The data-driven campaign, printed on Xerox digital presses, is giving away 500,000 British Airways flights to 80 destinations. It incorporates personalised flight and hotel offers specific to the customers location, destination and lifestyle data.

The offer and destination featured are determined through detailed data analysis, while the images used are taken from hundreds that have been stored in an online image bank.

Communisis DM divisional sales director Gurdev Singh said: "This is easily the biggest campaign of this kind and shows the future for direct mail. This campaign has already paid for itself and I believe that within 10 years all direct mail will be printed digitally."

The rest of Air Miles 6m customers will be mailed over the next 10 weeks, during which hotel offers and price changes will be altered in line with previous customers responses and availability.

"Anyone can put ink on paper, but this campaign couldnt have been done without our bespoke software," said Singh.

Story by Rachel Barnes