WME 2010: “Embrace the future!”
Embracing the future was the hot topic during a lively second session during the first day of the World Mail & Express Europe Conference 2010 in Copenhagen. Among this morning’s speakers we heard from Posten Norden CEO Lars Nordstrom and Hongkong Post’s Clement Cheung on cross-border mergers and the changing role of postal operators, respectively.
In the second session, PostEurop secretary general Botond Szebeny took to the stage to focus on growth and the leverage of trust – a key issue as the industry looks to move into the digital field in response to falling physical mail volumes.
Szebeny championed continuing innovation throughout the industry throughout his speech. He claimed it is vital to “give tradition a new perspective,” before telling a packed conference hall to embrace electronic media: “don’t fight it; be aware; incorporate its development to provide customers with flexible solutions.” He also reiterated the belief that parcels could be the leading growth product in the long-term as mail volumes continue to dwindle.
Concluding his presentation, Szebeny said we must “leverage trust to grow our postal businesses.”
The topic of trust was also raised by Susan Barton, postal industry lead at Accenture, when she discussed what to do with traditional mail in the new virtual world. Barton said that brand trust, coupled with the ability to reach everybody on a daily basis, is fundamentally important for the future of the postal sector – and embracing digitisation of mail.
She played on the significance of taking “a different perspective”, but said that whilst the industry looks to the future “even in a virtual world there’s a need for physical mail. The future will be a combination of both physical and electronic.”
According to Barton, the digital future vision could well provide a platform for extended business-to-consumer interactions, “opening new opportunities”, and creating communities. “There is a huge opportunity for everybody in this room. Digital mail is the stimulus to create the future.”
Further reaction from the World Mail & Express Europe Conference 2010 will be available on Post&Parcel shortly.
