Direct Mail: Forget DM Rules To create a winning envelope, follow a proven process rather than a bunch of arbitrary rules March 2007

By Bill Spink

The No. 1 rule for creating a winning envelope: There are no rules. But to create a winning direct mail package, you definitely need a winning envelope. Make no mistake, the envelope is not everything. Ultimately, a winner in the mail has the same criteria as a winner in the Direct Marketing Association’s ECHO awards: It’s the total package that wins. Strategy, copy and art combine to bring in the response. But the envelope obviously is key. If it doesn’t get opened, all the carefully crafted messaging inside makes a death spiral into the trash bin.

So what envelopes are winning in the mail? And what path do you need to follow to emulate their success?

What are the rules we typically hear, fibs we’ve been told and maybe believed? If you’ve seen even some of the articles I’ve read over the last 25 years, you’ve learned a lot of rules— lots of contradicting rules, such as:

• “Blank envelopes always win” versus “Always put your logo on the outer.”
• “Boring and official” versus “Be distinctive with an immediate up-front advantage.”
• “Closed-face envelopes pull.”
• “Urgent gets your mailing opened.”
• “Live stamps work.”

But the truth is, the fountain of youth, the Northwest Passage and “the 8 sure-fire rules to winning envelopes” simply do not exist.

The good news is that there’s a proven way to create winners. It’s a process that starts with what may be the only immutable tactic in direct marketing—appealing to the reader’s self-interest.

Start With the CPOV

What is CPOV? It stands for consumer’s point of view.

To get your mailing opened, forget what you want to say. Think about what your targets want to see.

They don’t want to see what they perceive as “marketing.” Consumers don’t want to be sold. Fortunately however, for your job security and mine, they are happy to spend their hard-earned money for new goods and services.

Easy to say, but what makes people who tell a focus group moderator they “never purchase from direct mail” literally open to buy? It’s all in their frame of mind. How they perceive your company, product or brand. How often your competitors are in their face. How jaded they are.

Here are two CPOV questions to ask when evaluating your next envelope:

• What are my reader’s prejudices when they see the company name/logo?

Examples: “Oh no: another credit card offer,” or, “These guys are really cool!,” or, “XYZ Company, I get something from them every month.”

Again, there is no rule for responding to consumer reaction.

For example, the last statement has led to completely different winning executions. For a credit card issuer, it meant dropping the logo, teaser and anything that made the mailing identifiable. For a marketer involved in a mid-sized company merger and acquisition, it meant plastering the logo on the outer with a full value proposition, because mail was the company’s brand campaign, and over time that visibility would generate qualified leads.

• How unique is the promise?

Examples: “Save up to $200 on your auto insurance,” or “7.9% APR,” or, “Cut costs up to 50%.”

If that last claim is as common in your category as the first promise is in auto insurance, it’s a bore. But, if competitors are behind the curve, you could have prospects tearing open envelopes in record numbers.

Has the reader decided their answer to the offer long before they see your envelope?

In categories such as auto insurance and home equity, it’s likely your reader has “been there, done that” many times already. Once they say “no,” it’s hard to reverse that decision. The “rules” might advise forgetting about a teaser, but it depends on what you say. Make an unexpected argument and the otherwise jaded consumer may rip open the mailing. We’ll see a few of those in the examples ahead.

What’s Working: Five Real-life Cases

Case #1: The “blank” envelope. In this customer cross-sell, respondents knew the marketer, but only a limited aspect of the firm’s capability. A minimalist envelope (see right) provided the appropriate opening for a complex offer with a value proposition likely to confuse customers. This envelope, printed on premium paper stock, presented an all-business approach from a company recipients knew, and saved the potentially confusing product introduction for the inside elements where advantages could be presented and explained in a multicomponent package.

Case #2: Silver bubble pack. Same client, different approach. A novel format like this alone (see right) can guarantee attention. But attention alone doesn’t make a winner. Once this silver bubble pack envelope caught the eye, the label headline addressed a key prospect concern: “Is your supply chain running at peak performance?” A promise to “fine tune your supply chain” combined with a “free gas card” offer pulled decision-makers inside and started a winning lead generation sales proposition.

Case #3: Priority mail package. We’ve seen this format win big and lose big. In this instance, for a true limited-time enrollment period, it was a big winner (see right). The key is delivering on expectations from the CPOV. Fail to credibly deliver on the urgency of the envelope, and today’s marketing-weary consumer quickly sniffs out the commercial-related ad promotion (you do the acronym). But handled properly, this approach works gangbusters.

Case #4: Out-and-out promotional. The best packages combine a number of winning elements. On a Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina mailing, the address side of the outer envelope is plain and official (see envelopes right). The back features lots of graphic eye-appeal, plus personalization. And more than a tactile “lumpy mail” enclosure, the seed pack inside rattles, making attention-getting noise. The seed blend is an exclusive regional custom blend of blue flowers created for this southeastern Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Case #5: The “invisible” teaser. Like the previous package, this is a combination of elements that makes a winner. “Get more mileage from your insurance than ever before,” is a solid headline, but alone wasn’t likely to excite the jaded auto insurance shopper (see envelope right). A burst offering a $20 gas card helped, but in a highly crowded, competitive category, more was needed.

Enter the straightforward question, “Are you missing these benefits … ?” While you can see the numbers one, two and three through the red glassine window, the benefits are invisible. Only when the envelope is opened is the red type legible. All these elements worked together to draw readers into a winning copy story.

These winning envelopes are all over the place with regard to the “rules” for creating successful outers. But each one succeeded for different and important reasons.

And at this point, you know it was not just the formats that made the difference. It was how each effort addressed the CPOV.

So the one rule to follow: Forget the rules. Remain open to the many tools, approaches, techniques and formats available. Think like your audience. Ask questions from the CPOV. And create your own winning envelopes.

Bill Spink is executive vice president and chief creative officer of DMW Worldwide, a full-service direct response advertising agency with offices in Wayne, Pa., and Plymouth, Mass. Spink can be reached at 610-407-0407 or via e-mail at bspink@dmwdirect.com. Visit DMW on the Web at www.dmwdirect.com.

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