RED TAG – Innovation from Royal Mail

Colin R Bradshaw, Head of Data Strategy, Royal Mail.
World Mail Review November 2008 The Introduction of RED TAG

RED TAG is the name of Royal Mail’s new intelligent mail service aimed specifically at high volume senders of mail. With RED TAG, providing they have printed a special barcode and sent the requisite electronic manifest,  mailing customers will be able to receive everything from consignment specific reporting to tracking information for individual mail items.

To date, in the UK, mail tracking functionality has been largely restricted to high value secure mail items or at mail bag level; but with RED TAG the benefits of tracking will be opened up to the mass of business mail at affordable prices. Keenly aware that mail increasingly competes with other communications media including highly competitive e-mail propositions, Royal Mail has recognised that the need to make mail more relevant in the marketplace has never been more pressing. With RED TAG it has aimed to do just that.

Tracking for Standard Mail

RED TAG provides an information layer which permits customers to initiate pro-active customer engagement activity (e.g. timely follow up on advertising campaign mailings), customer service enhancements around re-issue and order reworking,  along with active management of third party mailing suppliers.

All this activity can be supported by reporting that advises when an item entered Royal Mail’s network (important for third party mail producer management), and its route through to the delivery office. In summary, for bulk mailing customers RED TAG provides all the benefits of tracking of standard mail items where it is valuable to know that the item has been received into Royal Mail’s network and/or has been scanned for delivery.

Thus far, customers sending such diverse mailings as cheque cards, PIN numbers, promotional vouchers, final demands, licences, payments, legal documents and time critical advertising mail have expressed a keen interest. Moreover, RED TAG will not only be of benefit to major posting customers but also to the mailing house industry as it will be able use RED TAG for the mailings it produces in order to track mails’ performance.

Quite apart from the immediate value enhancement of knowing how a consignment is performing or that an item has been delivered, there is the ability to obtain information relating to an individual letter via a Royal Mail hosted web portal.

For customers with call centre operations, RED TAG provides the opportunity to obtain information in the first instance through this web portal rather than direct to the call centre operative, potentially freeing up time and presenting cost savings. Linking Royal Mail’s website with a mailing customer’s portal means that time critical items can easily be investigated without recourse to voice resource, allowing  a reduction in previously committed resource for use in other activities,  or to realise a cost saving. The government sector has expressed particular interest in this aspect of RED TAG as it seeks to improve the service to citizens through the implementation of its e-agenda. It also provides individual departments with a valuable service metric for its stakeholders.

RED TAG In the future

Into the future, by blending RED TAG garnered tracking data with other data sets Royal Mail intends to deliver hitherto unavailable value to customers. In particular, RED TAG opens up the possibility for Royal Mail to be able to provide a map of direct mail commercial activity across the UK linked to key customer profile sets that reflect mail based consumer communications, all defined by geographical location and market sector.

Quite apart from improved consumer engagement, RED TAG will offer customers the opportunity to improve the quality of their mail presentation, through better customer address accuracy, reduced goneaways, and more focused mailings. This will lead to better consumer uptake, cost savings and a reduction in wastage.

For example, by using a RED TAG enabled response reply consumers will be able to alert mailers that they no longer wish to be included on the mailing list; and RED TAG’s ability to scan and then provide this information electronically to the mailer will reduce unwanted mail items. Whilst it may be argued that this could reduce mail volumes,  Royal Mail recognises that poorly targeted mailings do detract from the direct mail medium and waste resources!

Although RED TAG is being targeted initially at larger mailers, the aim is to make the service available to lower volume mailers, and ultimately the SME market and consumer mail.  Through web based service development it will be possible for small businesses to access RED TAG tracking for their non-secure mailings at an economic rate.

Operational Benefits

With potentially large volumes of RED TAG enabled mail passing through its network Royal Mail is looking to use the tracking information provided to improve the reporting efficiency of its operations. Tracking significant mail volumes will ‘raise the veins’ of the operational network, allowing for real time diagnostic analysis and then timely intervention where necessary.  RED TAG will  provide managers with data overnight which will allow them to alert customers to any potential major delivery problems as they are about to happen. This early warning system is a significant improvement compared to providing historic information which the customer may already be receiving from his own consumer base.

Customers’ reaction has been positive in recognising RED TAG as an innovative development in the marketplace, and one that will ultimately help them to improve their service their own customers.