In a digital-first marketing landscape, direct mail often fades into the background, dismissed as old-school, overlooked by brands racing toward the next big online trend. But Marketreach, with the creative force of The Gate behind them, is determined to challenge those assumptions. Their latest campaign, the second in the “Totally Mailed It” series, flips the script by spotlighting mail’s unique power in a world overwhelmed by screens.
The campaign doesn’t just talk about why mail works; it shows it. Featuring testimonials from well-known marketers like Rory Sutherland, Mark Ritson, and Andrew Tindall, the initiative highlights how direct mail has driven real, measurable success for some of the UK’s most respected advertisers. It’s a peer-to-peer approach designed specifically for CMOs and marketing leaders, using powerful personal stories to rebuild trust and drive consideration of mail as a high-performing channel.
By blending striking visuals, high-profile voices, and message clarity, The Gate and Marketreach have created a campaign that’s hard to ignore. With creativity rooted in research and strategy, and a tone that balances boldness with credibility, “Totally Mailed It” positions mail not as a relic, but as a critical piece of the modern media mix, one that delivers results you can hold in your hand.
What was the brief?
Marketreach’s remit is to promote mail as a media channel. Its purpose is to “Unleash the magic of mail”, as mail’s light is too often hidden amongst the digital maelstrom. The objective is to get marketing decision makers within the UK’s top 4,000 advertisers to actively consider whether mail is right for them. All too often, mail falls off the radar and is rejected out of hand because it is ‘not digital’, although that’s precisely the reason that it works so well.
The brief for the campaign was to grow consideration by challenging perceptions of “brand mail”. Our strategy is one of advocacy, senior marketers listen to each other and respect the opinions of industry doyens. For messaging, we were armed with research that demonstrated mail’s ‘relative advantages’ over other media channels, which are that it is trusted, is a physical brand in the hand, and that it drives commercial results.
This burst of activity is the 2nd edition of the campaign. We have built upon the success of last year’s activity and added more high-profile advocates to our line-up, including Mark Ritson and Andrew Tindall, in addition to Rory Sutherland et al.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
With this campaign we landed on a specific route very quickly. There were several standout ideas, but it was one of those occasions where everyone aligned in harmony on a decision. This is partly because, over the years, we have developed a really clear idea of the Marketreach brand and how it is communicated.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
This campaign was never about explaining the value of mail. It was about recognising the people who’ve already proven it, the ones who made bold decisions and saw the results. Once we had that lens, the creative work became a matter of tone and craft. Keep it sharp, let the success stories speak for themselves and deliver how they Mailed It.
What was the production process like?
As this is the 2nd instalment of our campaign, our first port of call was to recruit more testimonial advocates to the campaign to add our stellar pre-existing line-up. Once we had confirmed our new advocates, we worked with our production partner, James Day, photographer, to re-touch portraits of the advocates to bring them into our Totally Mailed It world and then get going on our full suite of beautiful assets. In the background, we were interviewing our new advocates to get their powerful testimonials on direct mail to get the most interesting and disruptive content we could.
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
The message is mail can help marketers to Totally Mail It. We are shining a light on leader marketers’ success stories with direct mail – the times mail ramped up ROI, turned trust up to 11 and totally mailed it for them. Mail is an incredibly creative, versatile physical medium that drives results.
In today’s market, consumers have more control than ever before, so it’s essential that brands deliver the best possible customer experience to improve loyalty and retention.
Nothing beats the sense of touch. When we touch something, we emotionally engage with it in a unique way - seeing AND feeling makes a more memorable experience. This is the experience you can create for your customers with mail, when you put your brand directly into their hand. Marketers’ top priority is making decisions that will deliver positive ROI. Mail can contribute to this as it is proven to drive more action and higher response rates than many other media channels.
In addition, in this time of phishing and scam calls, not to mention fake news and deepfakes, consumers need to know they can trust what they are being told. If they don’t trust you, they won’t do business with you. Marketers and customers can get peace of mind, being able to trust mail because it is private and secure.
Can you describe the creative spark or inspiration behind the initial concept? Was there a specific moment or insight that ignited the idea?
Yes, it came from a chat about what each marketeer has achieved with mail and how we could speak holistically about it; they had each Totally Mailed It. We didn’t need to create stories, just tell theirs in an impactful way. That shift from promoting a channel to proving it through success stories and showing how, across many different fields, they’d Totally Mailed it.
How did you ensure that the concept aligned with the brand's values, goals, and target audience?
We’ve created an authentic, peer-to-peer campaign that is memorable. Our advocates have been carefully selected to tell their story so it is well-received and believed. Ours is a difficult audience to get through to as CMOs and Agency decision-makers obviously have a sophisticated understanding of marketing and know when they are being “sold to”. We need to communicate to them in an authentic way, so who delivers our message is as important as the message itself. In addition, the campaign is not about promoting direct mail in a silo; it is also about improving the knowledge of how direct mail can work powerfully as part of a multi-media mix, so it reflects the CMO's challenges.
What role did consumer research or market analysis play in shaping the concept and its execution?
Research into the relative advantages of mail has helped us focus the messaging in recent years. There is just so much good to say about mail that it has sometimes been hard to choose what to say. The research enabled us to focus on the facts that mail is trusted, is a physical brand in the hand, and that it drives commercial results. All activity ladders to at least one of those messaging pillars.
How did you ensure that the concept remained innovative and stood out in a crowded marketplace?
We wanted to take the industry’s most recognisable faces and make them recognisably Marketreach. Inspired by the brand’s distinctive red tone, we created a visual style that wouldn’t look out of place in Vogue. That, coupled with an unexpected tone and line that makes you smile, has created a visually striking campaign that marketers can’t ignore. We’d like to think we Totally Mailed It.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
We hope to build on last year’s successful results, further increasing the consideration of the direct mail medium. Whilst raising further awareness of Marketreach’s tools and resources that marketers can use to begin using the medium, or improve the way they use the medium to deliver the same success our advocates celebrate in the campaign.
Credit list for the work?
The Gate:
Creative
Executive Creative Director – Jack Gallon
Associate Creative Director – Rob Syme
Associate Creative Director – Stuart Bowshaw
Senior Copywriter - Natalie Morten-Spencer
Strategy
Chief Strategy Officer– James Devon
Design
Design Lead – Joss Dickinson
Creative Artworker – Kerry Salisbury
Account Management
Senior Account Director - Bea de la Rica
Junior Account Director – Stephen Rowe
Account Executive - Luiza Fesenko
The photography was shot by James Day (excluding Mark Ritson, Andrew Tindall, and Nathan Ansell which were retouched only).