Expert: Richard Armstrong - 11/9/2003

Question
What is your opinion of direct mail pieces that are aggressive in nature, such as used by car dealers? Examples would be tear-offs with fall-out vouchers or offers; language and aura of something "official"; "urgent you contact us regarding your financial matter"; official-looking stamps and insignias.

Answer
as long as you don't do anything illegal, creating a sense of urgency with such gimmicks is not a bad thing.  but as a general rule, i don't like to "trick" people to get inside the envelope ... because then they start out feeling disappointed and/or duped.  this does not put them in a responsive mood.  i'd rather tease them inside by promising some information that will be valuable to them.  there's a difference between a "tease" and a "trick," in other words, and you should be able to tell the difference fairly easily.  in other words, make sure it passes your own "smell" test before you use it.  if it seems fishy or underhanded to you, it'll seem that way to the customer too.