The campaign, launched last year by Royal Mail’s creative arm MarketReach, aims to encourage agencies, advertisers and marketers to reappraise mail and remind them about why mail works and should be considered in the marketing mix.
The new names lending their weight to the campaign include: M&C Saatchi founder Lord Maurice Saastchi; Starcom chief executive Pippa Glucklich; global head of brand and marketing at Virgin Enterprises, Lisa Thomas; RBS chief marketing officer David Wheldon; and Sapient’s chief executive EMEA and global chief strategy officer, Nigel Vaz.
“Having respected high-profile faces in our campaign supports us in our mission to encourage the reappraisal of mail. We are always looking for surprising advocates for the power of mail,” said Emma Springham, head of marketing and channels at Royal Mail MarketReach.
“It’s difficult to imagine marketing without Lord Saatchi. As he says in his short film, Royal Mail is uniquely placed to understand who you are talking to, in order to create powerful one-to-one communications. He believes that ‘words on paper’ provoke the strongest emotional responses. And our research support this, 60% of consumers say the best mail advertising helps keep a brand top of mind.”
The latest campaign, which has been launched in print and online including social media channels has a dedicated website www.mailmen.co.uk that features research, facts, thought pieces from various industry leaders, case studies and in-depth reports on topics such as the trends and effectiveness of mail. Reports such as the extensive ‘Life Stages of Mail’, published on the site in June this year, aim to deliver insight to business owners that will help them to better target their own direct mail marketing campaigns.
With the new face of the campaign, Royal Mail MarketReach has launched two new online resources – Mail Toolkit and Insight Engine - for businesses to use to improve their understanding of DM and in turn boost ROI.
“A marketer’s life is becoming more complex,” said Springham. “Budgets are being challenged, more channels are available and there is a continual need to prove ROI against spend. Mail plays a key role in the marketing mix and our role is to present the facts and power of mail.”
The Mail Toolkit has grouped resources into four themes: Adding Mail to the Mix, for those who are starting to consider mail; Maximising Audience Relevancy, to help people pick the right type of mail for their audience; Building Your Brand, for those looking to grow brand awareness through mail; and Delivering a Commercial Return, where the resources proving the ROI of mail can be easily accessed.
Meanwhile the Insight Engine, which is included within the Toolkit, has been designed as an audience-based planning resource to help businesses plan campaigns using demographic and life stage insight.
Springham said: “We have always provided free reports on the website and the Mail Toolkit has brought these insights together into an interactive tool and useable slides. It’s making everything easier and quicker for users to access.
“Marketers, agencies and advertisers can find the key stat or insight that they need to understand how mail will help them and support them when they make the case for using mail.”
