stuff that matters

Came across this in the creative/advertising/design blogs last week. Matter is a new experiment in direct mail from the nice people at Artomatic and Royal Mail to: "create a vehicle for the creation of real, physical objects that communicate ideas and feelings and that people feel good when they get them." Looks like they are doing just that too, with a little vinyl figure for Sony Erickson, a Nintendo Wii sweatband and other fun stuff. If only more brands thought about DM this way; as a tactile way of talking about their stories and values, creating more emotional investment rather than simply as a way of eliciting a direct response on a product. There's a nice mixture of journey/exploration stuff and instant hits too. There's also something interesting about the combination of brands in there... It's DM to look forward to - I just wonder if there might be a shelf-life on it from the consumer's point of view - I didn't get to the site in time to receive their pilot box, but signed myself up to receive the first proper one later this summer, so I guess I'll find out then.