The 2012 Red Sox were a disaster. As a die-hard Sox fan, it brings me no great joy to say that, but it’s the cold, hard truth. The season began with high hopes. The roster was stacked with future Hall of Famers. Ace Josh Beckett, slugger David Ortiz, infield phenom Dustin Pedroia. The odds were…
Read Full PostInnovative. Imaginative. Inspired. It’s not just our tagline. It’s our way of thinking at Polaris Direct. It’s the cornerstone of our culture. In the spring of 2003, Polaris opened its doors with just five employees and a vision of creating a better lettershop. It is that same vision, that same spirit of innovation and forward-thinking…
Read Full PostWhat do the USO, Smile Train, American Cancer Society and many other large (and small) non-profits have in common? It’s not just that they provide life-changing services or that they are household names. Another important commonality is that they also all send direct mail. Why? Because even in this increasingly digital world, it is still…
Read Full PostIt took more than two years, but the day finally came. April 10 marked a momentous occasion when the 4.3% surcharge on postal rates was rolled back—if I listen closely, I can almost hear sighs of relief from direct mail marketers all over the country. Suddenly, there’s room in the budget where there once was…
Read Full PostAs they say, “Spring has sprung and the grass is ‘ris…now start scrubbing.” Well, maybe the saying doesn’t end quite like that, but spring cleaning is one of those necessary evils we all have to tackle around this time of year. After we kick off the dust and haul out the junk, we’re left with…
Read Full PostWe’ve all heard them—disastrous relationship stories. From bad first dates to bad breakups, dating is a tenuous world, one that must be navigated carefully and skillfully. The same is true for direct marketing. One misstep with a prospect (perhaps you talked about yourself a little too much), and your chance for a second date goes…
Read Full PostQuestion: What do a 20-year-old college student and a 34-year-old first-time mom have in common? Answer: Not a whole lot, other than the fact that they have been deemed Millennials. And because they’re both Millennials, you can market to them in exactly the same way, right? Well…maybe not. With all the talk about how…
Read Full PostVariable Data Inkjet is all the rage these days—and it should be. After all, it offers marketers the long-awaited opportunity to achieve higher response rates through four-color, highly personalized one-to-one communications. But for Variable Data Printing (VDP) to be successful, marketers must pay particular attention to the fifth color: paper. While paper stock has always…
Read Full PostAs spinach is to Popeye, digital technology is to direct mail. Yes, you read that right. From augmented reality to QR codes, and most recently, high-speed, variable data printing, digital technology has transformed the mail—much like spinach transforms Popeye. How, you ask? Read on. Let’s Get Personal We all know that, when it comes to…
Read Full PostAccording to the Winterberry Group, direct mail spending will continue to grow in 2015 to a $45.7 billion market, and it is increasingly looked to as a higher impact channel that cuts through the clutter of digital marketing. There are a couple ways digital has advantages over print, one of them being the ability to…
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