International Direct Marketing Fair

Postcomm is to hold a Post Theatre at this year International Direct Marketing Fair.

With one in five business customers exploring alternatives to mail, many have already moved their mail to other media and Postcomm intends to make the most of the event.

“Postcomm makes decisions at the highest level and we will be using the seminars to explain our actions and give others the opportunity to ask questions, said Nigel Stapleton, chairman of Postcomm. “But the seminars are not all about us, we have also gathered experts with a detailed knowledge of the liberalised UK postal market to pass on the benefits of their experience.”

The International Direct Marketing Fair, held at Earls Court, is where strategy makers and decision takers responsible for marketing, direct marketing, data, digital, CRM and research come to find new and more innovative ways to generate a better response to their direct marketing campaigns.

Currently the UKs largest attended exhibition for the direct marketing industry, focus areas will include; helping the environment, electronic substitution, the innovation of hybrid mail and the way that Postcomm, the regulator for postal services, sees the future of the postal market, will be discussed at a series of seminars in London.

The three days of seminars make up a Post Theatre that Postcomm is hosting at this years International Direct Marketing Fair which opens from 29 April 1 May at Earls Court 2, London. Entrance is free.

The liberalisation of the UK postal market has brought about significant changes in the way business postal services are handled. But in parallel with liberalisation, other influences have developed, such as the rise in electronic communication and concerns about the environment.

While electronic communication has led to substitution, digital technology provides further opportunities for innovation in the mails market. Consumer spending on online shopping grew 50 pct last year and all mail operators are seeking innovative ways to fulfill these orders. Hybrid mail is now available: this is an electronic-to-physical service which allows businesses and individuals to send letters electronically from personal computers directly to a print facility near its destination where it is printed, enveloped and delivered locally.

As well as reducing staff time and the need for paper, envelopes and franking machines for the sender, hybrid mail has a reduced carbon footprint compared with traditional delivery networks because it cuts out the need to carry mail over a long distance. Many of the major companies offering hybrid systems will have speakers at the seminar.

Companies entering the liberalised postal market initially targeted large customers, but now we are seeing more special services being offered to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Royal Mail will be explaining its special services aimed at SMEs.

Other topics include choosing the right mail provider, the future of direct marketing, and the views of customers.