Tedd Aurelius has an astonishing ability to combine his strategic vision with the creative expertise necessary to drive campaign results. As EVP of Strategic Services, Tedd leads account management and creative development for SG360°’s Marketing Services, ensuring strategy is infused into every client engagement. His consultative approach and deep understanding of direct marketing make him an invaluable partner for B2C organizations and non-profits looking to elevate their direct mail and omnichannel campaigns.

When asked about his strategic approach, Tedd replied, “I don’t have a playbook. I come in with a blank slate so I can learn about and understand the client and their business. Then I take a step back to discover why the strategy they’re using today isn’t helping them get the results they want.”

With over 30 years in the marketing industry, Tedd has won numerous accolades, including ECHO Awards, EFFIEs and Caples for brands such as UPS, Pizza Hut, United Health Group, and SAAB, not to mention his coveted EMMY for CapCenter. These awards not only celebrate his innovative creativity but also highlight the significant performance improvements and measurable results his campaigns have delivered.

Driven by a passion for collaboration and problem-solving, Tedd is inspired by the opportunity to help clients uncover hidden growth opportunities and optimize campaign performance. Outside of work, he’s a lifelong athlete who channels his teamwork-oriented mindset into coaching and leadership.

Tell us about yourself. How did you get into the direct mail field?

My father was a “Mad Men” ad guy from the 60’s, so I grew up around advertising and marketing. My career started in the previous decade with my very first job at Encore Marketing as an Account Executive. My love for direct response, and of course, the mail, began there as I was tasked with working with brands to market our Encore Travel Club to their credit cardholders. I liked it all…the strategy, the data, the creative, and of course, the results. I’m also a big sports guy, so creating a ‘winning’ package was right up my alley.

For those who may be unfamiliar, what does sg360° specialize in, and how do you define your role in the direct mail ecosystem?

sg360º is a direct response performance improvement firm. We help empower our customers to make smarter marketing decisions to improve the results of their marketing campaigns. In short, we help our clients make the mail better. And when I say “mail,” I mean all of the media channels; however, for us, mail is the workhorse when it comes to direct response. We are uniquely positioned to say that because we can help our clients with strategy, data, creative, production and analytics, which for us, is housed under one roof.

Can you walk us through the evolution of sg360° over the 69 years since its founding?

Our roots in direct marketing trace back to the 1950s, when we began printing direct response catalogs—the original direct marketing channel. In the 1990s, we expanded into direct mail and full-scale direct marketing, building on decades of expertise. As the digital space evolved, we applied our direct marketing knowledge to new digital channels, honing our skills and innovating ways to reach audiences at moments that matter. Today, sg360o is a recognized leader in direct marketing and delivering 1:1 connections that produce results.

How has sg360° maintained its position as a leader in direct mail, particularly in an increasingly digital-first marketing world?

I think it stems from our consultative approach that we take with our clients. We take the time to understand their business, what it is they are trying to accomplish, and what the obstacles are that are getting in the way of achieving success. From there, we engage with our clients through our Marketing Alignment Process which is our proprietary and unique method that helps our clients make smarter marketing decisions. We use a data-centric, strategic, Direct Marketing approach designed to boost client results and to establish a “test and learn” discipline. Our Process has four phases that integrate seven major activities into one streamlined approach, tailored to integrate seamlessly. The values to our clients by using the Marketing Alignment Process are as follows:

• Speed of decision making for the marketer: Our in-house data stack & expertise lead to quick, robust insights to drive a compelling strategy.
• Speed-to-sales: There are no handoffs with outside agencies – data, creative, data processing, printing, lettershop, delivery, measurement & analytics are all under one roof.
• Better strategy: The creative team iterates with the data team to formulate the most concise customer profile and campaign strategy possible.
• Better execution: Our internal Structural Design & Production teams work seamlessly together to ensure mail is produced cost-effectively and efficiently.

Has sg360°’s mission and vision changed as the industry transitions towards a more technology-driven approach?

Our mission and vision have changed over the past three years, however, that was due to our brand positioning. Our current mission: “To Empower our clients. To Forge strategic solutions. To pursue improved performance.” provides our employees with a north star and a culture that resonates with our clients. Since our inception, sg360º has always been technology forward-leaning, both internally and with our clients, which is one of our value propositions.

On average, how long do you work with clients? Why do you believe they keep leveraging sg360°’s expertise?

On average, our clients have been with us for over 12 ½ years. We have a handful of clients that we have enjoyed a 20+ year relationship with, and twice that number who have been with us for over a decade. I think the biggest reason they stay is that we review each relationship as a partnership. Our success only occurs when our clients succeed. Again, how can we make the mail better together?

Why does direct mail still matter in 2025?

The main reason is that it still works. And it’s not even close. No other channel delivers the top-line results that mail does and when you add the fact that mail contributes more to the LifeTime Value of customers – via acquisition, cross-sell, retention – than any other channel, it’s not about whether mail still matters, it’s about where marketers would be without it.

What misconceptions do marketers still hold about direct mail and how does sg360° work to challenge those assumptions?

The biggest misconception is that because direct mail costs more than digital marketing (email, display, social, search), the other channels work better. The more ads the better, right? Wrong. As previously mentioned, direct mail response rates blow the doors off digital channels. That said, we believe that rising tides raise all boats, meaning that while direct mail is the workhorse, digital channels, when used in concert, improve results.

You recently released your fifth annual Future of Direct Mail Report. In your opinion, what were the most significant takeaways from this year’s findings?

By far, the most significant revelation was the enormous impact that data plays in direct mail performance. We found that marketers who are using data most effectively in their audience segmentation and campaign personalization are seeing double-digit returns. When we talk about the most effective use of data, we’re referring to starting with your own first-party data, then enhancing that data with robust third-party data, which results in a deeper, more personal picture of who your customer is. And when you’re lucky enough to work with a highly experienced data science team that can interpret and rank that data, the results can be game-changing.

What do you believe is driving the higher performance edge compared to other marketing channels?

Being able to deliver 1:1 personalized campaigns directly to a consumer’s front door definitely creates a competitive edge for direct mail, especially when compared to the overwhelming amount of anonymous digital ads that consumers are subjected to today. But it’s also important to consider the boost that direct mail can give to omnichannel campaigns by providing that personalized communication, the tactile experience, and the physical engagement. The way we look at it, direct mail isn’t necessarily competing with other channels, it’s enhancing them.

Why do you think younger audiences are so receptive to physical mail?

From what they told us in our research, they love direct mail because of its high level of personalization and because of the physical interaction they can have with a mail piece.

Do you think they use it as an escape from a digital-first world?

In a way, Yes. Interestingly, the two features that attract them to direct mail, the personalization and physical engagement, are features that cannot be replicated by digital messaging. The younger generations also experience a lot of life milestones, such as college graduations, getting engaged or married, buying their first home, and/or having babies. All of these milestones offer marketers excellent opportunities to reach out with very personalized messaging around an extremely personal and emotion-filled event. When done right, this can create very loyal, long-term customers. There’s a whole psychology around that, but we can save that for another conversation.

What types of products and services tend to drive the highest ROI from direct mail?

There is so much variation in determining ROI. It depends on so many factors, including but not limited to: the industry, the brand, the product, the target audience, the offer, the call-to-action, etc. However, our research did reveal that marketers are seeing conversion rates from direct mail that are at least 10% higher than any other channel, and 88% see their highest lifetime values coming from direct mail. The research also showed that 76% of consumers take action because of direct mail, whether it’s purchasing a product or service, visiting a website, or making a charitable donation – and that’s consumers across all age groups. So that’s a pretty good indication that the direct mail channel is working for all industries and all generations.

How can brands ensure they’re using direct mail not just for volume, but with intelligence and precision? What are some of the best practices sg360° recommends?

The only way brands can ensure anything is if they understand their customers and what makes them tick. How do they respond to offers, imagery, messaging? Are these the right customers for the brand? Do customers and brands share a common truth? The answers lie in the data. Creating direct response campaigns that resonate with the right customers will inspire the right action, which generates the right ROI, can only happen if data influences the creative development.

The report emphasizes advanced data targeting–can you share an example of what this looks like in practice?

For us, any successful direct mail campaign begins and ends with data. sg360º has developed a proprietary prospect data lake for B2C and B2B marketers that delivers unprecedented insights and pinpoint targeting for our clients, both online and offline. We’ve partnered with some of the best data compilers, data aggregators, and data owners on the market to build our one-of-a-kind data stack which includes over 5,000 demographic, psychographic, and purchase behavior data attributes on 99% of all 250 million US adults, 125 million households, and more than 15 million businesses. Thanks to this rich, data-centric environment, we’re able to provide vivid insights and snapshots of our clients’ customers, build highly predictive direct response models, and create the most robust client-facing dashboards available on the market today. Finally, by having all of this rich data in one place, we’re able to quickly and easily reach your ideal prospects through direct mail, email, social media, and digital advertising in a highly synchronized way that drives customer conversions and maximizes ROI.

How can marketers get the most out of the Future of Direct Mail report, whether they’re seasoned pros or brand new to the job?

The report is merely a guide, not a how-to book. The content of the Future of Direct Mail report should be absorbed and then used to ask the right questions of the marketers themselves, their creative teams/partners and their clients. Each brand has its own unique set of goals/objectives and obstacles that should be considered when developing campaign strategies and plans. The Future of Direct Mail can certainly be a research in that development process.

Anything else you’d like to add about sg360°?

sg360° partners with Fortune 1000 brands to pursue unmatched direct marketing performance. We leave no stone unturned in our efforts to drive smarter targeting, stronger messaging and improved ROI. Everything we do – audience analytics, strategic planning, creative development, production and distribution – we do in the pursuit of performance. So if you’re struggling with your results or if you just need someone to review your current campaign strategy, visit our website at sg360.com.

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