Memorable Mailers

By Maggie DeWitt

This month’s mystery product not only makes a strong impression, it just about guarantees mailers will be opened. Essentially, a manufacturing innovation is now providing an attention-grabbing enhancement to an already stand-out envelope product. Best of all, it facilitates the market’s growing demand for short-runs.

Guess what the product is by checking out the following clues:

• It is a specialty envelope with a distinct look and feel that showcases materials in a unique way.

• It features custom, screen-printed designs using ink that mimics thermography.

• It fosters an aesthetic appeal even prompting some recipients to save the envelope.

mystery product revealed

Most mailers hope their products will at least be noticed—let alone opened—before coming to rest in the proverbial circular file. However, The Cloth Envelope Company, Traverse City, Mich., expects the envelope will not only be opened, but saved and perhaps displayed for some time to come.

The Cloth Envelope Company is the world’s only manufacturer of the colorful Cloth Envelopes, and it selected Valentine’s Day to unveil a new printing and design option for the popular products. Due to an increasing amount of requests for Cloth Envelopes custom-printed with logos and brands, the company developed a process using ink that mimics thermography. In addition to logos, a permit imprint, return address and other designs can be screen printed and incorporated into the mail piece itself, thus providing messaging consistency inside and out. And, the process allows for low-volume runs to further benefit customers.

“We’ve gotten a lot of requests from potential clients who want their logos on Cloth Envelopes, but their volume did not meet the minimum yardage required by fabric manufacturers. So, we [created] a product that exceeds their expectations,” said Rose Scharmen, president. “We feel this adds real value to mail pieces since so many of our Cloth Envelopes are saved. Just imagine your logo sitting on desks and coffee tables all over the country.”