matter

got home from work tonight to find an enticing package waiting for me.

Matter is a joint project between the Royal Mail and  Artomatic, and is based on the premise that companies can better introduce themselves by giving you stuff you like.  They worked with a bunch of agencies to produce the content, a list of which is here (along with some background and photos of the stuff). 

To be honest, it was a bit of a mixed bag (the muesli and Bravia play-doh were my personal favorites) but I fully subscribe to Artomatic's belief that 'complex brands, concepts and ideas are better understood in our hands than on the screen'.  Plays a lot to the belief (Russell perhaps being the biggest proponent) that as planners we should be making more stuff rather than creating words and traingles in PowerPoint.  Yes it takes time but there's something strangely compelling about real, tactile stuff, perhaps even more so in a world filled by zeroes and ones. 
Anyway, thanks to the folks at Matter / Artomatic for sending a pack to me despite being across the Atlantic, very kind of them and I look forward to the next delivery. 

Comments

[Sallie Goetsch]

I'd seen this mentioned on Springwise or Trendwatching (I forget which one), and it's a fascinating idea and an even better name. Takes me back to high school science classes and the definition of "matter" as anything that has weight and takes up space, but also contains the sense of "significance."

[omer rosen]

The same kind of thing was done here in Israel by Philips in order promote their green light bulbs.
But instead of just sending the light bulbs to bloggers, they asked them to write about the bulbs after they will receive them.
This is not the kind of attitude that will result in positive feedback about the product. Many blogger felt that Philips is trying to use them and commercialize their blog and wrote nasty things about the company.

[Tom Martin]

I too received one and had to say, while I'm not sure if anything in the box moved me to buy -- muesli was quite good and I might pick up a pack at the store one day -- the rest of the stuff just got my attention for a few precious moments.

But I was struck by the power of the idea. This kind of approach might actually save Direct Mail here in the USA before Congress can pass a "don't mail" law.