The leaflet, sometimes flippantly and rather disrespectfully called a 'flyer', as we all know comes in endless shapes, sizes, styles and formats from a single-sided A5 jobbie to an extraordinary piece of multi-folding origami - but they all have one thing in common.

Other than brochures (which have another role entirely) leaflets are the only 'tactile' form of major advertising and are one of the few forms of advertising that has been specifically taken or chosen by the consumer (unless used as direct mail).

So the leaflet is not like any other type of advertising, not like a TV ad that's in the middle of a programme, or a radio commercial that's interrupting your music, or a press ad that's somewhere in-between the news, or a poster that's trying to grab your attention as you drive or walk along the road. IT didn't interrupt YOU, you chose IT!.

It's sitting there all on its own (or perhaps with other leaflets) shouting "pick me up and take me home!" and, unlike many other forms of advertising, that's exactly what you can do. Take it home and read it later.

Even a Press or a Magazine ad can quickly be forgotten once the publication is closed, but a well-produced leaflet is still there on the coffee table or shelf, all on it's own, asking to be picked up again.

And because of the nature of the leaflet, the most important element is, of course, the Front Page, as it is this that is saying "hey, look at me, I've got something great to offer you...inside!" and once inside the rest of the leaflet should be as easy as possible to navigate, simple to understand, aesthetically well-designed with good typography & images and with idiot proof call-to-action details.

Basically, is has to do the job of the salesperson, the product, the showroom or shop - but without the advantage of any of them being there!

Direct Mail leaflets are different as they haven't been 'chosen' but were sent to the prospective customer 'unsolicited' or 'unrequested'.

I have often heard it said (by adpeople and consumers) that Direct Mail is very much a waste as most DM leaflets go straight into the bin, and perhaps many do, but here's an interesting thought.

Let's suggest that for every 100 DM leaflets delivered, 90 of them are simply thrown away. That leaves just 10 that are read and of those only ONE creates a sale. That's a mere 1% success rate.

Doesn't sound great, does it?

But if we converted that to say, an ad in The Daily Mirror, that could give a successful response of over 13,000.

Many an advertiser would bite your hand off for that!