Nuts & Bolts: Case Study
Direct Mail Evolution
June 2008
|
Challenge: Find a heavy-duty envelope with recycled content that could hold two pounds of material and would be a minimum of 11⁄4˝ thick.
Solution: Use an expandable, heavy paper material envelope that was 85 percent recycled and printable on the exterior.
Results: An outer envelope that accommodates thicker materials, is recyclable and remains affordable.
From recycling toner to using recycled content in direct mail, companies across the board are wrestling with how to reduce their carbon footprints while still maintaining their bottom lines.
For the Clearwater, Fla.-based BIC Graphic USA, a supplier of custom-imprinted promotional products, developing a more sustainable direct mail package proved challenging, but possible. The goal was to find a heavy-duty recyclable mailer that would accommodate a catalog and protect it during shipping. The mailer had to allow BIC to print its two-color logo and any other information on it and still fit within the budget. In addition, the marketer wanted the envelope made of recycled material.
Working with Great Neck, N.Y.-based Conformer Expansion Products, BIC chose a heavy paper material envelope that contained 85 percent recycled content. According to BIC, the envelope met the company’s needs because it featured a level of recycled content, expandable sides to fit multiple materials, and zip strips so BIC was able to fill it and still leave the carrier open in order to add more materials if needed. In addition, the envelope was sturdy enough to ship a catalog and additional collateral or samples without the need for a shipping box.
According to Bob Makofsky, Conformer’s general manager, BIC had been using a more typical padded or Tyvek mailer that can stretch to accommodate insertions of various sizes. For the new mailer, BIC chose to use an 18-point clay coat news back material, which is an 85 percent postconsumer recycled content board. The expansion paperboard mailer design allowed the marketer to put up to 1 inch of material in the mailer, where a traditional board mailer is too restrictive and does not work well when mailing thicker contents. Makofsky says, “BIC accomplished the flexibility and capacity they were getting from the padded or Tyvek, but with the environmental benefits of recycled paperboard.”
In response to ongoing demand for environmentally conscious mailing and presentation materials, Conformer and BIC also are working on a polyethylene postconsumer mailer. Ground up milk jugs are extruded into a flat sheet that is then converted into Conformer Expansion Plastic Mailers. “This material is a nice balance of quality product with a high percentage of recycled material,” Makofsky says.
Solution: Use an expandable, heavy paper material envelope that was 85 percent recycled and printable on the exterior.
Results: An outer envelope that accommodates thicker materials, is recyclable and remains affordable.
From recycling toner to using recycled content in direct mail, companies across the board are wrestling with how to reduce their carbon footprints while still maintaining their bottom lines.
For the Clearwater, Fla.-based BIC Graphic USA, a supplier of custom-imprinted promotional products, developing a more sustainable direct mail package proved challenging, but possible. The goal was to find a heavy-duty recyclable mailer that would accommodate a catalog and protect it during shipping. The mailer had to allow BIC to print its two-color logo and any other information on it and still fit within the budget. In addition, the marketer wanted the envelope made of recycled material.
Working with Great Neck, N.Y.-based Conformer Expansion Products, BIC chose a heavy paper material envelope that contained 85 percent recycled content. According to BIC, the envelope met the company’s needs because it featured a level of recycled content, expandable sides to fit multiple materials, and zip strips so BIC was able to fill it and still leave the carrier open in order to add more materials if needed. In addition, the envelope was sturdy enough to ship a catalog and additional collateral or samples without the need for a shipping box.
According to Bob Makofsky, Conformer’s general manager, BIC had been using a more typical padded or Tyvek mailer that can stretch to accommodate insertions of various sizes. For the new mailer, BIC chose to use an 18-point clay coat news back material, which is an 85 percent postconsumer recycled content board. The expansion paperboard mailer design allowed the marketer to put up to 1 inch of material in the mailer, where a traditional board mailer is too restrictive and does not work well when mailing thicker contents. Makofsky says, “BIC accomplished the flexibility and capacity they were getting from the padded or Tyvek, but with the environmental benefits of recycled paperboard.”
In response to ongoing demand for environmentally conscious mailing and presentation materials, Conformer and BIC also are working on a polyethylene postconsumer mailer. Ground up milk jugs are extruded into a flat sheet that is then converted into Conformer Expansion Plastic Mailers. “This material is a nice balance of quality product with a high percentage of recycled material,” Makofsky says.
|
Business-to-Business Lead Generation Strategies (2nd Edition)
Business to Business Marketing Research
Cracking the QR Code
The Art & Science of Multichannel Fundraising
PURLs for Profit
Variable Data Printing Case Studies