I kind of suspect that all the 40,000 early subscribers were all advertising creatives and direct marketers…but they’re a legitimate audience too…

Looking to the future, if RM can maintain the integrity of this ‘channel within a channel’, then there’s absolutely no reason Royal Mail couldn’t create other subchannels on the doormat, which could be family-specific, and specified.

“Seedbox”? “Techbox”? “Storybox”? “Thinkbox”?

I just wish it were pillarbox red, not powder blue. This is potentially much more than just a neat gimmick. The decision really begins to chip away at the junkmail image of DM, an image much amplified by certain sections of the media, but not necessarily shared by the public.

Together with RM’s environmental initiatives, this “SurpriseMail” is a real step in the right direction, by gathering volunteered personal data…and invoking a form of augmented contact permission. The most intimate channel just got more intimate.