Some direct mailers are pushing the envelope.
Mailboxes are being filled with increasingly urgent, seemingly official messages from the government or banks. But they're not. They're from marketers who are simply trying to get a consumer's attention in the daily clutter of bills, catalogues and advertisements.
"We are seeing more than we'd like to see" of these misleading envelopes, said Patricia Kachura, senior vice president of ethics and consumer affairs for the Direct Marketing Association.
"From a consumer perspective, when a mailing misleads consumers as to who sent it and why it was sent, then it could be considered deceptive," she said. Her organization's ethics committee reviews at least three questionable envelopes monthly, often asking for corrections. So far, she said, all challenged envelopes have been changed or the mailing has been halted.
It pays to build trust and not let down customers once they open the envelope.
thro' Washington Post