5 minutes with… Moyra Lambert

In between keeping the wheels of international business development turning, and educating and inspiring about what good direct mail can do for a brand and its growth, we grabbed a moment with Moyra to find out about her and her passion for DM.

Name: Moyra Lambert

Job Title: Business Development Director – South Africa

First job in the industry: My first job was as a Marketing Assistant with Unilever’s Lipton Tea, I was employed as part of Unilever’s Graduate Programme in 1983! It was a brilliant role – I was collecting names from customer competition and getting customers to join the company’s cookery club.

Area of expertise: My ability to build and nurture relationships along with understanding a company’s strategic goals and getting the best ROI out of marketing budgets makes me a good confidant and sounding board for clients to discuss strategy, find solutions and motivate proposals.

What inspires you when it comes to direct mail? When it is used effectively as part of a media/channel campaign and personalised in a way that the recipient can relate to what they have received.

If you could give one piece of print/postage advice what would it be? Keep testing new ideas/concepts against a ‘control’ and be sure you are able to capture the results accurately.

What is the most important thing you have learned since working in the marketing/creative industries? Keep aware of all the offerings around you but don’t ever forget the basics and keep testing to improve!

What is the best thing about direct mail? The recipient gets to physically interact with it in the privacy of their home, on a bus, train or wherever else they choose to interact with it. They can also combine it with an online experience if that is their choice.

Is there anything about print that you think people would be surprised to know? Paper production is actually good for the environment. Over its life cycle, paper provides environmental, social and economic benefits while protecting and maintaining public health, welfare and the environment. This means that paper is one of only a few truly sustainable products in the world.

Do you see any global trends when it comes to mail? The general trend of mailing in 1st world countries is declining but with it comes more refined data analysis about the mailing, more personalisation and targeted campaigns with higher response rates.

There are parts of Africa and other third world countries where consumers don’t have access to a physical ‘mail box’ where they can receive a personalized mail piece. Other forms/combinations of direct mail need to be used here, e.g. digital and ‘knock and drop’ type mail. The Post Office isn’t reliable in all parts of the world so creative ways need to be sought to address this.

Favourite marketing campaign? Nando’s viral YouTube campaigns in South Africa, Distell ‘Eish’ Ad. Both humorous, very local, relevant, memorable and topical which makes them stand out in the clutter in South Africa. One is a low budget campaign and the other high budget but both get excellent results.

What gets you excited about DM? Online companies like Amazon use direct mail to promote some of their signature products. Data analysis constantly gets better so customers can be better profiled and defined which results in better response rates and ROI.

What kind of clients excite you the most? Ones who are passionate about what they do and are prepared to surround themselves with a team who continue to make things better.