During his keynote speech and in later talks with reporters, US Post Master General Patrick Donahoe said three in four American businesses are still not using the mail as the marketing channel, which means there is still plenty of untapped potential for advertisers-and by extension, the US printing industry.
"We look at the top 100 advertisers in the US and some of them don't do any direct mail," Donahue said, citing the pharmaceutical industry in particular as being reluctant to commit to print mail programs. "Advertising firms make a lot of the decisions for their clients and they often don't think of direct mail. The people who make the marketing decisions in America have to get just as excited about the creativity of a mail piece as they do about a digital offering, or a television or radio advertisement."
Donahue conceded that while some major mailers such as NetFlix have come forward to support the shift to five-day delivery, many other direct markets aren't thrilled about plans to drop Saturday service. But he also said that when he asks them why, few can offer specific reasons. "What we've found is Saturday is the worst day for most print marketing campaigns because people are usually so busy they don't read their mail," he added.
The switch to five-day delivery won't likely trigger a dramatic change in the volume of direct mail for the printing industry but direct mailers at the forum did suggest it will force some marketers to tweak their strategies.
Robert Hackett, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Lehigh Direct, suggested the biggest impact will be seen in local campaigns as marketers running time-sensitive announcements of sales, for example, may have have to push to get their mailers and marketing messages into consumer mailboxes earlier.
In an effort to drive more business usage of print mail, Donahue announced the USPS will launch a new advertising campaign this September aimed at educating companies on how mailers can be used in conjunction with other media, especially digital QR code technologies.
The USPS also announced the fall launch of a free track-and-trace service for all commercial packages that have the Intelligent Mail bar code. Postal executives at the forum suggested the new services will provide the visibility for companies that will enable the USPS to better compete with FedEx, UPS and other commercial package shippers.
USPS courts business community, touting impact of print mail campaigns
Despite losing US $8.5bn in its most recent fiscal year, the US Postal Service (USPS) used the National Postal Forum in San Diego this week to tout an aggressive strategy to educate businesses on the benefits of print mail - even as it tries to convince both the US Congress and the American people that an end to Saturday delivery is the key to its long term health.
