A friend recently recommended ‘Alchemy’, a book by Ogilvy’s UK Vice Chairman, Rory Sutherland. Sutherland co-founded the behavioural science practice at Ogilvy and, with its team of psychology graduates, looks for ‘unseen opportunities’ in consumer behaviour that can drive campaign performance.

Alchemy considers the fascinating and unexpected human behaviours that challenge what we might logically expect. Its introduction immediately struck a chord with me. In it, Sutherland describes four simple tests that were applied to the format of a charity fundraising campaign and the surprising results they produced.

Every year volunteers for the charity would drop printed envelopes through the doors of millions of homes and return a few weeks later to collect donations. With this particular campaign, alterations had been made to some of the envelopes to test whether certain factors would influence the quantity and size of the donations people made:

-    100,000 envelopes stated that they had been delivered by volunteers
-    100,000 envelopes encouraged people to Gift Aid their donation
-    100,000 envelopes were made of better quality paper
-    100,000 envelopes were in portrait format, with the flap on the short edge.

In Sutherland’s opinion, it would be logical to assume that the change that would have the biggest impact on donations would be the Gift Aid message. The other tests added nothing to the rational reasons to donate.

BUT, the results told a very different story: the Gift Aid message reduced donations by over 30%, while the other three message variations each increased donations by over 10%. The higher quality paper also attracted significantly higher value donations.

He goes on to suggest that people might assume that a charity request would be printed on the cheapest paper possible. This would support the perception that the charity doesn’t fritter funds on administration and marketing but rather focuses investment on its mission and taking action. However, Ogilvy’s tests reveal that different, perhaps incomprehensible, psychological forces are at play when it comes to human reactions.

When trying to explain the test’s findings, Sutherland hypothesised that it might feel more natural to insert bank notes or cheques into envelopes with the flap on the short edge; it might feel more agreeable to put a substantial amount into a heavyweight envelope; and we might be more likely to reciprocate the effort, knowing that a volunteer has hand-delivered the donation request. On the flip side, highlighting a government-funded uplift on our donation might make us think we don’t need to give as much. Bizarrely, though, that message also reduced the proportion of people who made any donation.

So, it seems, that when it comes to influencing behaviour, cheap and cheerful may not achieve the best results. There is clearly something tangible about the paper stock, the message presented, and the format of materials that should not be ignored.

This is where we come in. Holywell’s bespoke approach to every printing project means we can help you plan and execute direct mail campaigns from conception to mailing, including those where you want to test the impact of different materials and formats. With decades of experience and a vast library of past work, we can help you explore options and discover creative printing solutions you may not have considered. 

We’ll help you choose the paper stock and print finishing techniques to make the best impression. Our in-house creative team can advise on how and where to display key messages to create impact. And, of course, superb print quality, attention to detail, and great customer service are always guaranteed.

With direct mail spending up 13% in the last quarter of 2024, more and more organisations are embracing the physical and personal nature of print to achieve their goals. So what are you waiting for? Call us on 01865 242098 or use the button below to kick-start your next marketing or donor campaign with Holywell Press.