In the final part of our series we look at the applications of Direct Mail and its success in bringing harmony to a brand campaign. Having dispelled the myth of its demise and re-introduced the Super Hero to the masses it’s time to take a moment and enjoy some time with The Harmoniser.

The power of a fully integrated campaign approach has long been the approach of brand marketing. Ensure we cover all of the channel areas and engage consumers across all walks of life. An integrated campaign across all mediums is effective at excelling in memory building attention. With Print media making a comeback across all its forms, Books, Newspapers, Magazines the objective is to bring together the tactical and digital journeys for the consumer.

Direct Mail is The Hamoniser. It is the medium that has the ability to engage, to entertain, to be personal, to be clever, to be bold, to be direct and most important of all to be the conduit to a brand journey that is chosen not imposed. Direct Mail drives consideration. As consumers it renews and rekindles out relationship with brands as we choose to engage with them. The way in which we use Direct Mail to start that journey has also come full circle.

Direct mail boosted ROI by 20% when it was part of an integrated campaign

(The Little Book of Bigger Returns, Royal Mail Group)

All age groups are interested in direct mail,

and 92% of millennials have been influenced to make a purchasing

decision by direct mail

(National Mortgage Professional Magazine)

The use of technology as part of an integrated Direct Mail marketing campaign, is a must. Marketing Communications Management and taking Direct Mail through that gateway ensures we are effective. Using Data to just ensure we deliver to the correct household is not taking advantage of this precious commodity. Personalisation and understanding of our target audience increases the effectiveness of our communication with that audience. Through the use of effective MCM tools we can collide challenging creative and data to create a full suite of Direct Mail pieces covering customer type, location, age demographics and gender. Through harnessing the use of MCM we create a single client journey, Harmony.

Engage the consumer through Direct Mail. Trigger their senses with a personal creative approach. Take them on a brand journey to either on line or in store. Ensure we have that creative journey integrated so we do not lose their attention on the journey. Technology is also available at the point of engagement, to harness both B2C and B2B customers. Name another medium can be so targeted and so effective. Direct Mail is the perfect harmony partner.

So here are three possible technology integrators for a DM campaign. These are simple effective and create a great sense of brand awareness and true long-term memory encoding with the recipient. The call to action has moved considerably from the log on prompt, we ‘ll call you, call us to receive, through to innovative and engaging ways of interacting with our audience.

Some are old favorites, and some are enhanced models that have been around a while, but don’t ever doubt that old school can be the new school.

  • Augmented reality (AR): Is Augmented Reality the future for DM? The advent of greater accessibility through smartphones to the medium that it so well represents, I truly hope so. It's is highly flexible, customisable and interactive, enhancing the customer experience. Through Direct Mail, AR brings print to life. It can be simple, entertaining, emotive but always engaging as we are engaged in the experience.
  • Quick response (QR) code: Gone but not forgotten, the latest QR code is sleeker and has several marketing advantages. People are also familiar with QR and its reintroduction has already seen significant uplift for brands. A QR code can deliver a lot more information to the recipient, and feedback on tracking the DM it to the point of delivery.
  • Video DM: Video brochure takes printed communication to the next level. It is easy to insert a video screen in the printed material and play a specific video or livestream an event. With embedded Wi-Fi hotspot and video players, it can get simple and realistic. More geared towards the B2B market and lower volumes this is true innovation at work.

So, through innovation in our approach, with utilising MCM to create a fully integrated campaign and embracing technology in our call to action we can create a full end to end integrated campaign that reaches out to our targets through their now unpopulated letter box’s in a personal and powerful way, engages our receivers and puts them in control of the next stage of their brand journey.

We have dispelled the rumours that Direct Mail is Dead, we have evoked the Super Hero, and we have embraced the power of Harmonisation in our approach to creating an Emotional Intensity with our consumers. Direct Mail’s time to shine.