The Strategic Mailing Partnership (SMP), Marketreach and PrintGreen promoted the role of mail and print marketing at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, positioning the channel alongside the advertising industry’s leading creative and marketing voices.
The Strategic Mailing Partnership and Marketreach championed the value of mail before the global marketing community at Cannes Lions
The organisations hosted “Mail Unleashed LIVE”, a panel discussion chaired by Rory Sutherland, president emeritus of Ogilvy Consulting. Joining him were Andrew Tindall, chief growth officer, advertising at System1, Claire Sadler, chief marketing and fundraising officer at the British Heart Foundation, and Kate Mackie, global chief marketing strategy and operations officer at EY.
Rather than questioning the relevance of print and mail, the discussion focused on why physical communications continue to play an important role within integrated marketing campaigns. Topics included behavioural science, campaign effectiveness, trust and customer engagement, with speakers highlighting the benefits of combining physical and digital channels.
Andrew Tindall said: “When you need trust and fame, leaning into these traditional media channels is really useful. Especially with mail it’s trust building. You see a massive impact on the amount of trust a campaign creates if you include mail, but alongside radio and TV as well.”
Cannes Lions provided global stage to showcase the power and potential of mail
Kate Mackie added: “I think if you are going through someone’s letterbox rather than their inbox – the in real life versus URL [unreal life] piece absolutely lasts. And it means that you as a brand are driving much more trust I think, because you’re not a flash in the pan. You’re not just pushing junk into mailboxes.”
Discussing the future of account-based marketing, Ms Mackie also highlighted the potential of programmatic mail: “It’s much more around how you are trying to drive the account holistically forward – depending on who the individual is,” she said.
Claire Sadler reinforced the value of direct mail within integrated campaigns, saying: “Mail still forms an important part of our overall media mix. It does land in people’s homes and it sticks. If it’s well done, if it’s relevant – it’s engaging, it cuts through the noise. A piece of direct mail will hang around for a few days or a few weeks.”
Reflecting on the medium’s influence, Rory Sutherland said: “I am completely happy to devote a large part of the rest of my working life to promoting this medium, because I owe it to this medium. It was where I got all my best breaks as a creative. But more important than that, it’s where I learnt almost everything. My interest in behavioural science was entirely sparked by the unexpected findings we achieved when testing direct mail.”
Lucy Swanston, Chair of The Strategic Mailing Partnership, at Cannes Lions
Lucy Swanston, chair of The Strategic Mailing Partnership, said the organisation’s presence at Cannes was intended to demonstrate how print complements digital rather than competes with it. She said: “Our work at Cannes wasn’t about suggesting print should replace digital. Quite the opposite. Today’s most effective campaigns are increasingly integrated, with each channel playing to its strengths.
“Print has a unique ability to create physical engagement, capture attention and build lasting brand connections, while digital delivers immediacy, interaction and scale. The objective is helping marketers understand where print delivers value, how it complements digital, and how it can do so sustainably.”
Following this year’s event, Marketreach and The Strategic Mailing Partnership said they are exploring a wider industry collaboration for Cannes Lions 2027 to encourage greater participation from printers, suppliers and industry partners.
