Proposal for a common project on postal data

Charles A. Prescott, Mail & Express Review May 2009

EDITOR’S NOTE

Addressing is an area of common concern for everyone who is trying to make deliveries to homes or to businesses, whether letters, parcels or heavier items.

Mail & Express Review is not in itself a campaigning journal. However, from time to time we are happy to provide a platform for those who wish to advocate actions that could be of benefit  to our industry.

It is in this spirit that the Review is happy to provide space for the author to outline his proposal, whilst in no way formally endorsing it.

If you have any comments or wish to be involved, please contact the author direct on [email protected] or +1 914 533 0208

The Issues

Addresses are the fuel that drives postal delivery, direct mail, and numerous critical  economic, political and social elements. Address systems are essential for the delivery of emergency services, for efficient urban planning, for building utility and communication networks, and much else.

Postal addresses are “geo-locators” which permit the easily recognizable and communicable name of a location, of a place, or of an individual. For the most part, addresses and address systems are the province of the postal systems worldwide, but their impact and uses are broader than this.

Postal systems, and the businesses which are in the developed world their primary customers, are currently in crisis, but this crisis will pass.  As the crisis is resolved, there will come a realization that one of the traumas that was occurring was the world struggling to accommodate a global economic structure in which one third of the world’s population consumed and spent, while the other two thirds constructed, sold, and saved.  One of the realizations growing in the world is that at least one more third of the world’s population, if not even more, must join the consumer society and spend.

With economic recovery we foresee an enormous global increase in direct mail marketing and home and office delivery of products. The posts will recover and benefit from this change, globally. Along with them will be the other players in this communication chain, envelope manufacturers, box makers, express companies, etc. But only if mail and parcels can be delivered to identifiable people in identifiable, that is, geo-locatable, places.

However, there is a weakness in much of the developed world, and in all of the developing world, that will prevent optimization of this recovery and maximization of the opportunity presented.  That is the important weakness with respect to the address, and address systems, including the dearth of such systems.

Direct marketers have frequently remarked on this problem. When they complain of the difficulty of approaching a market, it is often due to the inadequacy of the address system in a country.  Mailers generally look to their data management service providers and others to assure that their address data is as accurate and current as possible. These providers in turn deal with the posts, generally on an individual basis, to obtain the appropriate data to the extent that it is available.

Some Specific Shortcomings

There is a great deal of friction and unnecessary expense in that system. The data obtained from posts is:

• Expensive.   In some cases it is nearly extortionate.
• Time consuming and work intensive to obtain.
• Not universally available.
• Non-uniform in its form, make up, or layout, and thus costly to process.
• Non-uniform in coverage of the nation.In probably something in excess of two thirds of the world’s population, non-existent.

As much as these companies may recognize all these issues, there has not been to date enough incentive for them to approach a common solution to this problem. However, to the extent more elements of the postal dependent industrial world understand the opportunities before them, the number of interested parties will increase.

Moreover, international development agencies are also coming to the realization that the lack of a postal address system restrains economic growth. After my urging, and the UPU’s efforts, the World Bank has determined that it will include a postal factor in its index (known as ‘Doing Business’)  which measures countries’ climate of business friendliness.

The Proposal

It is proposed that a concentrated program of advocacy and education conducted in a  professional fashion over the course of  two years could dramatically change this situation for the benefit of all market participants – manufacturers, mailers, processors, and posts.

The benefits are numerous.

For processors and service providers, there will be faster and more cost effective data acquisition, in a form that requires less management to become profitable; and perhaps a central mechanism to drive further efficiencies into the acquisition of what is, in essence, a form of commodity that has not yet been standardized.

For mailers, there will be more accurate and uniform data, perhaps faster access to change of address data, better targeting and improved response rates.

For posts, it will provide the assurance that they are optimizing the revenue potential of the address system asset.

For envelope and paper manufacturers, and other vendors in the direct marketing process, there will be more consumers in more places receiving more mail, catalogs and parcels.

Action Required

The action proposed is that a small leadership group be formed drawing from interested industry segments to meet to discuss the possibility of the formation of an industry “Address Data Coalition”.  The coalition would set as its goal the formation of work groups with different populations of posts to discuss the common issues and identify ways in which the inefficiencies of getting correct address data to mailers can be eliminated. We would envision one group focused on Western Europe, one on Central and Eastern Europe, and one on Asia. Clearly, it would also be possible to prioritize the regions if necessary.

These work groups would focus first on outreach to posts to articulate as a group the difficulties experienced and the economic importance to all players in removing those difficulties. Second, having built awareness of the problem, the groups would meet to identify hopefully common solutions acceptable to all players, and timeframes for implementation.

Charles Prescott, with ten years’ experience in committee and association management experience, and twenty years’ experience in the direct mail industry, proposes to act as Executive Director of this project and at this point in time seeks indications of interest.

The Author’s Credentials

I was until recently the Vice President, International Business Development, of the US Direct Marketing Association. I am now in the private practice of law relating to privacy, marketing, postal issues, and international trade and investment.

I am also, as a representative of the Global Envelope Alliance, Chairman of the Consultative Committee of the UPU.

The Respective Roles of the UPU and the Wider Industry

It is imperative that this project be pursued in full communication with the UPU, and its extremely energetic Address Group, but it is not specifically within the purview of the UPU. We see a mutually informative and supportive interconnecting set of goals and projects that nevertheless take different approaches, at different levels, over different time frames.

The UPU work program and working procedures are focused on specific postal technical and development projects whose realization will be a major benefit to UPU member posts, and ultimately to the mailing customer. Their highly technical and important work program is outlined and planned for the next four years, and the resources and personnel available for that program will be more than fully engaged in fulfilling the plans approved by the UPU membership.

The UPU projects are undertaken from the viewpoint of postal systems. The proposed addressing project focuses solely on business needs and goals, and obtaining understanding and operational changes to existing systems. It is not, at this stage, about installing new ones or designing systems in the developing world.

The business world has to begin to get its postal partners ready for the end of the recession in the next two years. In short, this project aims above the UPU technical development level to the topmost decision levels.

This is not to say that the UPU should not be involved as an important and very interested participant and supporter. On the contrary, the UPU is rightly viewed as a critical credentialing partner to the project, for the purpose of reaching the proper levels in postal administrations, and in accessing the United Nations and development agencies.

In summary, this project should be articulated, planned, managed, and funded by industry, and its thought leadership, working methodology and goals should be shared in a totally transparent fashion with the UPU and other UN agencies.

Concluding Questions

Does this proposal accurately set out the need to be addressed and the benefits to be obtained?

Is this the optimal way to proceed?

Comments and suggestions are very welcome.