Magna Upgrades U.S. Ad Outlook Marginally, Cites Second Half Growth (mediapost.com)

Google just introduced a new feature in Gmail called “Manage Subscriptions.” That sounds innocent enough until you realize it’s basically an unsubscribe control panel that makes it ridiculously easy for users to cut ties with email marketers. One click, and your customer or prospect is gone from your email list forever. For consumers, this is a dream. For email marketers, it’s a gut punch. For direct mail marketers, this is a tremendous opportunity. People trust direct mail more — 82% say they view print marketing as more credible than digital Mail sticks around — it has a household shelf life of over two weeks When was the last time an email sat on someone’s kitchen table?

Quad/Graphics, Inc., a global marketing experience (MX) company, is rolling out “Built on Quad.” This new campaign showcases Quad’s latest brand identity and marks the company’s first large-scale marketing and advertising effort in its 52-year history. Quad’s new brand campaign will run through digital, OOH, print, events, experiential, direct mail, sponsorship and sales assets. It will also be showcased at the 2023 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, including the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport. Quad provides end-to-end marketing solutions that removes friction wherever it occurs in the marketing journey for more than 2,900 clients, including Sirius XM, Amazon, the Albertsons Companies, and other major brands. The “Built on Quad” campaign focuses on the company’s strength as a one-stop partner for the modern marketer, and it also pays homage to its roots as one of the largest and most successful commercial printers in North America. The company produces over 765 billion pages and mails more than 8 billion direct mail pieces per year making Quad one of the USPS’ largest clients.

Direct mail is experiencing a long overdue resurgence for retailers, hastened by the pandemic. Increasingly crowded ads on social media and Google, full email inboxes, SMS dings all day long ... while the much-maligned mailbox remained emptier as credit card offers dwindled and in-store postcard coupons were recycled. It’s not surprising that many e-commerce brands decided to communicate in a new “old” way and test direct mail. We had the pleasure of assisting several launches in 2020 — some planned before the lockdowns, others as a new COVID strategy. Two of the biggest surprises for folks new to mail are: 1. the amount of time it takes to properly put together an effective mailing; and 2. how expensive mailing can be. One of our print partners and I assisted a pure-play that mailed within three weeks of our first discussion … this is NOT typical and we don’t recommend it. Haste makes waste.