Digital Digest: Zumbox gains mailers; Pitney Bowes goes QR;
Rounding up some more of the latest news from the world of digital and hybrid mail communications.
Zumbox gains two more utility customers
US digital mailbox provider Zumbox has signed up two new utilities to switch their transactional mail to the digital channel.
Georgia-based Cobb Electric Membership Corporation and Gas South were brought on board through Zumbox’s relationship with customer communications specialist DST Output. The two firms currently mail out about 600,000 bills and statements each month for residential, business and government customers in the US state of Georgia.
Zumbox said with a 10% switch to digital, the two companies could save $200,000 a year. Frank Delfer, executive vice president of technology at DST Output, said: “This capability is one of several potential electronic channels that we can provide our clients to help them achieve cost savings and paper suppression rate objectives.”
Pitney Bowes unveils QR code addition for direct mail software
Mailing service giant Pitney Bowes has added a new capability for its pbSmart suite of direct marketing software that can integrate physical and digital marketing via QR codes.
The pbSmart Codes option adds QR codes – two dimensional barcodes that can be scanned by smartphone apps to guide consumers to websites – to printed materials that can then be shipped to customers by Pitney Bowes.
The company said using the QR code, the marketing materials can be used even when the details of an offer or service offering on the associated mobile website are changed or updated. A Pitney Bowes survey undertaken in April found that 18% of SMEs are using QR codes in their marketing.
UK businesses offered Christmas card hybrid mail service
British printing and mailing company CFH is offering businesses a new way to send their company Christmas cards this year – through a hybrid mail service.
The company has a new online card-building facility for its CFH Docmail service, allowing users to create their own Christmas cards using digital photographs and personalised messages, using their own computer. The service has no limit on number of cards printed, with prices for a complete service of including cards, envelopes and postage starting at 85p per card, with an optional 25p extra for first class postage.
Dave Broadway, CFH managing director, said: “Our service is quicker and cheaper than doing it through conventional means, plus it offers the ability to make the cards unique to the sender.”
Parcel firm gains unexpected digital exposure
GFS features on Crawley Town FC’s shirts – and now via the FIFA 12 video game
They’re not offering digital mail, but UK parcel carrier Global Freight Solutions (GFS) has taken on a new digital presence – within a best-selling video game.
The company signed a six-figure sponsorship deal back in July to become sponsor of Football League Two side Crawley Town. As a result, its branding now appears within the FIFA 12 football video game, part of a franchise whose last version sold more than 2.6m copies in the first week of sale alone.
Neil Cotty, managing direct of GFS, which is based in Billingshurst, close to Crawley Town’s stadium, said: Having our logo appear in one of the biggest-selling video game series is a wonderful bonus. We have become known for the innovative nature of our own parcel and carrier management software, so this is a new departure for us.”
