Brave New Mail
In terms of format, most mailers are trying to beat the 2007 postal rate increase with new shapes and sizes. The 9x12" flat, 81⁄2x11" magalog and other oversized packages used to promise big open rates, and some have been long-standing controls. Now, if companies decide to go bigger, they need to justify the cost of the format with exceptional response and returns. As a result, many marketers are testing what Greg Wolfe, president of Norwalk, Connecticut-based Circulation Specialists, called a letter-sized magalog, or a slim-jim magalog. “It’s about 6x10", so it still qualifies as letter rate, and we have to tab it on the open side to get the letter rate postage. But, it’s a magalog format and it has the order form and a BRE,” he explained. The Who’s Mailing What! Archive also has received 81⁄2x11" catalog and magalog mailings that are folded in half and wafer-sealed to achieve lower rates. With the correct design, this quick fix can work, but new shapes and sizes are ultimately necessary to beat the open rates of previous oversized controls.