Hi matt,
I have to say that had I received something like this in my mail, I would have thrown it into the shredder right away. The telly seems to be showcasing that we live in very dangerous times now so if i feel a bubble wrap, chances are 50/50 that I would have either shredded it or called the cops.
Either way it is disingenuous and from the marketing prespective, it is indeed a brilliant ploy, one that makes you do exactly what it wants you to do, what about the next time around? Would you fall for it again?

Today April 22nd is Earthday and apparently it is intended to inspire awareness of, and appreciation for the Earth’s environment! CONGRATULATIONS CapitalOne your bubble wrap credit card offer arrived just in time and you are truly an inspiration.

I am so inspired by you, I am considering sending my check payment in a cardboard box filled with tiny styrofoam pellets. Imagine the mess you have to clean up when it is received and opened by your mailing department. It’s okay though at least I am as responsible as you are and protect my fragile check even if this means we have a little more waste to dispose.

I framed your previous mailers and proudly displayed them in my office, thinking they are something special and they would maybe gain in value, but now I am running out of space and decided to just send them back to you. I don’t open them anymore, I just mark them with “Acceptance Refused return to sender for recycling” and stick them back in the mail. I am honest, I am not the most conservative person when it comes to our environmental responsibilities, but each time I receive one of your bubble wrap letters I am truly inspired to do more.

I usually take a moment from my busy stressful day, sit back, relax, close my eyes, and picture the most beautiful site, a football field covered with your bubble wrap mailers. Try it, it’s one tranquil experience and interesting how many obvious reasons I can come up with why we need to cover a football field with your bubble wrap. Thank you CapitalOne, and please don’t forget to promote the idiot that came up with this marketing campaign he truly deserves it.

I just send the bubble wrap back to them at their expense!

I've received two of the Capital One bubble-wrap mailers. I just sent back the last one using their BRM envelope and including some of the bubble-wrap telling them to send me no more. It's so environmentally irresponsible that if they send me another one, I'll cancel the card I have with them. I wonder how much negative impact a company takes from tactics like this.

Last year I bought a handheld neck massager for my wife. If I’d know who this catalog shared their mailing lists with, I would not’ve ordered from them. Within a few months, I started getting plain envelopes with no addresses or addresses I didn’t recognize.

Hi Daren - Thanks for sharing your comments and your great feedback on my book!

I agree the bubble wrap is a real waste. I did open the envelope and proceeded to trash the letter. I thought it was an interesting strategy, but I am not sure it is all the effective.

All my best!

Mike

I received the bubble mailer today and promptly wrote our friends at CapitalOne:
"Today I received yet another CapitalOne credit card offer. While these offers are so ubiquitous that they usually pass unnoticed, this offer included a 8 x 5 inch sheet of bubble wrap – yes bubble wrap. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with it. I guess the idea was to make the envelope interesting enough to open. What it actually did was highlight the profligate waste created by the credit card marketing industry and your company in particular. While I may someday decide to take advantage of a mailed credit card offer, your company has made it on to my list of organizations with which I will never do business."

I did a search to see who had commented on this phenomenon and saw your post. I'd argue that getting me to open the letter isn't the same as selling me CapitalOne credit. I can see a range of reactions to this mailing many of which are, like my reaction, negative.

BTW Michael, I've really enjoyed the book - it has yet to make it off my desk and onto the bookshelf.... now that, unlike the bubble mailer, is sticky marketing.

Those plain-jane envelopes with no return address are a bad idea for folks to start using.

Last year I bought a handheld neck massager for my wife. If I'd know who this catalog shared their mailing lists with, I would not've ordered from them. Within a few months, I started getting plain envelopes with no addresses or addresses I didn't recognize. The envelopes delivered catalogs for what I'l politely call adult novelties.

I chewed out the company I ordered the massager from. Send my info to the direct mktg assoc. to weed out junk mail. And my wife and I throw out any plain-jane pieces that still come to us.

I just have to say that I think that ceramic bird Jim Logan mentions is hilarious!

At first the bubble wrap thing seemed clever, but now it just seems obnoxious. Sure, it gets you to open the envelope, but don't they realize that chances are you'll still end up throwing it away?

There another reason for "lumpy" mailers.

It makes it difficult to stuff the unopened envelope in your paper shredder without opening it first.

They tried the same stunt when they included a fake plastic credit card in with the mailer. It worked before the consuming public upgraded to paper shredders that shredded plastic and CDs.

So now, I guess, they had to move to something "thicker".

Juan, you've no idea :-) While I threw everything else away, I kept the bird. I should post a pic of it. It's so cheap and cheesy it's almost cool.

The sad thing is I don't believe it was intended to be a goof or something funny.

I should have kept the entire package. I can't remember the tie from the bird to the rest of the package, but it was something along the lines of profit or success flying my way.

It's a classic. A classic what I'm not exactly sure, but a classic none the less.

Jim,

That ceramic bird really left you traumatized...

Jim makes a good point with the handwritten address on the envelope. I was going to type that one myself before I read it there.

One other I've come across that hasn't been mentioned is instead of using a first or second class stamp, use lots of 1p stamps instead. A pain in the arse to do no doubt, but one more way of getting noticed I guess.

Hi Tom,

You and I are probably near the same opinion. Relevancy is the issue. Otherwise it's a cheap trick, which is what I believe bubble wrap and ceramic birds glued to paper are...a cheap trick.

BTW...I use standard business letterhead with my clients, complete with their logo, corporate name, and return address. The only thing handwritten is the mailing address. The letter is in no way disguised as being anything other than a business letter, which is what it is.

My only business is B2B c-level lead generation; an exception is occasional B2G lead generation to large public sector organizations and entities. I can't speak to how this approach works in other markets or when used to target other groups of suspects. Something else may work for you and others, but hand addressed envelops and stamps work best for me.

When I was traditionally employed, as one of the c-level targets I go after today, I received a number of lumps in the mail. Some were really cleaver, many were expensive, and a few were merely gimmicks. They all worked. I opened them all. In fact, many lumps were effective in getting past my gatekeepers...not knowing what was inside, they weren’t always comfortable opening my lumpy mail.

That would be an interesting test – the effectiveness of lumpy mail getting past gatekeepers.

I don’t know how effective lumps were in influencing my actions and spending, but they always worked on getting me to open the envelope and examine its contents. In most cases I didn’t mind. A few times I felt manipulated. Which brings me back to relevancy and ceramic birds.

Anyway, to each their own. It’s a good conversation.

I often use lumpy mailers, especially when executive or director-level folks are the target - people who offer a very high lifetime value to a client.

In fact I've used them in my own marketing. And I don't see why they would be considered dishonest. I typically send fun, creative items that help illustrate my selling points.

The lumpy mailer promises a certain value, and because I deliver fun, I feel I deliver it. I have a problem with falsifying a lumpy mailer (like the bubble wrap episode Michael described), but experience tells me that's a counterproductive tactic over the long term.

Let's look at this from a different perspective; in many ways a lumpy mailer is more honest than handwritten addresses and real stamps, which masquerade as personal letters.

I have a lot of questions about much of the direct mail I see (fake letters from "criminals" selling alarm systems, etc), but don't believe a lumpy mailer is inherently dishonest.

Obviously, I don’t have many opinions on this subject :-)

You’re correct, it’s not an overt lie. It’s a trick. And it works. They played your curiosity to see what’s inside.

In direct mail, there’s an entire science to getting the envelope opened, a separate challenge from getting the direct mail piece read and having the reader take action. There’s money is getting the reader to open the envelope and look inside.

And lots of things have tried:

* hand written addresses
* licked stamps
* no return address
* Plain Jane envelop
* teaser copy of all kinds
* different colored envelopes
* weird return addresses
* windows to look inside at something curious
* disguising direct mail to look like an invoice
* disguising direct mail to look like a tax document
* disgusting direct mail to look like an official document from an office of authority
* the list goes on…

Teaser copy is common and can be cleverly done to create interest and tie a thought to a reader before they open the envelope. Plain Jane envelopes with no return address are interesting…I’ve seen several of them lately. The disguised direct mail drives me up a wall…that is an overt lie.

Of the items listed above, I’ve found hand written addresses with “licked stamps” on a simple business envelope works best…as a caveat, I only do B2B direct mail as part of lead generation campaigns to c-level addressees. I haven’t disguised direct mail or sent “lumps” so, I have nothing to compare there.

On the upside, I’ve found the more junk mail there is out there, the easier it is to get noticed just being honest and sincere. Oddly, a direct and sincere offer almost looks unique.

OK. I think I’m out of opinion on this subject :-) Thanks for giving me the space to think aloud. Great topic to ponder.

Jim - Good point. This could be perceived to be a bit of deceptive advertising. However, there was no overt lie in this case. Simply something odd that got me to open the letter. - Mike

Hi Michael,

This is a gimmick sometimes referred to as “lumpy mail.” It often crosses the line from gimmick to trick in an effort to increase open rates. Sadly, it works.

I received two such “lumpy mail” letters last month. One had a hard “lump”, it turned out to be a ceramic bird glued to a letter. The bird was supposed to symbolize a profit of some sort flying my way. Something like that…I really don’t remember.

The second “lump” I received was soft and round. It turned out to be a wad of paper – a coupon for a discount on an information product. The coupon said something like make this the last thing you throwaway. I tossed it in the trash after reading it.

The problem with “lumpy mail” is it starts a relationship on a lie. It tricks you into opening the envelope, in your case to find an unsolicited offer fora credit card.

There are high-class and sometimes expensive “lumps” used in B2B sales. But the idea is the same…trick the addressee into opening the envelope.

Relevancy of the “lump” brings this tactic closer to legitimacy, but that’s rare. Mostly it’s just bubble wrap or a ceramic bird or some other completely unrelated item.

“Lumpy mail” isn’t as bad as disguising your direct-mail letter as a tax document, but it doesn’t rank much below it in my book. It’s really no different than what spammers do with email titles to trick you into opening their email messages.