USPS Customized MarketMail Begins Aug. 10
On August 10, the United States Postal Service will launch Customized MarketMailTM (CMM), an advertising mail product recognizable from others by their eyecatching, novel shapes. These distinctly different, literally-outside-the-box-shaped pieces will set their senders apart by visually communicating those mailers’ products and services. The local ice cream parlor may appear all the more inviting to a potential customer who holds a model of the real treat that awaits. ‘In the battle for audience attention, Customized MarketMail will allow business mailers to differentiate their products in the mailstream,’ said Nick Barranca, Vice President of Product Development for the Postal Service. ‘Within certain size, weight, and thickness limitations, Customized MarketMail can be virtually any shape and design the mailer desires. CMM will let advertisers put their creativity to work, designing their mail pieces to deliver high impact, demand attention, and generate greater response rates.’ As its name implies, Customized MarketMail must be prepared and mailed in special ways. Business mailers must have or obtain a Standard Mail permit, send a minimum of 200 pieces per mailing, but not necessarily per destinating delivery unit, and dropship or deliver them to the ultimate destination facilities for handling. The postage rates for these distinctive mail pieces will be 57.4 cents for Regular Standard Mail, and 46 cents for Nonprofit Standard Mail. Sending individual pieces or depositing them in mail or collection boxes is not permitted. Mail pieces may be up to 12 inches high by 15 inches long by ¾ of an inch thick and weigh up to 3.3 ounces. ‘Customized MarketMail is an exciting new development in an industry that welcomes innovation,’ said H. Robert Wientzen, President and CEO of the Direct Marketing Association. ‘Business mailers are always interested in new creative applications of mail, so the industry is going to welcome this new technique. There is no doubt that CMM is the shape of things to come.’ Mailers’ ability to use Customized MarketMail became a reality earlier this month when the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors approved the proposal for this advertising mail product
