discobeta

(And, yes, I'm serious.)

A few weeks ago, I received the Ambassor Manifesto for the Maker's Mark Ambassador Club. (I had signed up about a month prior.)

I don't get much mail -- most of my bills and important things are sent to me electronically, and the rest is a minimal amount of junk mail. So when I received the Manifesto, it didn't have a lot of competition. I took a close look at the design and actually read through it. It has a rustic feel straight out of Kentucky, with language that makes you feel like part of an exclusive club. Honestly, though, it was the stock it was printed on I liked the most. It's one thing to see a well-branded item, but actually feeling it (in the tactile sense) adds to the experience.

So why did I find this so interesting and refreshing? Because I don't get a lot of mail anymore.  Email, Facebook, Twitter, banner ads, microsites -- almost all brands have gone digital.  My laptop receives more digital ads in a day than I receive by mail in a month.  That means an intriguing piece of snail mail stands out, because it is unique to receive a smart, tactile piece of branding.  (See Chris Brogan's and Joseph Jaffe's reactions after receiving pitches by snail mail).

Brands are always trying to break through the clutter, and one of the most cluttered spaces right now is digital media, where they are all fighting for your eyeballs on email, on their Facebook page, at their online community, and on and on.  So many have abandoned snail mail to the point that the medium has come full circle -- it actually FEELS unique when I receive something interesting from them in my mailbox.

As with digital, the rules of Permission Marketing still apply.  But once you have my permission, there's a lot less competition to get your message heard.