Business

About the event

This fall, as part of our Think Inside the Box series, we hosted an event called "Innovation in Direct Mail Marketing". The purpose of this event was two-fold; to share ideas and insights on emerging technologies in direct marketing and to demonstrate true examples of where innovation has been woven into a direct mail campaign.

We invite you to experience the learning's from that day by clicking on the links below.

• View presentations from the event.
• Read about our Innovation Awards.
• View photos from the event.
• View videos from the event.

Presentations

Innovation in Direct Mail Marketing, Oct. 13, 2011

Global DM Innovation Trends
Laurene Cihosky, Senior Vice-President, Direct and Digital Strategy Canada Post

Thinking Inside the Box (Presentation currently unavailable)
Rene Rouleau and Nirmala Bahall, Proximity Canada

Something completely different from a bank. Seriously.
Marnie Kramarich, Ariad Custom Communications

Breathe Right Personalized Direct Mail – Creating the Connection Between Digital and Print
Rick Jones, Lithocolor

TALK TO ME! Get personal - Get relevant - Get more customers
Mark Morin, Strategies Marketing Direct

Capturing Audiences with an integrated marketing approach: Harmony’s lunch-and-learn cross media campaign (B2B)
Julie Northrup, Harmony Printing

Canada Post Innovation in Direct Mail Awards

To recognize innovative Direct Mail marketing, we created the first-ever Canada Post Innovation in Direct Mail Awards.

Award criteria
Entrants had to demonstrate one of:

• Innovative use of technology that bridged offline to online (QR codes, pURLs, webkeys etc.)
• Innovative use of packaging, printing or data (dimensional packaging, unique segmentation strategies, personalization).

Entries were displayed at our Innovation in Direct Mail Marketing event on Oct. 13, 2011. Attendees voted for their favourites.

Winners
Read about the winning entries:

BIMM – Audi Canada

Click here to view the winning piece

Campaign Highlights:

In anticipation of the new A8, Audi Canada challenged us to develop a launch communication campaign that was distinctive, stayed on brand, reflected a car that cost more than $100,000 and utilized a variety of media. The core idea was instead of simply creating a campaign about a car, we created a conversation about luxury. The first touch point of was a dimensional mailer that included a letter from the President & CEO of Audi Canada and a customizable series of cards based on the first name of the recipient. Included in the mailer were 26 unique cards—from A to Z .One side highlighted a unique feature of the A8, while the reverse asked a trivia question about the world of luxury. To make it more personal, the recipient received only the cards that spelled out their first name, hence our headline, ‘Get to know luxury on a first name basis’.

Innovative tactics

• Use of medium (dimensional mailing) to evoke a sense of luxury
• Integration of trivia cards to encourage engagement
• Creative use of personalization

Loblaws Black Label

Campaign Highlights:

In an effort to capture share of mind in the gourmet palate category, Loblaws has introduced a new higher-end tier of Black Label products, part of its renowned in-house President’s Choice line.

As part of an integrated campaign to bring awareness to the new label and reinforce it’s offering as a gourmet option, Loblaws used Unaddressed Admail to reach prospects in Ontario. Inside this intriguing direct mail piece are several cards of the new products as well as suggested recipes to help facilitate excitement. In addition to take a new spin on word of mouth and to reinforce the use of the channel, the recipe cards also serve as postcards – so recipes can be mailed to friends.

Innovative tactics

• Creative use of the medium to encourage interactivity – including use of recipe cards and the option to mail
• Aesthetically the piece helps to reinforce the attributes of this new luxury brand

Event photos

Innovation in Direct Mail Marketing, Oct. 13, 2011

Select a thumbnail to view the full-size image

Event videos

Innovation in Direct Mail Marketing, Oct. 13, 2011