Custom gloves are helping Greenpeace throw it down. Peacefully, of course. The world’s largest independent direct-action environmental organization is using green household gloves in its “Fashion Duel” campaign.

The goal? To get the fashion industry to clean up its act – eco friendly promos are a great way to do this.

Turns out, those haute couture fashions come at a price to the planet, and Greenpeace is on a mission to do something about it.

The organization created a clever direct-mail promotion: a box containing a single imprinted glove and a link to the Fashion Duel challenge, a survey that invites brands to answer 25 questions about their global supply chain—from leather supply to textile production.

The direct mailing went to 15 fashion houses including Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Prada. Greenpeace evaluated the responses and ranked the brands on its Fashion Duel website.

Consumers can quickly see the couture names that are committed to greening things up – and those that didn’t score so high.

What an awesome way to use custom work gloves to send a message. The custom gloves are subtle but in-your-face at the same time, challenging dirty brands to clean it up. For a campaign focused on scrubbing away brands’ unclean behaviors, gloves were exactly the right choice.

Promo know-how tip:

Always include a call to action in your direct-mail promotions. Let our Brand Consultants help your business design a direct-mail campaign that’s  creative, inspiring and effective.

In a sea of envelopes, invoices and postcards, direct-mail promotional products are a breath of fresh air. It’s exciting when your customers open the mailbox and spot a piece of lumpy mail with a promotional item tucked inside.

Sending your customers a promotional product via direct mail is a different, unexpected and surprisingly easy way to target a particular customer segment.

Victoria’s Secret gets it. The women’s wear and lingerie retailer recently mailed customers a custom phone case branded with the company’s signature PINK logo. Also inside the direct-mail package was a printed marketing piece with the copy “You Rock” and a QR code for recipients to scan and hear a Pandora station created by PINK models.

This direct-mail promotion was an exciting, attention-grabbing way of showing some love to VIP customers. Whether you’re targeting prospects or long-time customers, direct-mail promotional products are an interesting and welcome way to get in the hands of your audience.

Here are four reasons direct-mail promotional products rock:

1. They’re engaging. A promotional product in the mail won’t get caught in a spam filter or overlooked in an inbox. Direct mail engages your customers’ attention and invites them to take action.
2. They’re tangible. Direct-mail promotional items appeal to the senses and deliver a tactile experience that other forms of marketing can’t. The ability to touch and feel a product is a powerful way to drive your message.
3. They’re specific. You can target direct mail to a specific audience using lists and customized messages. In fact, the more targeted the message, the higher the response rate.
4. They work. When your customers receive direct mail, 70-90% will make a purchase or take action after receiving a promotional item in their mailbox, according to a study by Ball State University.

Promo know-how tip: Make sure there’s a call-to-action with your direct-mail piece, and keep it simple. Victoria’s Secret nailed it with an easy QR code and a great promo product.

This clever direct mail promotion includes a cat scratching pad as part of an announcement about a new line of drapes. Its a great example of taking a seemingly unrelated promotional product to successfully promote a product offering. (via Direct Daily)

The fold-out direct mail piece is a popular way to get someone’s attention, whether you’re raising awareness about colon cancer or home improvement loans. In this case, a life-size burglar unfolds from a normal sized envelope with the message that it’s easy for someone to get into your home. Creepy, but perhaps it is an effective way to promote security services.

This promotional direct mail piece is a house that starts small, but expands as you continue to unfold it. It promotes a banks home improvement loan services.