When Western States Envelope Company was founded in 1908, the main channels of communication were mail and newspapers. We built our business through the graphic arts trade converting envelopes from printed sheets. Over the years we added stock items and custom capabilities. Now, after 104 years, through two World Wars, the Great Depression, and countless recessions we have evolved into one of the premier envelope and label manufactures in the Country with five locations. We are still owned by the founding family, and our kinship with the printing and mailing industry still guides us today.

We appreciate our history, but are more excited about our future. We see mail as a key element of communication today, but with more brothers, sisters, and cousins in the digital media mix. The envelope is still the preferred delivery vehicle for mail. A recent Nielson study conducted in Germany and the United States shows that mail received in a printed envelope creates more engagement and response than any other vehicle.

The study showed that young recipients (16-34 years) prefer to receive advertising mail in a real envelope, if it is personally addressed to them. 84.5% of contents received in a printed envelope were read by recipients - the highest in the study. The graph above shows the tendency of people to recommend a product or service based on its carrier. The envelope provides privacy and the perception of value that does not resonate the same way with other mailing vehicles.

As we look into the future, we see the envelope maintaining its perch in the hierarchy of mailing options. Our company, and the industry as a whole, is moving faster to make targeted in-home dates. The speed and demands of today’s inserting equipment require envelopes to be made better than ever before. The digital age is here, and the envelope will play an important part in delivering the message.

This article appeared in the May/June 2012 issue of Mailing Systems Technology Magazine. You can view it here.