Mr. Postman...Bring Me a Dream

Within the banking industry, for example, the preferred direct mail vehicle continues to be the traditional, #10 envelope package. Changes are being made, however, in the type of offer companies are making. In the past, banking services—including savings, checking and money market accounts—have used contests awarding cash prizes to drive responses more often than other financial sectors. Now, the contests are giving way to more offers for premiums.

Associations and membership groups are not as prolific in their direct mail efforts as, say, the financial and insurance industries, but the packages that are sent out are typically envelope formats, as opposed to self-mailers. Most appeals for professional organizations are forms-based and meant to look official. They rely heavily on personalization and an invoice-style reply form to drive responses, and utilize labels, notepads and other low-cost goodies to draw prospects into the packages.

For the travel industries, four-color process and self-mailer formats rule. And while there typically has not been much reliance on premiums to drive response, there was a noticeable increase in premiums this past summer, including offers for reduced rates at hotels, as well as gift certificates for personal services, restaurants and local attractions. The travel industry also tends to avoid obviously personalized communications, and prefers self-mailer formats over envelope packages. This reflects not only the tendency to use travel catalogs to communicate marketing messages, but also the limits envelopes can place on using effective, attention-grabbing graphics which are destroyed when recipients open the mailing.

When it comes to the publishing sector, the amount of mailers and the use of personalization continues to increase. More advanced uses of personalization include variable text on magazine wraps, and text seen through die-cut windows on envelope packages. However, publishers—traditionally favoring playful stickers, fun die-cuts, big-benefit copy and large unfolding brochures featuring large photo spreads—are responding to economic pressures by switching to more subdued tactics that focus on the products. Now, instead of gimmicks, the mailers are filled with stronger copy that creates a connection between the product and audience, showing how a product fits into the desire for value and individuality.