Author: Archive

Canada Post Hosts 'LIFT,' 5th Annual Direct Summit for Retailers

Posted by | Mar 7, 2008 | |

Canada Post announced today the conference dates for the Direct Summit, a conference dedicated to the advancement of the Multi-Channel Retail Industry in Canada. Summit delegates will meet April 21-23 at the Pantages Hotel and Spa in Toronto.

“The main theme for this year’s conference centers on the customer experience and increasing the lift in consumer response through direct marketing,” said Laurene Cihosky, SVP of Direct Marketing for Canada Post. “Retailers at the Summit have a tremendous opportunity to network and talk about what works.”

The Direct Summit will include speakers from Google Inc., LL Bean, JC Williams Group and Future Shop, winner of the Retail Council of Canada’s 2007 Multi-Channel Retailer of the Year award. More than 130 retailers attended the Summit last year.

The keynote speaker is Jeanne Bliss, managing partner at CustomerBliss and author of Chief Customer Officer; Getting Past Lip Service to Passionate Action. For 25 years, Jeanne Bliss reported to the Presidents of direct retailer Lands’ End, Allstate, Mazda, Microsoft and Coldwell Banker Corporation as their Chief Customer Officer. Bliss is considered a leader in changing the culture and DNA of companies and making them more effective.

The Direct Summit is unique because of the peer-to-peer interaction. Senior delegates will learn strategies their peers are employing to capitalize on Canada’s strong dollar, and identify co-marketing partnerships to attract and convert new market segments. Add to that, a “Catalogue Critique Clinic” which will provide expert advice from executives at St. Joseph Content/Pi Media, who will review a number of current North American catalogues, identifying what works in each and what can be improved.

According to eMarketer, the Canadian direct retail industry will have increased by 45 percent by the end of 2007. Senior Analyst, Jeffrey Grau, will present eMarketer’s new forecast about online retail sales in Canada and will discuss which factors will drive market growth in 2008 and beyond. Jeff will also draw from a rich set of survey data from eMarketer’s latest report on Canada’s growing “etailing” industry and U.S. multi-channel retailing trends to present lessons for Canadian online retail marketers.

Read More

Dump the junk mail (Canada)

Posted by | Mar 7, 2008 | |

Albertans opt out of receiving unaddressed ad mail at a rate of more than twice the national average, according to Canada Post. Canada-wide, only six per cent of households ask the postal service not to deliver unaddressed ad mail. Fourteen per cent, or 206,000 Alberta households, ask Canada Post to stop.

Grassroots efforts in the province may have boosted our spurning of junk mail. One such effort is the Dump the Junk campaign, launched by the Clean Calgary Association about a year ago. Since the campaign’s start, the non-profit environmental organization has sold more than 5,000 “no junk mail” stickers at USD 2 a pop. These stickers help stop unaddressed ad mail. The campaign also provides information on how to stop addressed ad mail by removing yourself from marketing contact lists.

Lindsay Luhnau, who helped launch the Dump the Junk campaign, says if enough people exercise their consumer choice, there will be a net reduction in the volume of ad mail produced and, ultimately, fewer trees will be cut down.

John Caines, a spokesperson for Canada Post, says the postal service’s advanced databases allow marketers to see how many people have opted out of receiving ad mail, which not only helps the environment, but also saves companies money by preventing them from printing more flyers than needed.

Read More

Ken May resigns as leader of FedEx Kinkos

Posted by | Mar 7, 2008 | |

FedEx Corp. announced last 7th March that Ken May has resigned as President and Chief Executive Officer of FedEx Kinkos. Brian Philips, Chief Operating Officer of FedEx Kinkos, will become acting CEO.

May assumed leadership of Dallas-based FedEx Kinkos in January 2006, and his resignation is effective March 31. In a letter today to FedEx Kinkos team members, May said, after an incredible 25-year career with FedEx, the time has come for me to resign and refocus my energy on my family, friends and other personal interests.

Ken has been a true ambassador for our people-first philosophy throughout his career, and he relied on that philosophy to transform the culture at FedEx Kinkos, said T. Michael Glenn, Chief Executive Officer of FedEx Services, which includes the operations of FedEx Kinkos.

Read More

USPS/HBO Ads Send a Message — by Mail

Posted by | Mar 7, 2008 | |

HBO is joining forces for the first time with the Postal Service, for a multimillion-dollar, multimedia campaign that is all about the write stuff.

The campaign, now under way, is promoting “John Adams,” a seven-part mini-series that is scheduled to begin on the cable network on March 16.

The television, print, online, retail and promotional campaign is intended to invoke the pleasures of sitting right down and writing yourself — or anyone — a letter.

The campaign will even help you do that, by offering free cards, with postage paid, that you can send to whomever you choose.

The campaign, by the Civic Entertainment Group in New York, seeks to demonstrate what it calls the “Power of the letter,” which is also the U.R.L. for a special Postal Service Web site that is a central element of the campaign (poweroftheletter.com).

The Web site is the work of AKQA, which was recently named digital agency of the year by the trade publication Adweek.

A section of a Web site from HBO that is devoted to the miniseries (johnadams08.com) also directs visitors to the letter-power site.

The campaign also appears on the main Postal Service Web site (usps.com) as well as on placards and posters in post offices around the country.

Even the cancellation marks on envelopes and the sales receipts given by postal employees to customers are carrying the address of the special Web site along with a quotation from Adams: “Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.”

Read More

DHL introduces "green" service Asia Pacific

Posted by | Mar 7, 2008 | |

DHL launched an Asia Pacific service allowing clients to offset the carbon emissions generated by transporting their shipments.

DHL said in a statement from its regional headquarters in Singapore that customers who want to use the firm’s new DHL GOGREEN EXPRESS service are asked to pay a 3.0 per cent “green premium” on top of the standard charges.

The company then calculates the carbon emissions generated as a result of transporting the parcel and offset these by reinvesting in environmentally friendly projects such as fuel vehicle technology, solar panels and reforestation.

DHL said customers can choose to send all or just a selection of their shipments under the carbon-offsetting scheme which aims to help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

Switzerland-based Societe Generale de Surveillance, an independent certifying body, will verify the programme annually to ensure accountability and transparency, DHL said.

Customers will also receive a certificate from DHL yearly stating the total amount of carbon dioxide offset on their behalf. The certificate can be useful for companies reporting how they are cutting their carbon emissions.

The service is available to DHL customers in Europe and this is the first time the company is introducing it in the Asia Pacific.

Read More

US Postal Service to lose USD 1 billion

Posted by | Mar 6, 2008 | |

U.S. Postmaster General John Potter told a U.S. Senate subcommittee the postal service is on line to lose USD 1 billion in 2008 due to decreasing business.

“We would never be able to dig out of that hole,” Potter told senators Wednesday.

The postal service is threatened by a drop off in first-class mail — from 98 billion pieces in 2004 to 96 billion in 2007 — and by increased pressure from states, 18 of which have introduced bills to allow residents to opt out of receiving junk mail.

“We threw out the equivalent of a grocery bag of unwanted mail each day,” Maryland Del. Karen S. Montgomery, D-Brookeville, told The Washington Post.

Montgomery introduced a “do not mail” bill in Maryland but withdrew it under pressure from lobbyists, the report said.

The U.S. Postal Service can only raise letter rates to coincide with inflation but it can raise package rates to stay abreast of competitors.

But, Potter asked senators to consider allowing the postal service to rent out space to retailers.

“Other countries … look at their assets and use those assets to generate revenue,” Potter said. “That type of flexibility is something I think we need to explore.”

Read More

Post Office Counts the Cost of Wild Animal Accidents

Posted by | Mar 6, 2008 | |

Post Office Car Insurance is advising UK drivers to take extra care on the UK’s roads as we enter a peak period of wild animal related road accidents.

Every year an estimated one million animals, including deer, foxes, badgers, otters and squirrels, are killed on UK roads, with many more suffering fatal injuries but crawling away from the roadside to die.

It’s not only animal lives which are at stake; it’s estimated that deer accidents alone account for over 500 personal injuries, including over 100 serious or fatal injuries. And costs for repairs to motor vehicles involved in animal collisions are estimated at over GBP 17m.

The Spring season signals the start of a peak period for road accidents involving badgers and Roe Deer – road accidents account for an estimated 100,000 deaths of badgers and deer every year. As we move into Spring, the Post Office is working with The People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the Deer Initiative to raise awareness of how to avoid accidents with wild animals, and what to do in the event of a collision.

It’s not just country roads where drivers need to beware of wild animals crossing – each year an estimated 20,000 urban foxes are killed on roads in UK towns and cities.

Birds are also at risk with an estimated ten million killed on the roads each year. Three million are pheasants and for increasingly rare species such as barn owls, a worrying 3,000 juvenile birds are killed by motor vehicles annually.

According to the PTES’s ‘Mammals on Roads’ survey, rabbits account for up to half of overall animal casualties, with the following creatures also accounting for tens of thousands of road deaths:

• Foxes – 100K Estimated annual road fatalities
• Deer – 50K Estimated annual road fatalities
• Badgers – 50K Estimated annual road fatalities
• Hedgehogs – 15K Estimated annual road fatalities

Read More

Deutsche Post to decide on future of US express ops in May

Posted by | Mar 6, 2008 | |

Deutsche Post World Net AG will present its decision on the future of its troubled US express operations in May, chief executive Frank Appel said during the German mail services company annual press conference.

Deutsche Post’s US express operations have posted unspecified losses since the company entered the market in 2004. It booked a 600 mln eur write-down of the operations during the fourth quarter.

Deutsche Post in January said it is considering several options for the troubled operations.

A pull-out is not an option, as the US market is an integral part of the group’s growth strategy, Appel said according to sheets distributed ahead of his speech.

Deutsche Post’s express division posted full-year negative EBIT of 172 mln eur after a positive EBIT of 288 mln in 2006.

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

How ready do you feel for the de minimis changes coming in July?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!




View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest