I've been paying particular attention to the post of late, and my conclusion is that savvy brands are achieving some real stand-out with print at the moment.

Recent examples include a perky sub-A5 format 8pp "brighter driving" loose insert from Honda, printed on uncoated stock and featuring clever lift-up flaps inside that excited the toddler in me, as did the prospect of winning a Civic Hybrid.

I was also delighted to find myself "just 30 seconds away from dramatically younger looking skin" courtesy of a sleek black box that arrived from Boots and included a sample of Olay Regenerist wrinkle-filler and a promo voucher. Maybe the sample is a trifle small for the gargantuan task at hand, but it's good to see Boots making use of all that valuable Advantage Card information.

Charities are past masters at this sort of cleverness of course, and a recent pack from the British Red Cross included greetings cards, gift labels (self adhesive and stringed), a bookmark, wrapping paper and address labels. Meanwhile, in a world where lots of campaigns are constrained by size-based pricing the RSPCA's latest mailing in a large format custom-printed envelope certainly commanded attention.

At a time when so many businesses are retrenching and pulling in their marketing horns, those that are still active and are clever in their choice of media are gaining valuable prominence. And print, with its versatility and all-round tactile wonderfulness, has a prominent part to play in that.