USPS to promote mail as marketing tool to generate more revenues

USPS plans to launch a major B2B marketing campaign in September this year to promote mail as amarketing channel for businesses to generate postal revenues and grow the entire mailing industry,

The campaign to be launched in cooperation with the agency Campbell Ewald Advertising will startwith national television advertising in September and include direct mail components.

“We are ready to apply the lessons from our package marketing and develop a major advertisingcampaign to support mail. This is significant for a lot of reasons. First of all, the PostalService hasn’t focused on promoting mail through significant advertising in many years. Second,this won’t just be a Postal Service campaign. We’re going to do something that is a little unusual,but it could be very powerful. We would like to share some aspects of our advertising campaign aswe develop it,” Donahoe told customers at the event.

“For instance, as we develop the research, we are going to share it. As we gain certain insightsabout what business and residential customers respond to, we are going to share it. When we haverough cuts of some of our advertising, we are going to share it,” he explained.

In the last six months, USPS has set four key business strategies including strengthening theB2C channel, improving customer experience, competing for package business and becoming a leaner,faster and smarter organisation, Donahoe outlined. “For us to get back to profitability and thriveas a market-responsive organisation, we need to be successful in each of these areas.”

In terms of the B2C channel, it accounts for almost 70% of USPS revenues and nearly 80% of itsmail volumes, he pointed out. “Mail is a powerful way for businesses to reach their customers,especially when it’s used with other media. Mail engages customers and it is very effective ininfluencing buying behaviour.”

He also stressed the importance of making it easier for customers to measure their return oninvestment. “There are so many businesses that could start using the mail or use the mail moreoften if we simply told them about the value of the mail and lowered some of the barriers toimplementing their marketing strategies.” Three quarters of America’s businesses are not using themail as a marketing channel, he stated.

Donahoe also mentioned the conclusion of the tentative agreement for the labour contract withthe American Postal Workers Union. “If ratified in the coming weeks, this tentative agreement willgive us some immediate cost savings, greater flexibility, and some long-term structural change.”& amp; lt; /p>

To make things simpler for customers, Donahoe announced two major software products to bereleased next January covering the structure of postage statements and electronicdocumentation.

To compete on the parcels market, USPS aims to profit from the growing e-commerce market. “Online shopping is a major trend that is only going to grow. People are getting used to the idea ofphysical delivery as an outcome of an online shopping experience,” he commented. “If we can makethat transaction even simpler and more seamless for the residential customer, you’ll see that trendin orders by mail and returns grow in a big way. We know we can help speed up some of these packagetrends by providing better visibility and tracking and this also provides a better total value inpackages.”

In terms of streamlining its operations, USPS has reduced its workforce by almost 130,000 peoplein the past four years, Donahoe summarised. “We know that our ability to get back to profitabilityand to keep our prices low depends upon getting the absolute maximum out of the resources we have.”& amp; lt; /p>

In terms of process improvements, Donahoe announced that USPS has simplified the full servicerequirements for drop-shipments and customer supplier agreements. “As part of this, we are going touse container scans to confirm the shipments your mail is arriving on to start the clock.”

“In January we will provide you with increased visibility about your Full Service mailings. Wewill give you better reports and better data. We’ll collect information on mail and containers asthey flow through the system. This will provide you with better information and more robust toolsand enable better decision-making. Greater visibility in our network provides greater valuethroughout the mail channel. As our systems get smarter, you can get smarter about the way you usethe mail,” Donahoe concluded.

Yesterday, USPS honoured Ohio-based branding agency Mlicki with a Marketing Achievement inInnovation and Leadership (MAIL) Award for a direct mail campaign that attained a 10% responserate.

Recognised for creative and effective use of direct mail to achieve business goals, Mlicki wonthe MAIL Award for its Blue Octo Classified Dossier. The “dossier” direct mail piece was part of amultichannel marketing campaign to launch Blue Octo, a line of industrial waste-water pumpsmanufactured by Gorman-Rupp, Mansfield, Ohio. The Blue Octo Classified Dossier direct mail piecewas sent to 3,000 prospects, generating 300 sales.

In addition to the direct mail piece, the integrated campaign included a Blue Octo microsite,social media, print advertising and direct e-mail. “The Postal Service continues to work withbusinesses of all sizes to help them adopt best practices and use the mail in conjunction withother marketing strategies,” said Paul Vogel, president and chief marketing/sales officer.