When direct mail doesn’t end up at the bottom of a birdcage, it can have a spectacular impact.

Take this PG&E EnergyStar mailer, which I wrote for FCB Rivet. When it was sent out in 2004, the numbers of energy-efficient new homes built in California went up,  (7,100 single-family units and 2,500 multi-family units), as contractors throughout the state took advantage of the program’s rebates. 

And the numbers continued to grow.  By 2015, the number of EnergyStar energy-efficient new homes built in California had risen to 165,783.

Of course, it’s hard to quantify how much of that success had to do with my little mailer. But it’s proof that direct mail (coupled with a compelling offer) is definitely not for the birds.