Mail 4.0

Playing our cards right

The first biodegradeable card, EnviroCard™ has captured the imagination of Aeroplan, the first company to introduce the cards for its frequent flyer program.  

Check out this Globe and Mail profile to learn more about how the Innovative Graphics team introduced this industry-changing innovation to the marketplace.

Going green is good for business

Check out this National Post article profiling our the new EnviroCard™ – the world’s first eco-friendly customer loyalty and gift card on the market.

Trends Spotlight: Special stock inserts

You’ve created the perfect ad and placed it in the perfect publication. What if you could guarantee that your reader flipped the magazine page right to your ad? By printing your ad on special stock inserts, now you can.

Double-weight stocks ensure that when readers flip through the publication, it opens directly to your ad. Specialty papers, like velum or acetate overlays also enable advertisers to show product comparisons or transitions. For example, a bronze velum overlay can show the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of using a self tanner.

The tactile nature of integrating special stocks within a magazine or booklet also increases the interactivity of the advertisement. That, coupled with the endless creative possibilities, make special stock inserts a highly effective way to give your print ads more prominence in increasingly crowded publications.

Trends Spotlight: The personal touch

Personalization has become practically standard in direct marketing. Now, improved data management and variable print technology can be applied to catalogues and magazine advertisements, too. For example, personalizing a publication such as the Readers Digest Christmas Movie Catalogue can direct the reader to recommended items based on identified preferences or previous purchases.

While advanced production capabilities make it easier than ever to establish a more personal connection with your customers, the caution is that personalization is only as effective as the accuracy of the data. However, when done effectively, giving ads, catalogues and direct mail a personal touch is a proven effective way to immediately make a connection with your target audience.

Trends Spotlight: FSC paper

Have you noticed a small tree icon making an appearance on various mailings and brochures? As consumers become more conscious of green initiatives, marketers are looking for ways to show their commitment to environmentally responsible practices — and FSC Certified paper is one way to do just that. FSC, which stands for the Forest Stewardship Council, is an international organization that promotes responsible stewardship of the world’s forests.

In order to use the FSC logo, trees must be harvested from an FSC-certified forest and flow to a paper manufacturer, merchant, and printer who all have FSC ‘chain-of-custody’ certification. Throughout the process, records are maintained and storage controls are used to ensure that FSC standards are maintained.

As ‘being green’ increases in popularity, it has become more important for marketers to ensure that printed materials are made in an environmentally responsible manner. FSC Certification is one way to be confident that the paper used in your marketing material really does minimize the impact on our environment.

Trends Spotlight: Die-Cut Mailers

If there’s one sure-fire way to stand out in the mailbox it’s to think beyond the rectangle.  Die-cut envelopes and self-mailers are proving that it really isn’t hip to be square.

Technology is making it easier to create pieces in a broad range of shapes and sizes to emphasize the shape of your product or creative treatment.   

The response rates from Die-Cut direct marketing pieces has been impressive.  The Die-Cut envelope created for the launch of the Ford Freestyle achieved all of the client's objectives, while the ShipShapes® self mailer has been demonstrated to increase response rates by 14%.

Trends Spotlight: Stock Sense

When you ask people why they prefer reading books or newspapers versus online versions, the answer you’ll most likely get is, ‘there’s just something about the feel of a piece of paper’. 

Our sense of touch has an extremely powerful influence over our emotions.  Feel a heavy book and you automatically assume a sense of intelligence (or perhaps intimidation).  Pick up a hand-crafted invitation and you instantly feel the prestige and elegance. 

So it’s no surprise that marketers are turning to textured stock to help give their brand more substance.  In addition to traditional texture techniques, such as ribbed paper, embossing and debossing, increasingly we’re seeing papers that take on the same look and feel as the product sold — such as bubbled or leather-like papers. 

Trends Spotlight: DM Attachments

A common challenge for any direct marketer is making sure that your piece is a must see, must touch, must respond advertising.  Attachments, be it a gift card, tattoo, ruler or application form attached to your direct marketing piece, are an instant way to make your piece both intimate and interactive.

Because Attachments require removal and interaction, they start communicating with the recipient instantly — engaging the reader and increasing the likelihood of response. They also add an element of longevity to the piece, which keeps your message top of mind for a longer period of time.

 

From a creative perspective, attachments also give marketers more flexibility to control the message and the integrity of the design.  The sample here shows how MBNA used the attachment technology to include a gift card to stimulate more reaction to its direct marketing efforts.

 

 

Staying ahead of ideas

One of the secrets of my success in this business is not much of a secret.  Staying on top of upcoming trends throughout the marketing business enables us to maximize our direct marketing activities. Staying on top of what’s new and what’s hot in all areas of our business, gives us the insight to better understand our industry — and better serve our customers.

Variable Printing

In every industry there is technology that packs such an impact that it changes the way the entire sector operates. In music, the iPod and iTunes collaboration has completely changed the way the industry connects with consumers.  For the direct marketing industry, one could argue that this industry-changing technology is variable printing.