Market trends/ Direct response

Royal Mail develops chocolate direct mail format
By Alex Donohue Brand Republic 15-Jan-08, 12:00

LONDON - Royal Mail has unveiled a new mailing package for business customers devised by Proximity London that allows brands to send messages to consumers made entirely from chocolate.

The pack contains a letter made from chocolate that companies can use to write personalized messages to customers, and has been developed by Proximity London after research from Royal Mail's partner Brand Sense, a sensory branding consultancyA study by Brand Sense found consumers made decisions to buy particular products based on their ability to engage "sensory signals". Royal Mail said the chocolate mailing would allow direct marketers to engage with more than three of their recipient's senses and improve campaign response rates for businesses.
The chocolate mailing, which contains a heat sensitive cover, has been sent to 1,000 people at marketing and creative agencies in the UK to show how it could improve response rates on direct campaigns.

Amanda Phillips, chief executive at Proximity London, said: "Royal Mail wanted to highlight the role that direct mail has to play in building brands. We came up with the concept of a chocolate letter because it is simple but powerful and illustrates direct mail's exceptional capability to engage all the senses."


Social network 'super advocates' to influence brand choice
by Jacquie Bowser Brand Republic 15-Jan-08, 08:45

LONDON - The progress of social networks will lead to the rise of ‘super advocates' who will have the power to make or break a brand's reputation in 2008.

Experian suggests that super advocates, its monicker for highly influential, outspoken figures, will create one of the biggest challenges to companies trying to tap into user-generated content for advertising and marketing purposes.

Such figures will supposedly have a huge online following of people keen to know their thoughts on a company, its products or problems that they have encountered.

The 'Impact of Social Networking in the UK' report recommends that companies quickly identify super advocates and use any means to keep these influential figures on side. Experian suggests companies will need to make a conscious effort to avoid commercialism "at all costs" and provide highly exclusive information to help win super advocates' respect.
The report also predicts that the use of social networks for viral and search marketing will increase during 2008 following the improvement of the search and navigation capabilities of social networking sites, which will make websites' content more accessible to marketers.
Experian suggests that site owners will drive these developments with the aim of opening up their platforms to third parties and increasing profits via permission-based advertising.