Cutting through with a powerful message?

Posted on 27. Apr, 2010 by neilcrump in Communications

Is it just me or do other people get excited when a parcel comes through the post?

I regularly have parcels of online purchased goodies arrive at our work home in Bayham Street, Camden, and like a small child on their birthday I get almost as excited about other people’s cardboard wrapped surprises as ones addressed to me.

So imagine my delight a few weeks ago when a package arrived with my name on it, the anticipation was heightened because the only thing I was expecting to arrive was a cool lap top sleeve from Tropical Howie. Now this was going to be a bigger parcel and would be identifiable with Australian post marks. This magic parcel was from the UK, it was small, it was book-sized and was in that wrap around cardboard that books can be sent in.

I ripped open the parcel with gusto to discover that, joy of joys, it was indeed a book – wow someone had sent me a free paperback with a red and blue cover. However on reading the title ‘Everything you ever wanted to know about direct mail: complete and unabridged’, I felt suddenly crestfallen. This topic (which I have studied!) doesn’t really float my boat but hey it was a free book and for a micro-second I resigned myself to the fact that I would HAVE to read it, I mean someone had been kind enough to send it to me after all.

So feeling rather daunted by this tome of foreboding, I gulp and opened the look to see how small the font was (ergo how long it was going to take to read), but to my surprise the pages where cut out in the centre to create a hollow so I could directly read the inside back cover. It read: ‘We’ve cut out the hardwork for you – visit www.mmc.co.uk today’. ‘Phew’, was my gut reaction, triple heaps of joy: ‘I don’t have to read this boring book after all’.

Having gone through this five second rollercoaster of emotions I turned my attention to the accompanying letter that was inviting me to an all-day seminar on direct marketing. In an instant I made a firm decision that I wouldn’t be going to the seminar – my adrenal gland just couldn’t cope. Thankfully no-one emailed or called to follow-up on the mailing.

So was this an empty waste of paper and time or an attention grabbing powerful message well delivered?

Well, paper-based direct mail is an interesting form of marketing. I don’t know the stats but as someone targeted I sense it is on the decline (I am getting less of it in the post these days). While direct mail to me rarely sees the light of day in my home or office i.e. it goes straight in the green bin having peeped into the torn corner of the envelope. However, once in a while you get a great mailing. Some personal highlights have been:

Memorable(ish): about a decade ago I received a card with a cow on the front that emitted a ‘moo’ when you opened it. I recognise that this is now standard Hallmark stuff now but at the time this was cool. I have no memory of who it came from or what it was trying to tell me

Attention-grabbing: three years ago just before we broke for Christmas we got a mailing from a design (creative) agency of a plastic turkey in a foil container (complete with a few stray little feathers) that said something along the lines of ‘enjoy your turkey this Christmas’ we’ll call you up when you get back – it probably was far cleverer than that but I cannot remember. We did ultimately meet up with them but we haven’t worked with them

Call-to-action inducing: A set of glossy photos of beautiful images that showcased the work of a 3D design agency which was accompanied with a simple letter. I was looking for inspiration for a way to visualise an ad campaign I was directing. Hey presto they got a call and thousands of pounds of business

So has Aurora (my business) ever undertaken a direct mailing? Yes we have. I am pleased to say that most people loved it (it was a simple hand-made Valentine’s card with a badge on it), that 18 months later is still in the offices of people that I visit. Has Aurora recommended to clients a direct mailing? Yes we have. Sometimes a direct route (undertaken well and simply) is complementary to the rest of the comms plan.

Back to ‘Everything you ever wanted to know about direct mail: complete and unabridged’, was it good for me as the target of this direct mailing? No. It simply made me think it was a huge squandering of (a lot of) paper and underscored the waste of resources that direct mailing can at times represent: low response rates with most destined for the bin or screened from the target by a helpful assistant or other member of the team.

But hang on a second…

…it was attention-grabbing, it inspired a blog post, I’ve named a company you might not of heard of and told you what they do, I’ve created a valuable search engine optimising link to their website.

…it will be memorable – I’ll certainly remember it (you might as well having read this).

…it certainly elicited an action from me (maybe not the seminar attending call-to-action they wanted).

So maybe this was one of the best direct mailing that I have ever received. Go to folks at the Mail Media Centre – they know there stuff (and they are part of Royal Mail, so they SHOULD know direct mail!).

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