Snail mail, post, that’s soooo last century, or is it? Time was that you could not open your door for a wave of paper trying to sell you all sorts of rubbish. From the possibly useful like a takeaway menu, to the wildly untargeted trying to sell somebody a product that 99% of the recipients really don’t want, it was a numbers game.
But now, for most people, the post box is remarkably empty, even bills arrive by email. So when something does hit the mat, at home or in the office, it tends to get picked up. Don’t get me wrong, bad DM is still rubbish and makes a rapid journey to the recycling bin, but there is a real opportunity for cut through. As a fractional CMO, I have seen breath-taking numbers for recall and action from well designed and relevant DM.
Which brings me to my bete noire, the email Christmas card. So lazy, so impersonal and occasionally so righteous, as companies wrap it up in the excuse that they are donating a few quid to charity or saving paper. We used to get loads of Christmas cards and now, very few, even a boring normal one gets cut through.
For me this is a huge opportunity and over the years, we have had a lot of fun with our Christmas cards. Always creative, always fun and always appreciated. We have done mini Christmas trees (some of which are now rather large), a bespoke All about the idea Christmas bauble, printed off a gadget, the excellent Christmas jumper styled scarf, a hug in a mug kit and this year, our massively popular build your own lego Christmas scene. This year, a mini solar house for Syzygy consulting had enormous cut through. They do net zero consultancy for commercial real estate, the majority of which is solar on roofs, so the medium was the message.
Christmas has worked well for us in getting through to people, so we have started doing it more regularly and our summer BBQ box got a lot of love. So whatever the time of year, I think well thought through and creative direct mail can have real cut through, especially on smaller or well targeted audiences. If you ant to see how you can make a big hit with creative direct mail, drop us a line below.
We are very proud of these and are chuffed to have been shortlisted for the UK Agency Award, best new business campaign, so a big thank you to all involved.
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