Mailing Systems Technology - September/October 2008 - (Page 25) To wit: If more people opened the direct mail envelopes that arrive at their doorsteps, the industry would experience higher response rates. It takes the recipient three to eight seconds to decide to open the envelope or toss it in the recycle bin. The time spent sorting, organizing, allocating and reading the mail is called “The Mail Moment” by the USPS, a “highly interactive daily ritual that consumers devote to bringing in their mail and discovering what it offers.” It is during The Mail Moment, in the blink of an eye, that an envelope must be noticed, pique interest and get opened. All of this must occur before the offer inside can be read and considered. Without an opened envelope, the carefully worded letter and expensive full-color brochure inside will go unseen. If the envelope fails in its mission, all the money spent for print, postage, paper and personalization is lost. The envelope makes the critical first impression, yet the envelope is the Rodney Dangerfield of direct mail. Carrier, outer, OE, by any name, the humble envelope is one of the smallest cost items in a mail package, less than one percent of total production costs. Multitasking and overachieving, the envelope would appear to be under-appreciated and underpaid. Already a bargain, the envelope actually is expected to perform two jobs — to protect and deliver the package contents and to persuade the recipient to look inside. The envelope must protect and securely transport the marketer’s message through mountains of mail being processed at high speeds in postal facilities around the world. Whether going across the globe or just across town, every envelope will be folded, stuffed, sealed, addressed, sorted and drop shipped to a regional postal center, where further handling and sorting will be required to reach one mail box. Surviving the delivery gauntlet and arriving in one piece, un-torn, legible with all contents intact is no small feat. Mailers take it for granted because the rate of envelope failure is miniscule. Given the high rate of mailpiece failure, shouldn’t direct marketers be paying a little more attention to envelope design—even if it meant allocating a little more budget for envelopes? Direct mail needs to be private, respected and relevant or it is of no value to the person receiving it. Tips for respecting the envelope and increasing response rates: • Make sure you budget for the creative development of the envelope just as you budget for the creative development of the message inside. This means interesting, relevant copy and full-color design for the envelope. The envelope should be created as a companion piece to the message inside, and it should be given a place in the creative brief. All marketing materials in your campaign, including your envelope, should be speaking with one voice. • Stand out in the mail as opposed to being lost in the clutter by designing a full-color envelope with a relevant message. • Size matters. Part of looking different includes the size and shape of the envelope. WWW.MAILINGSYSTEMSTECHNOLOGY.COM | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2008 25 http://www.secap.com http://www.secap.com http://www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com
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