Influential Marketing Leaders Advocate for the Surprising Power of Direct Mail

Today, Marketreach, the marketing authority on commercial mail, launches its latest B2B advertising campaign, Totally Mailed It. The campaign is a creative and bold call to arms featuring well-known and influential leaders from across marketing including Rory Sutherland, vice-chairman of Ogilvy UK and Nishma Patel Robb, CEO and founder of The Glittersphere and former Google director of marketing. 

The campaign, created by The Gate, an MSQ Company, is a peer-to-peer campaign gathering some of marketing’s best-known faces to advocate for consideration of mail as an effective media channel, promote its core attributes and provide CMOs with compelling evidence for why direct mail is an essential part of the media mix.

Rory Sutherland and Nishma Patel Robb are joined by other prominent and well-respected industry leaders including Sophie Devonshire, CEO at The Marketing Society, Dino Myers-Lamptey, founder at The Barber Shop, and Richard Shotton, founder of Astroten and author of The Choice Factory and The Illusion of Choice.

Each creative features a bold headshot of one of the industry advocates alongside a pithy quote highlighting how mail was the surprising spark at the heart of many marketing success stories, helping them gain a competitive edge and nail their targets. 

The creative will run from today across direct mail, social, display/video, and digital audio, as well as out of home placements across roadside digital 6-sheet screens in key sites targeting London-based advertisers and agencies. Marketreach has also launched a ‘Totally Mailed It’ landing page on its website, featuring detailed testimonials and success stories from the advocates on how mail ramped up ROI, and is an effective channel that ‘totally mailed it’ for them in the marketing mix.

According to recent research, improving marketing effectiveness is the top priority for marketers, and ROI and ROMI keep 99% of CMOs awake at night. Direct mail’s physical presence captures attention, builds trusted relationships between brands and their consumers, and drives commercial results. A recent Marketreach/WARC Attention Report highlights the enduring value of direct mail, showing that 58% of mail is retained for future reference, to be re-read, shared, or saved for later use. What’s more, further research from WARC and Marketreach shows that campaigns with direct mail in the overall mix are 52% more likely to report ROI benefits, and are also 43% more likely to report profit uplifts providing evidence for its effectiveness as a channel. 

Cameron Russell, head of marketing at Marketreach said, “Mail is the spark at the heart of many marketing success stories, having helped give our marketing experts a competitive edge and to nail their targets. We wanted to tell stories where Marketreach surprises people that mail is a channel that people completely trust, drives impressive commercial results, and is a tangible, multi-sensory brand experience. We are delighted that these wonderful industry names have been advocates for the power of mail, and we’re looking forward to seeing this campaign live.”

Nishma Patel-Robb, founder of The Glittersphere and former Google marketing director said, “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being involved in this campaign. In the last five years or so, mail has become more targeted, more creative, and more a part of the campaign. And in a heavily digital world, there is the joy of having something that's physical, in your hands and kept. I love that mail can take you from URL to IRL (in real life). We tend to think of IRL as experience, but IRL is just as much as something you physically hold in your hand, and I love that the most.”

Rory Sutherland, vice chairman of Ogilvy UK, said, “Most advertising tries to get a customer to care about a business. Direct mail shows to a customer that a business cares about them. It really is as simple as that. I'm thrilled to be an advocate for Marketreach's latest campaign, showcasing the power of direct mail.”

Rob Syme & Stuart Minshaw, associate creative directors at The Gate, said, “We wanted to take the industry’s most recognisable faces and make them recognisably Marketreach. That, coupled with an unexpected tone, has created a visually striking campaign that marketeers can’t ignore. We’d like to think we Totally Mailed It.”