Paper Clips

In July of 1776, the most important piece of direct mail in American history was delivered the only way it could be: as a physical document, carried by hand to recipients who needed to see it. Post riders moved copies of the Declaration across the colonies mile by mile, to assemblies, to committees, to commanders in the field. It was targeted, addressed, and hand-delivered. And when one arrived, it wasn't skimmed and set aside. It was read aloud in the town square, to crowds and to George Washington's troops. That's direct mail at its core: get the right message into the right hands, and make it impossible to ignore. 250 years later, the principle holds. A real piece of mail carries weight that a notification never will. It gets opened. It gets read. It gets remembered.

Americans’ outlook about the economy improved somewhat in June as moderating gas prices brought some relief to inflation-weary consumers. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index ticked up by 0.6 points to 91.2, in June, up from a downwardly revised 90.6 in May but below its year-ago reading of 95.2. “Consumer confidence inched up in June as falling oil prices in recent weeks provided some relief to consumer inflation fears,” said Dana M Peterson, chief economist, The Conference Board. Perceptions of the current labor market softened measurably in June as the percentage of consumers saying jobs were ‘hard to get’ rose to 22.5%, the highest level since January 2021 (22.8%).