Comments on: Lumpy Mail Revisited - Bubble Wrap Envelope Filler Returns

By: PT

PT — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:30:58 +0000

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.

By: JF

JF — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:08:42 +0000

I randomly came across your post while doing a search online, but the best solution to the lumpiness+value question is to print out the sales pitch itself on “foam board”. Many printers support this - the card *is* the lumpy item.
Another solution is to include a regular paper card, with a lumpy “gift” being a printed logo or mascot that is mounted on foam board and machine cut to its contours…

- Jacob

By: Dean Rieck

Dean Rieck — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:45:53 +0000

Personally, I think the bubble wrap idea is pure genius. It’s a dirt cheap insert. It’s a common component of padded envelopes so there’s no need to explain it. And it gets people to open the envelope, which is half the battle.

However, just because you received it twice doesn’t mean it’s successful. You’d be surprised at how wasteful and dumb many businesses are, even ones that do a lot of direct mail. Sad but true.

By: Laura Evans

Laura Evans — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:27:41 +0000

I read your previous blog to find out if they tied the written material to the bubble wrap. What a shame that they didn’t. That would have taken a good idea to the next level. “Pop” the dread of high interest rates or as you said, “we’ll help you cushion the blow of high interest rates” would have tied the whole package together and left the potential customer with a smile rather than a feeling of disappointment, or even worse, of being ripped off.

By: Roberta Rosenberg

Roberta Rosenberg — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:07:28 +0000

Michael, I think if you own a corporate credit card, you’re on the Capital One list! I love the technique on many levels, especially the low cost. But I can’t help but wonder if Cap1 would do even better with a relevant “lump” as opposed to a “lump” with no obvious purpose except to get the envelope opened. Sort of the difference between an open rate and a conversion rate