DigiTales Blog - Mel Carson

Microsoft Advertising's Mel Carson collects stories and insight from the digital media space and brings them back down to earth...
Royal Mail & Direct Mail - Thinking Digital   

I have a love/hate relationship with The Royal Mail I love the way the post people send me is delivered through my letterbox, but I hate all the other rubbish they stick in with it, and I can't figure out how to opt out.

When poking around on their website I found a page called Why Use Mail Shots?

They claim:

"Mail is a boom advertising medium. And it generally boils down to one key point. It works. Mail works because it's personal, it's responsive, it's measurable and it's cost effective."

Erm......no it isn't....it's a pain, it's a waste of paper, and it soaks up large wads of my council tax recycling it.

They go on:

"Mail has the power to change the way people think and feel about you because you can make it so personally relevant.

Mail is engaging. Consumers spend on average 10 minutes reading mailshots. Compare the cost of that length of exposure against other media such as TV. (eh???)

Mail is a tangible form of advertising. It gives you a physical presence in your customers’ home or office, and can literally put your product in their hands.

Mail can be targeted to reach very specific audiences - almost every individual, household and business in the UK can be reached by mail.

Mail can support and deepen relationships with your customers, building awareness as part of integrated campaigns, or involving customers with your business as part of ongoing, two-way communications. It can provide one of the few opportunities for people who actually use your product or service to tell you how they use it, why, and what else they would like from you.

Doordrops (unaddressed mail) offer you the chance to talk to people you don't know. You can profile and target lists of likely customers - either in broad geographic or lifestyle bands, or through the use of highly specific street-by-street or even door-by-door data."

Swop the word "mail" with "digital" and you have a much more compelling marketing channel.

BTW - It's 10.16am and the postie still hasn't been :(

Published Jan 03 2008, 10:21 AM by Mel Carson
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All Comments

Paul Davies
  January 3, 2008
Yes true - digitial is effective and targeted, but you miss out on being chased down garden paths by dogs when you press send on an email...
Michelle Nicholas
  January 4, 2008
I like getting my Space:NK brochure through the post and my Tesco vouchers and my M&S vouchers and updates from John Lewis. I used to love getting my MotherCare brochure and Pampers mailings. I don't like getting my Halifax statement by post, so I've opted for paper free. Media consumption isn't a black and white issue, it's a personal choice. We who create media must recognise this and apply it - or the customer will apply it for us.
Hugh Bessant
  January 4, 2008
Not exactly a surprise that RM is promoting DM, is it Mel? And I do agree that digital is increasingly important, but postal DM does work, as Michelle's comment proves. I prefer it targeted rather than dropped, and if you want the postman to continue coming (even if it is a bit later in the day these days) we should all encourage more of it.
Jonathan Blackmore
  January 4, 2008
In my experience mail works at a rate of 10:1 more responsive than outbound email, plus with the huge amount of Spam which is sent via email making your highly targeted creative campaign stand out is getting harder. You can't figure how to opt out? Try the mailing preference scheme (MPS) run by the DMA, it can easily be found online and all reputable mailers use it to dedupe their lists. Final point, I used to love watching ITV, but those adverts just get in the way of my entertainment. As with the mail, though, the advertising subsidises the bits I like, so put up with the other rubbish they stick in with it, because that keeps the cost of delivering the post people send you which you like. As for swapping mail with digital, when you can prove it with effective results and volumes of business then you will have a more compelling marketing channel, until then the two channels will continue side by side as part of any balanced marketing strategy.
Mel Carson
  January 4, 2008
Thanks for your comments guys. If I've signed up for email or direct mail (post) I know where to opt out - either click unsubscribe or fill out a form or call up the company and ask to be taken off their list. That's fine as I opted in it's up to me to opt out. What I don't want is the door drops. Thanks to this debate someone's been in touch from Royal Mail with the answer and I'll blog about it next week. 2 things: Hugh - Are you saying door drops are somehow subsidising The Royal Mail's delivery service? Jonathan - I'm not saying ditch Direct Mail I'm suggesting channels like search are more efficient and cost effective. Check out my post just now on the Xmas Sales..
Lucy Long
  January 4, 2008
I thinks it's what's appropriate for each brand. For instance, recent research by Experian Effective integration of offline and online marketing is driving a boom in online shopping, according to a survey by Experian, bThe credit-checking agency, borne from GUS home shopping poll of over 1,547 British consumers found that seven out of 10 have shopped from home in the past 12 months, often using a printed catalogue. Like Michelle, I love to receive my Long Tall Sally Catalogue and browse through before visiting the shop personally to try on, or buying online. However before I opted out using the MPS that Jonathan mentioned, I used to open any unsolicited mail and put it back marked "please delete me from your mailing list" into the pre-paid envelope - I never received a second mailing from the same brands when I did this, so if you dont want to opt out it's another solution. TV, I record and FF through the ads too - why watch ads if you don't have to? Digitally, brand funded programming is an option, whereby the brand and programming are created simultaneously, leaving you no choice to opt out - unless you ignore totally, so they key is interesting, appropriate targeted content which, when it comes down to it is what any marketing or pr campaign should be aiming to create. If you have the right creative and content, making it interactive will provide the effective results and, depending on objectives, levels of business - it's already here and happening. Just look at the high levels of video or audio content downloads.
Jonathan Blackmore
  January 7, 2008
Mel, all I am saying is, they can be more effective, they can even deliver volume, but there is room for all in the mix. Thanks for responding. Jonathan
DigiTales Blog - Mel Carson
  July 25, 2008

Tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of my first post on DigiTales . In 157 posts, as the tagline says, I

Tim Craig
  March 31, 2009

And none will hear the postman's knock

Without a quickening of the heart.

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

W.H. Auden,

Why I think the death of Direct Mail is exaggerated. We may not write to one another and we may not want all the junk we receive but when the postman passes you by who does not feel a twinge of regret? It is always good to see the mail on the mat. True much of it is unwanted and you may ‘return to sender’, (the best option to remove your name and dispose of responsibly), but instigated by DM I have bought numerous bits and pieces, plants, wine, DVDs and big torches, it works for me and thousands more.

Now with PAS2020 and EU Landfill directives DM people have to be more responsible especially with the ‘end of life’ solution where 80% of the carbon footprint is produced.

Veridata in Chester are specialist in handling and processing returned and undelivered mail capturing relevant information and recycling, locally, all residual paper, plastic etc. We save companies shed loads of money and reduce their carbon footprint.

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