Okay, okay. I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek with the headline. But two recent marketing efforts printed on good old-fashioned newsprint caught my attention.

And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Capturing a bit of your prospect’s overcrowded and overtaxed mindshare long enough to get them to consider your offer.

A few weeks ago, a catalog from Oldies.com hit my mailbox. It struck me as odd—a Web site bothering to print a 92-page newsprint catalog? What a waste.

But then I sat down with it.

I started browsing through the catalog. It was nothing fancy—page after page of photos of DVD covers and title/price information. I got sucked in and before I knew it I had spent a half hour reading through all the listings.

Yes, I spent 30 minutes reading the catalog literally from cover to cover. I can’t tell you the last time I did that with a catalog. But the fact that (a) it was on newsprint and (b) I hadn’t received anything like that in ages appealed to the pop culture geek in me. And weeks later, I still have it and will likely be soon placing an order (online, of course).

The takeaway here obviously isn’t to rush to newsprint. The takeaway is that if you’re going to spend the money to hit your audiences with direct mail, make it count. Do something different to get their attention. Remember, old school can be cool if done right.

The other newsprint media that caught my eye? Wednesday Comics, a just concluded 12-week weekly series from DC Comics. Trying to do something a bit different from the typical 2009 comic book experience, this summer DC launched a Sunday funnies format broadsheet, featuring original one-page strips starring both some of their most iconic heroes (like Batman and Green Lantern) and some of the more beloved “second stringers” (like Metal Men and Kamandi).

It was a fun way to get some PR for DC, one that they extended via a deal with USA Today to reprint the Superman strip. (The first week’s strip appeared in the print newspaper; the entire series can be found online here.)

And yes, the format seemed a bit too disposable for some hardcore comics collectors, which is why the series will be compiled into an oversized hardcover edition.

Any direct mail formats or creative that have caught your eye lately?

Okay, okay. I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek with the headline. But two recent marketing efforts printed on good old-fashioned newsprint caught my attention.

And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Capturing a bit of your prospect’s overcrowded and overtaxed mindshare long enough to get them to consider your offer.

A few weeks ago, a catalog from Oldies.com hit my mailbox. It struck me as odd—a Web site bothering to print a 92-page newsprint catalog? What a waste.

But then I sat down with it.

I started browsing through the catalog. It was nothing fancy—page after page of photos of DVD covers and title/price information. I got sucked in and before I knew it I had spent a half hour reading through all the listings.

Yes, I spent 30 minutes reading the catalog literally from cover to cover. I can’t tell you the last time I did that with a catalog. But the fact that (a) it was on newsprint and (b) I hadn’t received anything like that in ages appealed to the pop culture geek in me. And weeks later, I still have it and will likely be soon placing an order (online, of course).

The takeaway here obviously isn’t to rush to newsprint. The takeaway is that if you’re going to spend the money to hit your audiences with direct mail, make it count. Do something different to get their attention. Remember, old school can be cool if done right.

The other newsprint media that caught my eye? Wednesday Comics, a just concluded 12-week weekly series from DC Comics. Trying to do something a bit different from the typical 2009 comic book experience, this summer DC launched a Sunday funnies format broadsheet, featuring original one-page strips starring both some of their most iconic heroes (like Batman and Green Lantern) and some of the more beloved “second stringers” (like Metal Men and Kamandi).

It was a fun way to get some PR for DC, one that they extended via a deal with USA Today to reprint the Superman strip. (The first week’s strip appeared in the print newspaper; the entire series can be found online here.)

And yes, the format seemed a bit too disposable for some hardcore comics collectors, which is why the series will be compiled into an oversized hardcover edition.

Any direct mail formats or creative that have caught your eye lately?