know what people got here, if they got anything, or just an answer of any kind.

 

[Technomage Roanna]

If I do hear anything, I'll let you know.

However, I garnered not one single response in the Save Crusade letter writing campaign. (I don't recall exactly how many letters I sent, but it was more than a few. Handwritten, so perhaps they simply couldn't read my writing to form a response...

)

Never surrender.

Ro

------------------
A ship in a port is safe, but that's not what ships are for.

Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Tobias:

I was just trying to set your expectations.

For the record (as I mentioned in the "Sponsors" thread) I've received on letter so far, a nice note from McDonald's.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>... the environment in which McDonald's commercials appear is a highly significant factor in the selection of media.

Your feedback is very important to us and has been shared with our marketing media buyers. Please be assured, your comments will be reviewed and considered when planning future McDonald's commercial placements.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

They also enclosed a coupon.

That's pretty typical of the kind of repsonse these letters generate. The "your comments will be ... considered" part is probably about as meaningful as those "all credit applications will be accepted" lines you hear in used car commercials. (Of course they're going to accept all the applications. They can't process them if they don't take them from you. That doesn't mean that all applications are going to be approved.

)

Still, it is nice to get something back. Let's me know the address was right, anyway.

Actually, I'd be interested in hearing how people make out as well, since it may tell us something about the kind of letter that gets the most notice. Maybe a more "business-like" letter (mine were laser-printed, on letterhead, and had postnet barcodes on the envelopes) are more likely to prompt a response than a more personal, hand-written one. Or maybe the reverse will turn out to be true, and Ro's experience with the Crusade campaign really was because they couldn't make out her return address.

Either way it could be useful to look for trends. If nothing else it could make the next letter writing campaign more effective. (And there is always another one.

)

Regards,

Joe

------------------
Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[StarStuff]

Joe is looking for trends as to the kind of letter that gets the most notice, so that our next letter writing campaign can be more effective. Yikes! Well I haven't received any replies yet but will post them when I do.

~ ~ ~

My letters to sponsors evolved as I made my way down the list. I hand-wrote a note to Bonnie Hammer but the rest were laser-printed. I hand-addressed the envelope and signed the letters in blue ink.

I thanked them for sponsoring the Ranger movie on the Sci Fi channel and said we enjoyed the story and the characters. Bio info included the fact that we are a large, three-generation family of Sci Fi/Babylon 5 fans. I said we watched Rangers twice and recorded it twice for family members who can't get the Sci Fi Channel.

I mentioned their product and personalized the comments. For Dominos' Pizza I said that even though we had never order Dominos' we would order it over the weekend when we were having grandchildren visit. (We did and it arrived within 15 minutes and was instantly devoured). For the Bahamans' commercial I said that we were planning this year's vacation and that we would definitely consider the Bahamans.

I closed by saying that we looked forward to a Rangers' series and that we would be loyal to their sponsors.

------------------
God be between you and harm in all the empty places you must walk.

 

[KoshN]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino:
Tobias:

I was just trying to set your expectations.

For the record (as I mentioned in the "Sponsors" thread) I've received on letter so far, a nice note from McDonald's.

They also enclosed a coupon.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hmmm. I've been meaning to write to McDonalds about the Ranchero Bagel (a discontinued favorite of mine), anyway. Maybe I could combine the two, and it would show that I have interest in their products.

I'm also writing to Jeep, since as a previous Jeep owner (and future Jeep owner), I might have a tiny bit of influence there.

------------------
KoshN
-------------
Vorlon Empire

Crusade (reruns) starting 03/26/2002 at 1PM EST on the Sci-Fi Channel
http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/

[This message has been edited by KoshN (edited February 06, 2002).]

 

[StarStuff]

I got my first letter back from a sponsor. Campbell Soup wrote thanking me for taking the time to let them know - blah - blah - blah - loyal comsumer - blah - blah - blah. Nothing about the Ranger movie or Sci Fi channel and they included a one dollar coupon. Just a form letter from Anthony Renwick, Consumer Services Rep.

------------------
God be between you and harm in all the empty places you must walk.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

thanks for replying, its nice to see that the sponsers do listen/read.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Yeah, I got a form letter from Campbell today as well. Nothing about television, my letter or Rangers. Just the usual "thank you for your interest in our product" nonsense. And I only got a fifty cent coupon! (Cheap bastards)

I guess I said too many nice things about the show, and not enough about the soup.

Regards,

Joe

------------------
Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[hypatia]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino:
Yeah, I got a form letter from Campbell today as well. Nothing about television, my letter or Rangers. Just the usual "thank you for your interest in our product" nonsense. And I only got a fifty cent coupon! (Cheap bastards)

I guess I said too many nice things about the show, and not enough about the soup.

Regards,

Joe

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have not heard back from anyone yet, but I did send my letters out pretty late.

During the campaign for "Crusade" however, when I wrote to Campbells I included the label of one of their soups with my letter.

They were very generous to me then. I received many coupons, one for $5.00. (I think they caught on quickly that if I liked their soups, I might like their other types of products.) They also enclosed several $2.00 coupons, and many lower priced coupons that I could use on soups.

I can't be sure, but maybe including that label made the difference.

------------------
"The Bible is a book: it is a good book, but is is not the only book" - Inherit the Wind

"I do not believe that the same God who
has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."—Galileo

hypatia@b5fan.b5lr.com

 

[taichidave]

Got a nice letter from McDonald's today.

It basically said:
Thanks for writing. It's very important to us to know when and where people take note of our ads. The right people now know about this.

No coupon.

Cheap #@$^@-&$.

------------------
"We are (not) all Kosh."

 

[Cerberus]

Received a letter from McDonald's today.
It basically said the same as Taichidave. The 2 points of interest in the letter are:

Along with saying your feedback is important to us and shared with our marketing media buyers

and

Be assured, your comments will be reviewed and considered when planning future McDonald's commercial placements."

No coupons, but hopefully this letter along with many others will have the desired impact.


Cerberus

------------------

 

[Jomar]

I haven't written because I am also outside the US. Even if nobody notices the postmark I would still have to put a return address.

Anyway, I haven't seen it

------------------
I always seem to be diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

 

[Cerberus]

Received a letter from Campbell today.
It basically said the same as the others. The main points of interest in the letter where:
Thank you for taking the time to write and your input will be forward to "Quality Management Team so that they may benefit from your input"

On a side note, I did receive one coupon. Hopefully this letter along with many others will have the desired impact.


Cerberus


------------------

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I've since received a very generic letter from Burger King (thanking me for letting them know about my "concerns" - evidently this is what they send to folks who complain about something

), a more specific one from Wal-Mart, which referenced Sci-Fi and B5: Legend of the Rangers, and an honest-to-goodness phone call from Daimler-Chrysler (makers of Jeep). The phone call really surprised me. The woman who called said that they appreciate the input and would let the Sci-Fi Channel know as well.

Regards,

Joe

------------------
Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Joseph DeMartino, phone call, great. I had hopped for more responses to the letter writting campain. but what little i hear sounds promising.

/me becomes eternaly happy everytime someone responds to this thread.

 

[taichidave]

For those keeping score, I got my Burger King acknowledgement letter today.



------------------
"We are (not) all Kosh."

 

[gkarfan]

Joe DM, I also got a letter from Wal-Mart that specifically mentioned Rangers. Nice to know that they are willing to do more than just the usual form-letter!

Tammy

------------------
Tirk: Citizen G'Kar, Captain Martell would like to speak to you.
G'Kar: Of course. Love to stay. Can't. Have to go. Kiss-kiss. Love-love. Bye.

Tammy's Station
http://community.webtv.net/gkarfan/TammysStation