Past participants of Cranfield's management programme received targeted A5, 4pp mailers, produced using XMPie technology and printed on a Xerox DocuColor 8000AP digital press at Trapeze's Wombourne facility. Each item details further courses recipients may wish to attend.

The inside of mailer recommends three further programmes, which differ according to the profile of the recipient. For example, a female would be offered courses such as Women in Business. The back page of the item contains recommendations from previous attendees of the courses.

Nikki Price, business development director at Trapeze, added: "Ultimately it is not about being clever - it's all about the response rates and improving the ROI. 'Dear Mr Jones' just isn't enough these days to make customers feel valued."

A spokesman for Trapeze added: "Trapeze believes that personalised direct mailing is a very effective tool for providing information.

"By being smart with the way the data was managed, Trapeze changed the background images on the covers to suit either male or female recipients to enhance the relevancy of the information. Men and women will respond better to images of people they can aspire to themselves."

Cranfield University has offered management education since the late 1940s. Its School of Management was formally set up in 1967.

Trapeze Mailing Services offers direct mail service including multichannel cross-media campaign planning, data management and digital print.