My heartfelt thanks go to Boden for brightening up my morning by providing some welcome giggles.

The mail order clothing specialist has turned to the power of personalisation combined with the power of the information held its customer database in a clever bid to reignite interest from lapsed customers. The result being a cheerfully designed postcard-style mailing that arrived at Francis Towers this morning addressed to 'im indoors.

"Can it really be 2222 days since we last spoke?" is emblazoned on the front. Yes it can, which makes it abundantly clear how very lapsed indeed this particular customer is.

Overleaf is a typically perky personalised message from Johnnie B, repeating the 2222 days figure. "I'm sorry we've lost touch," he says. "I'm sure it's all my fault. I can't help wondering how you got on with your Lacey Edge Cardigan". This latter detail being in large red type.

It was a vision of the six-foot-two, 16 stone object in question wearing such a garment that induced the giggles. Having checked, I can report there is no secret stash of size 11 stilettos or similarly sized ladies' garments secreted in his wardrobe.

However, I must be clear. Boden hasn't got its customer information confused. He did order that cardigan all those years ago. It was a present.

The serious side of this campaign is that it's both clever and effective. It's another example of a stand-out mailing that gets attention, and of print being used to drive customers to order online. Boden already has a million active customers, and that figure is 1,000,002 as of now. The not-quite-so-lapsed purchaser in the household (me) has just been inspired to order a bunch of Boden stuff, while the lapsed one is about to log on as directed by the mailing as he's tempted by the idea of winning £500 of free Boden gear. Who knows, he might even pick up a nice cardie while he's there.