Taking Innovation to the MAXIs

So what kind of direct-marketing trends made their mark on the MAXIs this year?

Multisensory mail
The first winning strategic use of a “sound card” that got my attention was back in the 2008 presidential campaign. I attended a presentation by Blue State Digital of “campaign lessons learned,” and although the focus was digital, as in e-mail, BSD revealed a direct-mail piece that really piqued the interest of the audience. It was a “voice chip” card with a 15- to 20-second speech by then presidential candidate Barack Obama. (That mailing won Package of the Year in FundRaising Success’ 2009 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence.)