We are all familiar with the reams of paper that cascade on to our doormats every day in the quest for companies to take every penny of our hard earned cash. Whether it is for pizza, window cleaning, dog walking or the latest offer at B&Q, there seems to be a new glossy ad languishing on the hallway floor every time I turn my back. Overcoming my initial paranoia of a of team pesky pixies plaguing me with paper by sitting on my steps and keeping a sharp eye on the letterbox, I started to wonder just how big this leaflet distribution business was. Certainly many businesses use this form of advertising, but to what effect, and how did it all start anyway? The use of the leaflet to spread information comes from the days of war time propaganda and can be traced back to the early 19th century. In the unimaginable days before televisions, satellite television, radio stations and the world wide wonder of the internet, communication was a rather long and painful process. To get a message from one end of the UK to the other could take days, and that's with someone racing along on horseback. Events both good and bad would come and go before most people had an inkling that anything was actually going on. The sacking of Colchester by Boudicca and the Icini for example; by the time news got to the Romans over the other side of the country, there was nothing that could be done to save those in the then capital of the country. Not to say that a spot of leaflet distribution could have helped them out, but maybe a quick text wouldn't have gone amiss. The role of the leaflet during conflict was both a blessing and a bane; in one way it was used to send moral support and vital survival information, and in another way it was used to spread disinformation to cause confusion, hardship and ultimately encourage surrender. This incarnation has a limited use in today's world. The global media network serves to inform the public every minute of the day, and with so many channels covering so many viewpoints, the purpose of leaflet distribution for propaganda is near enough pointless, except in areas where there is no communications technology available. Rather than promoting propaganda or peace, the leaflets we encounter are more than likely peddling the menu from a local pizza parlour. The battle between businesses however could be regarded as a commercial conflict in its own right, and that is why leaflet distribution is such a big business and why we encounter the mountains of potential firelighters on the doorstop daily. Although through personal experience we would probably all claim that this form of advertising is a waste of paper and has no influence over our decision to choose one service or product over another, it is simply not true. It has been shown that this form of marketing is indeed effective, and when a distribution company gets the demographic right for a company, not only do sales rise, but the effectiveness of an advertising campaign can be tracked. Most importantly businesses say that they always receive a high return on investment in this type of door to door marketing campaign. So next time you wonder why nearby businesses persist in posting pamphlets through your letter box have a quick think about how you found your favourite Chinese takeaway, your reliable plumber and even the sofa in the sale at a price you just couldn't resist. It certainly wasn't those pesky pixies that told you about them!
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