Networks: The Key to European Logistics
Networks: The Key to European Logistics
Read MoreTag: Europe
Direct mail spend down nine per cent
Spend on direct mail fell by nine per cent in 2007, according to The Top 100 Direct Mail Spenders report published by Marketing Direct.
The report, based on a survey of more than 6,000 consumers by media consultancy Billetts, reveals that declining response rates, a shift to digital and environmental pressures are behind the decline in budget being allocated to direct mail.
Financial services companies cut back spend on mail as the first effects of the credit crunch were felt half way through 2007. The top five users of direct mail – BSkyB, Saga Group, MBNA Europe, Lloyds TSB and Halifax – all registered double-digit decreases in spend in 2007 compared to the year before.
In the same period, the online advertising market, including display, classified, email and paid search grew by 38 per cent to GBP 2.8bn.
Capital One, formerly one of the UK’s top three spenders, fell eight places to number 10 as it reduced its expenditure by 65 per cent to GBP 11.4m in 2007.
Mike Welsh, chief executive of Craik Jones, said the industry had only itself to blame for the move from mail to digital.
Amanda Phillips, chief executive of Proximity London, said that with green issues under the spotlight last year, “direct mail was an obvious target”.
There were three new entrants to the Top 100: QuickPages, the insurance quotation business, Virgin Media and fashion brand Oli.
Read MoreEuroDirect to join Royal Mail data partners (UK)
Royal Mail is strengthening its investment in data services by adding EuroDirect to its panel of data partners.
The move is designed to better service Royal Mail’s customers with dedicated data solutions, and assist them in using data tools to improve the effectiveness of their direct mail campaigns.
Royal Mail’s clients will now benefit from EuroDirect’s Data Exchange prospect pool consisting of 40 million records, its suite of Cameo Consumer Classifications, credit-scoring service CallQualify, and consumer insight and marketing intelligence system Microvision.
EuroDirect joins Dataforce on the panel, which was set up in January.
Read MoreHongkong Post launches new "iMailR service"
With the Internet creating new opportunities for cross-border trading, Hongkong Post has introduced the “Bulk Registered Air Mail service” (BRAM) since August 2005 to support the development of e-commerce. In response to market demand for efficient communications arising from booming online trade, a new “service” will be fully launched on July 14, 2008, to facilitate customs pre-declaration while providing customers with a fast, reliable and simplified way to make bulk postings.
Two value-added options – a supplementary insurance service and an online credit card payment facility – will also be introduced. The “service” will replace the BRAM service that will cease on the same day.
The new “service” helps online sellers streamline the preparation of bulk postings that require a signature on receipt of delivery. In the past, address labels had to be printed on envelopes with preprinted Hongkong Post permit insignia, with customs clearance forms and air mail labels affixed to each item. Under the new “service”, all these procedures are automated to shorten the time for mail preparation. With the aid of the Online Mailing Tool, all the required information can be printed on an all-in-one label for affixing to individual items.
Read MoreFedEx revives talks to buy rival TNT
FedEx is in preliminary talks to acquire TNT, its smaller Dutch rival, in a deal that would bolster the package-delivery company’s parcel network throughout Europe.
While FedEx and United Parcel Service have coveted TNT’s parcel business, they have been reluctant to take on the Dutch company’s slower-growing postal division.
UPS’s interest in snapping up TNT has waned in the past decade as it built its own European delivery network. The company recently forged closer ties to TNT’s main rival, DHL, through its agreement to ferry the Deutsche Post unit’s packages between North American cities.
Deutsche’s GBP 3.7bn acquisition of Exel, the UK-based logistics group, in 2005 has been the sector’s biggest deal to date.
On Friday, FedEx’s market capitalisation was USD 22.8bn (GBP 11.5bn), while TNT stood at USD 11.3bn.
TNT, which primarily operates in Europe and North America, divides its business into two segments: express and mail.
FedEx remains the largest player in the market it pioneered: express delivery. While its biggest operations remain in the US, it has sought to expand overseas.
In Europe, the company aims to build out both its intra-continental network while establishing a local presence in discrete countries. FedEx bought ANC in 2006 to strengthen its domestic express-delivery business in the UK.
In June, FedEx posted its first quarterly loss in 11 years and projected earnings that fall short of analysts’ estimates because of fuel costs and declining demand.
Read MorePost & 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.