What is Direct Mail?

Although I had an idea of what direct mail was, i wanted to look into what the purpose of it was and also what design approach to take when designing my own.  When i put a search in for direct mail this is the definition that I came across...


"Direct mail is a way of advertising in which advertisers mail printed ads, letters or other solicitations to large groups of consumers. Bulk-mail rates are used to lower the cost of the mailing, and targeted mailing lists are used to maximize potential response. Direct mail is used in many different situations, limited primarily by the imagination of the advertiser. Stores typically use direct mail to advertise new products or to distribute coupons. Charities typically use the it to raise money or recruit volunteers. Almost any sales pitch can be made by direct mail."


So overall the main focus of direct mail is to directly advertise a company/product/event or to raise awareness an issue i.e charity. Knowing this makes a big difference to the way I approach my designs, as I need to think of a clever way to advertise yo!sushi Berlin and to attract potential customers at the same time. It will also need to be identifiable to my brand as it may be the only visual connection some people are going to get of my company/brand. Here are some examples of direct mail that I came across...

These examples that I have shown were just a few of many many more, and showed just how diverse direct mail can be, from the choice of material to how the customer interacts with. These have got my mind working overtime, but I need to keep in mind such factors as cost, resources and relevance when I design my own direct mail.