Direct mail’s importance and impact grew during Covid. It’s no surprise then that 41%* of businesses plan to increase spend on ad mail this year. Gotta Love Paper®!

Mail remains important because people, even with Boris’s roadmap out of lockdown, are still largely confined to home. It provides a welcome distraction in what has been a primarily screen-based year. People crave physical connection, the sensation of touch, so brands should seriously be thinking about mail as a channel to engage people and disrupt the digital ‘noise’.

Strangely, some still believe print is bad for the environment. It’s been nine years since Two Sides launched its Love Paper campaign to dispel myths and raise awareness of the sustainability and appeal of print, paper and paper-based packaging campaign. In that time, it has stopped over 700 global organisations making false or misleading claims, countering them with truisms:

•  Nearly two thirds (65%)† of Europeans think forests are shrinking when, in fact, areas the size of 1500 football pitches are planted every day.
• And while Covid might have affected recycling, Europe normally recycles over 72%† of its paper.

And it’s not helpful when marketing titles imply unsustainability like this emotive statement published recently: “With global newspaper circulation in decline, we’re certainly not talking about how many trees had to perish to get your fingers inky.”

Balance that dated perspective with The Guardian’s more enlightened stance. It has just started wrapping its Saturday supplements in paper and showcased the Love Paper campaign in one of its February issues.

Sustainability has to start somewhere. Food processors, manufacturers and retailers are making great strides in replacing single-use plastics with more sustainable sources. And digital is not the panacea people think it is. Gadgets, the internet and their supporting systems are all said to contribute the same carbon emissions (3.7%1) as the world’s pre-Covid airline industry!

Print and paper cut through the noise. They’re creative, more trusted, and convey quality and authority. Some marketers are realising that better targeting and shorter runs using interesting materials, textures and print finishes are not only more affordable but also more effective at expressing brand personalities.

Featuring the Love Paper logo on your printed or packaged items shows you care about the environment and support sustainability.
Let us show you what a print campaign could achieve. It sounds good on paper; it proves good in practice.

Contact lucy@nutshellcreative.co.uk

*Source: MarketReach/Trinity McQueen
† Source: Two Sides
1 Source: French Think Tank The Shift Project