Hundreds of leading postal executives from all over Europe and the rest of the world came togetherto debate the major issues they face in the next ten years at this year’s three-day annual World
Mail & Express Europe conference in London.Over the course of the conference delegates heard from more than 40 senior executives fromdiffering postal backgrounds including Adam Crozier from Royal Mail Group, Juergen Hoefling fromDHL Global Mail, John Allen from New Zealand Post, Milhály Jambrik from Hungary Post and LuisJiminez from Pitney Bowes. Key topics included new competition, EU postal liberalisation,technology, business diversification and environmental issues.
Neil Jackson, Chief Executive of Triangle, stated, “This was very open and frank exchange ofkey issues from both public and private sectors. I would like to think that all of the delegatestook something pertinent away from these three days that will have an impact on the future of theirbusinesses.”
John Allen, Chief Executive, New Zealand Post commented: “The conference debated issues thatreally matter to postal businesses – such as how to respond to market liberalisation and on-linesubstitution. And should posts diversify? If so, how? The debate was direct but collegial. It waswell worth travelling 19,000 kilometres to attend.”
There was a common emphasis on the need to see digital technologies not merely as a threat totraditional postal products, but also an opportunity for posts to offer a wider choice ofcommunications mechanisms to both senders and receivers.
The discussions also covered other examples of creating increasing value in the changinglandscape such as the broader diversification into financial services by many of the postal networkoperators.
Another interesting agreement to surface in the conference was that there appears to be ashift in the balance of power between senders and receivers, particularly in the area of directmarketing. It is generally acknowledged that DM companies are improving their targeting to createever more relevant and personal offers for their potential customers. But digital technology iscreating an information-on-demand society where, instead of senders determining content on a ‘mass’basis, it is believed that recipients will increasingly specify ‘what they want to receive, in whatformat, and when’.
Environmental issues are becoming a major pressure point and are now high on postal agendas.Postal Operators have a precarious balance to achieve – ensuring the expediency of delivery andcollections at an affordable price whilst containing fuel consumption and reducing emissions fromtheir vehicles. On top of this, the world’s postal network handles a huge portion of the world’spaper and further pressures are being exerted to reduce the ‘waste’ from ‘junk mail’. All of theseenvironmental issues will heavily influence postal strategies in the future.
Luis Jimenez, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Pitney Bowes, presented thesuppliers’ viewpoint on how the postal world was shaping up. In the US the rapid growth ofelectronics communications has resulted in some declines in first-class mail, though lower-costadvertising mail continues to increase. He concluded that ‘far from destroying mail volumes, theInternet was providing alternative opportunities and the evidence shows some mail sectorsincreasing’. Online retailers are increasingly using the mail to steer people to their sites andgenerally people prefer to receive bills on paper through the mail.
This optimism about the future of mail and the ability to continue to keep letters as animportant element of the communications mix was echoed by six CEO’s and senior directors at the ‘Inthe hot seat’ session at the close of the conference. They were all confident that in 2012 mailvolumes would be higher, although a number emphasised it would be a lower proportion of their totalrevenue mix.
