Grand opening: you may have the best direct-mail creative in the world. But recipients will never know it--unless you can first motivate them to unseal the envelop.

• Author: Moren, Sally
• Position: Fundamentals: the direct mail envelope

Have you ever headed for the trash can with a piece of mail and changed your mind at last minute? What was it about that envelope--only one of the many delivered annually--that piqued your curiosity or aroused your anxiety enough to get you inside? The average consumer is only partly conscious of the envelope. But to direct-mail practitioners, these carrier vehicles are one of the most important---and often underestimated--part of the creative strategy in crafting responsive mail communications.

Apart from safe delivery of its contents, the envelope also serves as the "doorway" to the message inside. It must motivate the reader to open, read and respond. Looked at another way, the envelope is the sender's invitation to a conversation--the first sentence of the silent salesman. As such, it sets an emotional tone for that conversation, one that can range from business to pleasure and beyond.

Philosophies abound on the "right" way to design an envelope, from the austere-looking blank face (called "blind envelopes") to full-color envelopes that tout blatant copy lines ("teasers") and provocative artwork. The truth is that there is no one rule that applies in all cases, The perfect envelope design should evolve directly out of what your package is intending to do, coupled with what your brand is trying to say to the recipient.

Following are a few reliable ground roles for envelope design, plus examples of how each approach has motivated reader response.

Rule #1: Create an envelope teaser that doesn't sound like o soles pitch.

In today's savvy advertising world, consumers have become skeptical about sales propositions. And, not surprisingly, they're on to any mail message that arrives in a "decorated envelope." However, the critical thing to recognize is that this is not inherently good or bad: It depends on the relevance of your message.

Consider the case of a venerable New England community bank whose "free" checking account---unlike its competitors'--actually delivered superior benefits. In this case, the bank aggressively promoted its "dare to compare" message on the envelope: A sales proposition that produced positive results when mailed to the prospect audience. Why? Because the envelope aroused curiosity: "Am I getting the best deal from my current bank?"

Exception: While most teasers connote "advertising mail," there are a few applications where they will virtually guarantee that the package gets opened and read. Consider this quotation...