The re-emergence of mail
Iwasprivilegedtobeinvitedto
Lastyearwas
hopehardtofind.However,Idid over-investmentininflexible
addresstheannualmeetingof findwhatIthinkisgoodnews mailprocessingsystems.
themembershipoftheGlobal
thefirsttime
forsomeinthegrimstatistics. Perhapstherewillbetime
EnvelopeAlliance(GEA)and forittofigureoutwhatitsreal
theEnvelopeManufacturers’
sincedirectmail
Boutiqueandbespoke businessis:communication
AssociationrecentlyinMiami.
statisticshave
Inmyview,datafromtheUSPS, services,servingcustomerswho
SinceIrepresentGEAonthe theDMAandWinterberrytellof sendandreceivewritten
ConsultativeCommitteeofthe
beengathered
there-emergenceofdirectmail messages–notrunninga
UniversalPostalUnion(UPU), asitoncewasandshouldbe: logisticscompany.
thiswasamarvellousoccasion
–60years
targeted,analytically-based,
totouchbasewithenvelope selectiveandeffective. Whyisanyofthisgood?
producersandenvelopeindustry
–thatthere
Inshort,less‘junk’. Itisgoodbecauseitmeanswe
suppliersfromaroundtheworld.
wasnotan
Thisisespeciallytrueinthe arestrippingoutofthe
Thewordfromaroundthe UnitedStates.Itwillalsobetrue mailstreamtheaddictive
worldisthattherecessionis
increasein
inthosecountrieswhichdidnot ‘broadcastadvertising’mailof
hittingeveryone,everywhere. electtobecomeaddictedto thelikesofCapitalOne,which
IhadhopedIwouldhave
thespend.
seeingdirectmailusedasa wascontentwithresponserates
moreupbeatnewstooffer, broadcastmedium;whereitis of0.3percent!
butrecentdata,andwhat still‘boutiqueandbespoke’. Becauseoftheenormous
Iandothersperceive First,directmailvolumein volumesproducedbyCOandits
asacomplete theUSlastyearwasdownby financialcompatriots,aswellas
collapseofthe 4.5percent;ninebillionpieces theITbunchandthesubsidised
previous (Yes,ninewithninezeroes!). hangers-oninthenon-profit
dominantdirect Directmailadspendwas sector,theUSPSinvestedin
mailparadigm $56.7billion,downfrom$58.4 machinery,technology,
intheUS,made billionandisprojectedtodrop proceduresandthinkingthat
elementsof ninepercentthisyear. Infact, discouraged,orresultedin
lastyearwasthefirsttime overpricingothersizesand
sincethesestatisticshave qualitiesof‘non-standard’mail.
beengathered,60years,that Itisgoodbecause,
therewasnotanincreasein paradoxically,theUSPS’rate
thespend. increasesinthelastyear,the
Second,accordingto perceivedfailureofemailasa
Winterberry,thesector commercialmessagingmedium,
responsibleformostofthis andthegrowingawarenessthat
collapseisthefinancialsector customersaren’tfishinbarrels,
ascreditcardmaildropped21.8 butsmarthawkslookingdown
percentandmortgageand anddecidingwhattoswoopon,
loan-relatedmaildropped iscallingforthingenuityfrom
38.8percent. DMserviceproviders.
ITandnon-profitmailings
contributedtheirshare,also. Creationandexecution
Butfinanceledthecollapse. Theyareinventingnew
Third,theUSPSisgoing analyticaltools,newcreative
bankrupt,tiedupbyitsown techniquesandnewsoftware
legacyobligations,suchas forcampaignmanagementand
theabsurdrequirementto multi-channelresponsecreation
payretireehealthbenefits andexecution.
INADVANCE,anditsown Withtheseemerging
businessmodeland tools,directmailwillonce
26 June2009
www.dmi-news.com
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