Combating Digital Fatigue with Direct Mail (piworld.com)

The U.S. Postal Service reported fourth-quarter 2020 revenue and service volume Tuesday, reflecting the end of a year of turbulence -- both pandemic and political -- including its impact on marketing. While the report did not offer explanations for the shifts, the bottom line was a pronounced decline in media-related revenues -- both marketing mail and periodicals -- although commerce-related shipping services soared. The decline in marketing mail -- 5.6% in revenue and -3.9% in volume -- is significant, given that the fourth quarter of 2020 included what would normally be an exception period of political direct-mail marketing, in what otherwise was a banner year for political media and marketing spending.

Federal lawmakers have made some advertiser-friendly revisions to a bipartisan privacy bill that would regulate the collection and use of consumers' data. Among other changes, the new draft of the bipartisan proposed American Privacy Rights Act, unveiled late Tuesday, appears to require businesses to allow consumers to opt out of online behavioral advertising -- meaning ads served based on cross-site and cross-app data. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce is scheduled to mark up the bill on Thursday. The new language relating to online behavioral advertising is less restrictive than language in the original version, which was introduced last month by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) and Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington). That version, widely considered ambiguous, would have either required companies to obtain opt-in consent for online behavioral advertising, or banned such advertising altogether, depending on interpretation.

Why are marketing campaigns so effective? What is the secret behind the good ones that people remember and talk about (REI’s “Opt Outside”)? Quite simply, a BIG IDEA. The best marketing and advertising over the decades have always been driven by a singular great idea (“Got Milk?”). A core idea that ties everything together. An idea that resonates with the audience and makes them think about your product or service in a different way. Remove that big idea and all you’re doing is selling products, just like the other brands. Blah. But when you build your marketing efforts around a campaign, and use that “big idea” consistently across all touchpoints, it’s more likely to get noticed, more likely to be remembered, and more likely to engage people on a human level. In other words, campaigns work.