é

Tag Archives: Green marketing

Is All Direct Mail Junk Mail?

0
Posté par Cynthia Fedor le January 19, 2009 – 1:19 pm
dans Direct Mail Marketing

The wonderful thing about art is that it has the power to spark dialogue and promote action.

On Friday, I made my way over to Flatbed Press in Austin, TX to see a new exhibit by artist Annette Lawrence. Through the exhibition, “Free Paper,” the artist comments on paper waste created by direct mail, or as she refers to it, junk mail. She collected 12 months worth of mail that made it into her mailbox and stacked them into piles, organized by month. The cross-sectioned mounds are beautiful, showing layers of color and texture. They are also overwhelming.

This exhibition got me thinking about a lot of things: the pros and cons of direct mail, the artist’s personal beliefs and feelings about direct mail, ethics and the environment as it relates to direct mail marketing, and so on.

Was it all really unwanted direct mail?

The first thing I will say is that, although it was amazing to see how much paper was collected by one person over 12 months, I wondered how much of it was really unsolicited direct mail. I noticed pieces included in the stacks that may not have been ‘junk mail.’ For example, I saw a hotel parking pass, trade magazines, and what looked to be invitations to other art openings. I’ll see if I can contact the artist to get more information. If I am successful, I’ll follow up next week.

Takeaways from “Free Paper.”

Not all direct mail is junk mail. Targeted direct mail with personalized messages and offers tailored to the recipient’s needs is not junk mail. A recent survey conducted by Prospectiv and published by Brand Week revealed that 39% of consumers wanted coupons delivered to them via direct mail. Also notable, 80% of consumers stated that personalized coupons tailored to their interest would increase the likelihood of coupon use. I think that if marketers are aware of their audiences’ needs and are respectful regarding the amount of communication passed to them via direct mail, a happy medium for both the marketer and consumer can be discovered.

Marketers have a responsibility to choose paper products from FSC-certified sources. They can also select vendors that practice environmental stewardship. Additionally, marketers can explore new tools, printing processes and companion marketing solutions that will help them be more targeted with direct mail campaigns while reducing paper waste.

Consumers can do their part by recycling unwanted paper waste rather than dropping it in the trash. Opting to receive digital versions of magazines and newspapers can help reduce paper waste too. They can also offer feedback to organizations that continually send unwanted direct mail.

What do you think? Do you consider all direct mail as junk mail?

The Direct Marketing Voice Links: 1-12-2009

0
Posté par admin le January 12, 2009 – 9:59 am
dans News & Trends

The Direct Marketing Voice: Content Is King for Email Delivery

…the use of “free” (or any other term) in the subject line, does not operate in a vacuum and is dependent on other factors as to its effectiveness. If you send any email to a list of recipients who have not agreed to receive emails from you and are not interested in what you have to say, then the chances are high that anything you put in the subject line will be ineffective…

Chief Marketer: Five Green Ways to Grow Your Marketing in 2009

Even in a belt-tightening market like this one, being green matters. And if you think price alone will bring your profit margin back into the black, think again. It’s time to take a closer look at the other green on everyone’s mind.

MediaPost: Get Your Email Marketing House In Order

Is it just me — or is it time again to pull out the time management videos, newfangled task management systems and motivational tapes that have been gathering dust in the center console of our automobiles? Every Jan. 1, I get the urge to “refocus and realign” my personal and professional goals. I think the self-inspection is healthy and helps set the tone for a productive start to the New Year.

ITWeb :Gartner names Xerox in Leaders Quadrant in printer report

Xerox has been positioned by Gartner in the Leaders Quadrant in the “Magic Quadrant for MFPs and Printers” report.

The Direct Marketing Voice Links: 1-06-2009

0
Posté par admin le January 6, 2009 – 9:47 am
dans News & Trends

The Direct Marketing Voice: Direct Mail Postcards As Sales Support For Customer Retention

A great example of the right way to use direct mail marketing for customer retention appeared in my mailbox the other day from a small clothing shop I had recently visited. This piece stopped me in my tracks, put a smile on my face and left me planning my next trip to the store.

Reuters: Traffic Builders, Inc.(sm) Launches Industry-First Green Direct Mail Initiative for U.S. Automotive Dealers

The We Auto Go Green program gives dealerships’ service departments an added benefit that competing direct mail providers cannot offer. Beginning the first of 2009, program participants will have their mailers printed on recycled paper.

NPR: Postal Service Sees Less Mail In Slumping Economy

Mail volume always suffers when the economy suffers, but this economic downturn is hitting the Postal Service particularly hard. That’s because the slumping housing and financial sectors have typically been big users of direct-mail marketing.

BtoB Magazine: Three considerations for evaluating direct-mail campaigns

In an increasingly competitive multichannel environment, marketers are struggling to optimize their marketing budgets and deliver the greatest returns on investment. Direct mail continues to be a strong driver of incremental sales, but with a greater number of orders taking place online it is becoming difficult to understand which marketing investment is driving ordering activity.

Santa Might Skip the Homes of These ‘Bad’ Direct Mail Marketers

0
Posté par Cynthia Fedor le December 22, 2008 – 1:42 pm
dans Direct Mail Marketing

Nonprofit group ForestEthics recently published their third annual list of ‘Naughty and Nice’ direct marketers. The list focuses on sustainable practices in direct mail/catalog marketing and highlights who’s doing a great job at thinking green and who’s not.

The list ranks companies based on four categories:

  1. Where the materials came from to make the paper
  2. If the supply chain, from forest to paper mill to printer, is FSC certified
  3. How much post-consumer recycled material is used to produce direct mail pieces
  4. Effort taken to reduce overall paper waste and consumption

Patagonia, Williams-Sonoma, Victoria’s Secret and Dell were among the ‘greenest’ direct mail marketers, receiving a prancing reindeer (that’s good) in every category. Companies that earned a lump of coal (that’s bad) in every category included Sears, Neiman Marcus, Eddie Bauer, Capital One, Chase Bank, Citi and American Express. You can see the complete list here.

I don’t understand why some direct marketers are still sending out 100-page catalogs and un-targeted direct mail. With great technologies now available—digital printing on demand, prospecting tools for targeting a precise audience type, eMarketing for companion marketing, etc—there’s no need to waste money or our natural resources.

Direct marketers, don’t be afraid to talk to your vendors, printing and fulfillment houses included. Work together and come up with green, targeted solutions for your advertising and marketing plans that will ultimately save you money and offer a better return on investment. Best of all, you’ll be able to ensure that you won’t be getting a lump of coal in your stocking from Santa next year!

Green Delivery Methods

0
Posté par Jamie Matusek le December 19, 2008 – 1:54 pm
dans Direct Mail Marketing, Production & Printing
Many of our customers are consistent in asking us here at QuantumDigital what ‘green’ procedures we implement, especially since direct mail and printing are two of our main services. We have spent time developing our own ‘green’ story – which if you are interested can be found on our green initiative page. I’ll plan to go into more detail of our own efforts in future blogs.
 
However, what I’ve decided to do is start sharing what other leading companies/brands have implemented — more of a ‘green’ ideas guide. Many of you may be struggling with the fact that ‘going green’ is a big endeavor both on the bottom line and in resource time. There are companies out there that specialize in consulting on this very topic, but for those of us that don’t have multi-zillion dollar budgets to work from, sometimes just researching what other companies are doing will give you some great insight on what sustainable efforts you can implement for your own organization.
 
I decided to start with some of our own vendor/partners. UPS takes care of our on-demand printing deliveries. I just came across one of their fact sheets titled, “UPS Avoids Left Turns to Save Fuel, Reduce Emissions and Improve Safety.”  Now this took some planning and serious thought, but how impressive!  And this idea has actually turned into measurable results. The fact sheet reports: 

In 2007, UPS route planning technology, which minimizes left hand turns:

  • shaved nearly 30 million miles off already streamlined delivery routes;
  • saved 3 million gallons of gas; and
  • reduced emissions by 32,000 metric tons of CO2 – the equivalent of removing 5,300 passenger cars off the road for an entire year.
Impressive statistics. Now think what would happen if we all tried to avoid left hand turns!
 
This same fact sheet was featured on groovy green, an information hub for all things sustainable that you may find interesting.
 
Until my next ‘green’ discovery,
 
Jamie