Is direct mail outdated? In this episode of CMA Connect, the CEO of the CMA, Alison Simpson, welcomes Danielle Doiron, General Manager of Marketing at Canada Post and Marc Cooper, President of Junction 59. Their discussion explores how direct mail has evolved and is thriving in today's digital-dominated marketing landscape. They provide insights on leveraging direct mail and share career advice for aspiring marketing professionals, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and deep business understanding.

00:00:01 :18 - 00:00:24 :15
Presenter
Welcome to CMA Connect, Canada's marketing podcast, where industry experts discuss how marketers must manage the tectonic shifts that will change how brands and businesses are built for tomorrow, while also delivering on today's business needs. With your host CMA CEO, Alison Simpson.

00:00:24 :17 - 00:00:48 :06
Alison
Welcome to today's episode of CMA Connect, where we will be diving into the evolving world of direct mail and modern marketing and brand building. In a world where digital platforms are continually expanding, you may be a bit surprised to learn that direct mail isn't just surviving, it's actually thriving. This episode will explore how direct mail complements digital strategies to deliver impactful results and strengthen brand connections.

00:00:48 :08 - 00:01:10 :12
Alison
Joining me today are two marketing leaders representing both the marketer and the agency perspectives. First, I'm very happy to welcome Danielle Doiron, the General Manager of Marketing at Canada Post. Over the last 22 years, Danielle's excelled at putting customers first, innovating and leading marketing and business initiatives that deliver really strong results. Joining us today is also Marc Cooper, the President of Junction 59.

00:01:10 :14 - 00:01:32 :22
Alison
Marc has extensive experience in creating award-winning campaigns for sectors that are as diverse as financial services, telco and a wide range of small businesses. As a leader at Junction 59, Marc has guided digital transformations and mentored emerging talent focused on delivering the best outcome for clients. So together, we're going to discuss how direct mail can enhance both branding and sales efforts.

00:01:33 :00 - 00:01:40 :20
Alison
We're going to share some successful case studies, and we're also going to do a little bit of myth-busting around traditional marketing channels. So welcome, Danielle and Marc.

00:01:40 :22 - 00:01:43 :12
Danielle
Hi Alison.

March
Thank you for having us.

00:01:43 :14 - 00:01:52 :15
Alison
So I'd love to kick off our conversation by asking the question, why should brand and performance marketers reconsider direct mail in the digital age?

00:01:52 :17 - 00:02:16 :10
Danielle
Well, DM has been around for a long time. I think we're, we're all aware of that. And as new media opportunities are continually introduced, sometimes we can forget how the power and the impact that that direct mail can, can have. Direct mail just engages differently. And there's, there's a lot of proof that it doesn't just grab attention, it actually sticks with people.

00:02:16 :12 - 00:02:48 :05
Danielle
DM and the physical aspect of direct mail allows a brand to engage with, you know, a consumer or a customer in a pretty intimate way. But its power doesn't stop there, it it actually, its power also lies in its, in its ability to drive action or drive response to a call to action. If you think about a beautifully designed catalogue that's made its way into the home, it's sitting on a coffee table and think about how it, you know, it helps the brand tell a compelling story.

00:02:48 :05 - 00:03:09 :09
Danielle
Perhaps it helps to introduce, you know, a collection or a product. You know, it tempts the consumer to spend a bit of time, maybe flip through. And I also think it does a really strong job of, of inspiring someone to take action or maybe engage in, in the shopping experience. It's got staying power. It drives brand awareness.

00:03:09 :09 - 00:03:36 :14
Danielle
And if done right and embedded with the right response mechanisms, it can even encourage that shopping experience to continue into a digital environment or a store environment. We spend a lot of time studying the impact of direct mail, and we know that neuroscience tells us that the brain processes direct mail 20% faster than, digital advertising, and it also retains it, which means it gives,

00:03:36 :14 - 00:04:11 :19
Danielle
you know, direct mail has a competitive advantage as it relates to driving emotional engagement and recall. And it gives marketers a competitive advantage and an ability to stand out in what can be a really cluttered marketing landscape sometimes. A great example of that would be actually J.Crew. So they had reintroduced their iconic catalog and engaged, you know, their, their customers and consumers in sort of that nostalgic experience and, and flipping through the pages of that J.Crew catalog and having a brand experience with it.

00:04:11 :21 - 00:04:35 :10
Danielle
But what they did, which is really brilliant, is they, they did embed some of those response mechanisms. You know, they drove to, they used QR codes, you know, to drive to a digital environment. They had personalized, interactive, you know, elements to that catalogue. And it succeeded in helping to drive, you know, engagement from the catalogue or the or the the DM experience into the store or the digital experience.

00:04:35 :10 - 00:05:02 :20
Danielle
And I have to tell you from a personal standpoint, as a deep lover of J.Crew, who is still mourning the loss of of our retail stores in Canada, that brand catalogue has become a brand lifeline, actually for me. It is, you know, it's the closest thing to the, you know, the J.Crew experience shopping experience, you know, that I have now and it has maintained my brand affinity and connection to that, to that particular brand.

00:05:02 :21 - 00:05:11 :12
Danielle
So any time I'm traveling anywhere or I'm in close proximity to a J.Crew location, it inspires me to make sure that it is part of my stop.

00:05:11 :14 - 00:05:44 :00
Marc
And you know, what's really interesting is that as much as we love that physical connection and feeling it and having that emotional connection to DM, direct mail also delivers to the bottom line. It delivers as much as a 29% ROI on average, which is comparable, I think, to paid search and actually outperforms online display ads. So when you integrate that direct mail with digital campaigns, you actually can even boost the response rate higher, by as much as 63%.

00:05:44 :02 - 00:05:55 :03
Marc
So pairing direct mail with digital tools creates that seamless journey from the mailbox to online experiences, really amplifying the impact across all the channels that you touch.

00:05:55 :05 - 00:06:31 :20
Alison
I love the stats, and I really love the case study, as well as the memory glue of direct mail over digital is incredibly powerful. All of us are in the roles we're in to drive business results, so a 29% ROI absolutely gets my attention. And I know we'll get our listeners attention as well. And then building on your J.Crew story, when I was the CMO at Holt Renfrew, the catalog that we did each year to our most top customers, we were able to create such a luxurious experience for them that absolutely resonated and drove both online and in-store business and allowed them to dream.

00:06:31 :20 - 00:06:54 :23
Alison
So absolutely can relate personally and in previous roles to the power of direct mail. So I'll take us a little bit in a different direction. Marketers really need to build their brands, and they also need to be driving very strong business outcomes. And let's be honest, that's not easy. So I'd love to hear how direct mail can effectively build a brand while also driving performance marketing outcomes.

00:06:55 :01 - 00:07:16 :09
Danielle
Direct mail is actually unique because it doesn't, it doesn't require you to choose between, you know, leveraging it to build brand or leveraging it to drive performance and business outcome. It actually can do both, and it can do both within the same piece. And the other thing that makes a direct mail particularly interesting is its versatility across industries as well.

00:07:16 :09 - 00:07:42 :12
Danielle
So we already talked about retail, talked about the example of catalogue. You raise such a good point, Alison. And we can't be the only ones that took note of what was happening in retail last year as it relates to catalogue. Catalogue had a resurgence. Think about all the brands that had incorporated, either revisited, incorporated for the first time, or those that where it's just really a tried and true investment in their overall media mix.

00:07:42 :14 - 00:08:07 :00
Danielle
You know, Amazon, Sephora, Mastermind, Costco, Canadian Tire, like the list goes on and on. But it seemed to have grown last year. And that's because it doesn't, it doesn't just allow an individual to have an experience with a brand, it actually kicks off the selling process itself and catalogue's such a great vehicle to inspire. Whether that's how could I tackle a redesign of a room styling, a, you know, an outfit, you know?

00:08:07 :02 - 00:08:32 :00
Danielle
It also delivers tangible product information that helps to remove barriers to purchase; descriptions, sizes, facts . And then when you incorporate things lik