Tag: Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

Postmaster General champions value of mail on national broadcast

Posted by | Sep 19, 2007 | |

From leveraging cutting-edge technology to conducting national elections, mail matters to American consumers and businesses and finding ways to make mail more valuable is invaluable to the future of the U.S. Postal Service.

That’s the message Postmaster General John E. Potter shared with more than 14,000 customers and Postal Service officials gathered at more than 150 sites to participate in National PCC Day today. The Postal Customer Council™ is a network of community-based business mailers and representatives of the U.S. Postal Service, who gather regularly to share ideas and resources to create a closer working relationship. On both the national and local levels, Postal Customer Councils (PCCs) work to continually improve service and communications.

The Intelligent Mail Barcode is one way the Postal Service is leveraging technology to provide greater value and ease to business mailers, he said. Intelligent Mail barcodes provide a wealth of information to mailers, including the ability to track mail end-to-end. More than 200 mailers are using the barcode, according to Potter. Earlier this month, the Postal Service recorded a major milestone: the one billionth barcode was scanned. One out of every 100 pieces of mail sorted daily now contains the Intelligent Mail Barcode — and use of the barcode is entirely voluntary at this time.

Potter was joined during the broadcast by Georgann Dustan of the Elections Division of Multnomah County, OR, who praised the security of the mail and Postal Service infrastructure that helped make voting by mail a success in her state, and by John Greco, president and chief executive officer of the Direct Marketing Association. Greco estimated that marketers will invest more than USD 55 billion on direct mail this year.

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E-mail overtakes print for marketing offerings

Posted by | Aug 12, 2007 | |

The volume of marketing offers sent by e-mail has overtaken print direct mail in the UK for the first time as com­panies exploit the low cost and other benefits of electronic campaigns.

The milestone highlights the challenge to Royal Mail and others with sizeable businesses charging for producing and delivering print direct mail when advertisers are reducing print volumes in the GBP 14bn-a-year industry.

Latest figures from the Direct Marketing Association estimate that in the fourth quarter of 2006, commercial e-mail volumes increased by 50 per cent year on year.

The electronic format was heavily adopted by retailers e-mailing vouchers in the run-up to Christmas and that is likely to be repeated this year.

Specialists questioned by the DMA predicted the volume of e-mail marketing would grow by another third.

Most marketers however believe a combination of print and online is the most effective approach, particularly as campaigns can be confused with spam, which is estimated to account for up to 90 per cent of internet traffic.

A new study from Royal Mail found customers prefer to receive both mail and e-mail in different contexts, and spend more if communicated with by both methods.

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The Envelope Manufacturers Association launches “Please Recycle” campaign

Posted by | Jun 28, 2007 | |

The Envelope Manufacturers Association (EMA) has recently launched a major initiative to encourage the recycling of envelopes, cartons and packaging. Beginning this summer, EMA member companies will be adding “Please Recycle” logos to their envelopes, packages and cartons.

The “Please Recycle” campaign is sponsored by the Envelope Manufacturers Association (EMA) in conjunction with the Direct Marketing Association and the Magazine Publishers Association.

Some facts about advertising mail and paper recycling:
• The average US household gets 18.5 pieces of advertising mail per week, a figure that has held steady during the past five years. (US Postal Service, 2005 Household Diary Study)
• Consumers do read their mail. According to the US Postal Service, 85 percent of US households usually read some or all of the advertising mail they receive. (US Postal Service, 2005 Household Diary Study)
• Direct mail accounts for only 2.2 percent (in weight) of the total municipal solid waste generated in the US annually, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. That figure is likely to decline as greater strides are made in paper recovery and recycling.
• In 2006, a record 53.4 percent of the paper consumed in the US (53.5 million tons) was recovered for recycling. Paper recovery now averages nearly 360 pounds for each man, woman, and child in the US. (American Forest & Paper Association).

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Mailing groups ask USPS for rate relief

Posted by | Jun 15, 2007 | |

Mailing groups, including the Direct Marketing Association and the Mail Order Association of America, are calling on the U.S. Postal Service’s Governors to quickly implement the rate reductions recommended by the Postal Regulatory Commission for Standard Mail flats. They are also asking that the temporary rate relief be extended beyond the Sept. 29 deadline recommended by the PRC.

The PRC’s “Second Opinion and Recommended Decision on Reconsideration,” issued May 25, establishes a transitional temporary rate reduction of 3 cents for all Standard Mail Regular flats and 2 cents for Standard Regular nonprofit flats. In its reconsideration proposal, the USPS suggested the same reduction until the next postal change, likely to be in mid-2008, under the new procedures established by the postal reform law signed by President Bush on Dec. 20.

In a June 4 letter to the Governors, the DMA asked them to approve the rate reduction without the deadline. In the letter, the DMA noted that the PRC “responded positively to the Governors’ and the mailers’ concerns regarding the excessive increases initially recommended for Standard Regular flats. Now it is the Governors’ responsibility to implement the revised rates, and the DMA urges the Governors to approve the commission’s recommendation and provide mailers just as soon as possible with the rate relief recommended by the commission.”

Mailers had until June 4 to supply comments to the Governors. At press time no date had been scheduled for a vote.

Some mailers have also been discussing the possibility of synching the timing of the change with the implementation of new periodical rates on July 15. Even though, generally, everyone would want them changed as soon as possible, some mailers said this approach would give everyone enough time to modify postage statements and software so manual calculations would not have to be done, which would be costly and time consuming.

The DMA also cautioned that the temporary discounts offered to flat mailers would only postpone substantial cuts in mailing volumes and a further decrease in revenue for the USPS.

The Mail Order Association of America, a trade group representing mail-order catalogers, agreed with the DMA.

The PRC suggested that lower rates be implemented in the form of rebates. However, the MOAA said “adjusting the rate schedules as appropriate would be a much simpler means of implementing the recommended decision.”

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DMA asks USPS to extend rate relief for flats

Posted by | Jun 12, 2007 | |

The Direct Marketing Association is calling on the U.S. Postal Service’s Governors to quickly implement the rate reductions recommended by the Postal Regulatory Commission for Standard Mail flats. The DMA is also asking that the temporary rate relief be extended beyond the Sept. 29 deadline recommended by the PRC.

The PRC’s Second Opinion and Recommended Decision on Reconsideration, which was issued May 25, establishes a transitional temporary rate reduction of 3 cents for all Standard Mail Regular flats and 2 cents for Standard Regular nonprofit flats.

In a letter to the Governors submitted June 4, the DMA asked them to approve the rate reduction without the deadline, leaving it in effect until the next postal rate change, likely in mid-2008, under the new procedures established by the postal reform law, which was signed by President Bush on December 20.

However, the DMA also cautioned that the temporary discounts offered to flat mailers would only postpone substantial cuts in mailing volumes and a further decrease in revenues for the USPS.

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