Usually my mailbox is cluttered with bills, mangled fliers, catalogs and a half dozen immediately forgettable super-sized postcards.

But every now and then a National Geographic package turns up and I smile – gold among the dross. National Geographic knows something a lot of marketers have forgotten. Classic direct mail works. (It had better work or NG’s going to go broke; they mail and mail and mail.)

The creative is old-school terrific. Not spectacular, just workmanlike and hitting all the right buttons: chatty, engaging copy that may be a little overblown and hokey but so what?; benefits, benefits, benefits; urging response.

The latest effort hawks a kids’ Atlas of the US. The 6” x 9” OE is printed on both sides with lots of copy and magic words: FREE, Exclusive, etc. You know what’s going on before you open the envelope; you’re in the mood for what’s inside.

The brochure unfolds to something like 22” x 16″ and it’s good but I love the order form … Deluxe Edition SOLD OUT (ooh, better get on this right away) … move the Yes sticker from here to there … mail the postcard … send no money now.

Music to my ears. If I was atlasless or had any ankle-biters at home, I’d jump at it.