My son seems to be on every college mailing list in the country right now. Most of them say the same thing in the same format—a template letter with some type of glossy flyer or brochure. A few have invested more in higher end collateral, but most have pretty much a similar format. While expensive, direct mail is still a great way to get in front of people, especially for such a big ticket item like a college education. (According to Forbes, private universities average $59,000 per year- ouch.) Overall, my son has saved a few mailers and reviewed others he may have been less familiar. The cheap mailers for schools with lower academic standards go right in recycling. This past week we received a really unique direct mail concept from Notre Dame. It stood out immediately. When my son opened it he was instantly engaged...it was an interactive piece that requested prospects to build a tower and then post the completed project on social media once he was done. He spent time reading all the information and enjoyed the experience. His siblings read the cards and enjoyed the piece as well, not too mention friends and family that have visited us over the past week. I’m pretty sure he complied with their social media request as well. Now I’m blogging about it here too. This is not a huge initiative, but really clever. It once again proves that smart creative makes an impact. Due to the size, the postage was probably less expensive than the standard format as well. A lot of universities tout an elevated experience for their students in the packets they send out. Notre Dame just leveraged this asset better than any other college and made a really good first impression. We’ll be adding them to our list of college’s to visit this summer. Well done Fighting Irish