Sorting Italian postal system

It has been interesting reading about the problems of Royal Mail, as our own Poste Italiane has also gone through years of problems. One of the most unlikely turnarounds, however, has taken place thanks to an initiative by Corrado Passera, one of Italy’s most outstanding businessmen.

The long-troubled postal service is due to breakeven this year, four years after Passera agreed to take on its demoralised workers, truculent unions, inflated costs, and GBP538m annual losses. Some 14,000 post offices throughout Italy have been literally turned inside-out. The new Poste Italiane offices have a more welcoming atmosphere than many banks – and most importantly, post office staff have become courteous and extremely helpful – a big change from the surly staff of old.

Key to the organisation’s revitalisation is Passera’s success at convincing unions and workers to sign up to 100 projects aimed at slashing costs and boosting revenues. His move to measure employees on performance also resulted in an exodus of some 25,000.

To spur growth, he launched a financial services unit in May 2000 that now generates 40 per cent of the organisation’s GBP3.8bn annual turnover. Enlisting the postal system’s 14,000 branches as bank branches, BancaPosta has garnered GBP334m in deposits in two years, and is Italy’s third-largest seller of life insurance.

Passera has now left Poste Italiane, but the major transformation that he brought about has left its mark. He established the right conditions for an effective relaunch of its own direct mail and mail-order activities, repositioning direct marketing as a major advertising medium at the same time.

The two direct marketing companies incorporated within the framework of Poste Italiane – Postel Direct and Printel – now offer database marketing and list management, fulfilment, digital and continuous form printing and email services. More than 80 account executives have also been trained to assist the companies in the development of direct marketing campaigns, which can only serve to boost the direct marketing industry further.

Allan Leighton, take note.

Italo De Mas is vice-president of RCD & Partners, Milan, and a member of the InterDirect Network of independent direct marketing agencies, which has Tullo Marshall Warren as its UK member. Email: [email protected]

Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors