May 10, 2013
With revenues ticking up slightly, the Postmaster General and his CFO say reform could make the Postal Service profitable again.
May 09, 2013
Small town Post Office closings may soon be followed by openings of a new retail store format from UPS.
April 01, 2013
What's in our mailbox this month: mailers from botanic gardens.
March 18, 2013
There are four key challenges marketers must "embrace" to ensure the effectiveness of direct mail in a multichannel world.
March 13, 2013
Stuck in a government holding pattern, the USPS could be forced to look to bulk mailers for salvation by raising rates, says a postal regulator.
March 01, 2013
The Wildlife Society shares its direct mail strategies.
March 01, 2013
When samples are energized by social media interaction and online engagement, they can command a premium price.
February 01, 2013
On January 28 the USPS began requiring customers who use POSTNET barcodes to transition to new Intelligent Mail barcodes to retain their discounted pricing.
January 01, 2013
What's in our mailbox this month: Direct mail pieces from schools. Do they make the grade or do they have something to learn?
December 26, 2012
The Postal Service and a British import called Shutl will soon be offering instant delivery services to rival Walmart's and Amazon's.
October 01, 2012
Even as Congress dawdles and plays political football, privatization of the USPS gains little appeal.
May 01, 2012
USPS chief Patrick Donahoe set out his vision for the agency at the National Postal Forum in April.
March 01, 2012
As the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) — which reported in February losses totaling more than $3 billion — struggles to stay solvent, it is using a number of promotions to try to keep shippers shipping.
March 01, 2012
What's in our mailbox this month: 6-by-9 inch direct mail pieces from Bare Necessities, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Nordstrom and Sears.
September 01, 2011
Email appending gives you the ability to reach your postal-only contacts by email.
The elimination of Saturday mail delivery would force Amazon.com to shift about one-sixth of its current Postal Service business to other carriers, Paul Misener, VP of global public policy for Amazon.com, told a joint Senate-House postal oversight hearing on Wednesday, June 23.
The US Postal Service's $1.6 billion net loss in the second quarter of its 2010 fiscal year was a year-over-year improvement of about $300 million. Despite beating agency forecasts for the quarter, the organization is on track to lose nearly $7 billion this fiscal year, which ends September 30.
The US Postal Service has launched an iPhone and iPod Touch application to make its services more conveniently through the mobile Web and to appeal to a younger, more mobile-savvy demographic. The application features a GPS-enabled post office locator, maps and directions, a ZIP Code locator and functionality for consumers to track and confirm packages.
The US Postal Service's new rates for numerous shipping services, including Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Return Service and Express Mail International, went into effect today.
The US Postal Service has decided not to raise first-class rates for 2010. Four direct mail experts divulge their top recommendations for taking advantage of the break in rate increases.
The president of the National Association of Letter Carriers has urged Congress to take up a long-term fix for the US Postal Service's retiree funding issues. The agency had been charged with spending $5.4 billion on payments to the fund this year.
Less than a week after the US Postal Service disclosed that it incurred a $3.8 billion net loss for fiscal year 2009, it narrowed the list of branches it is considering closing by 130. The agency is still reviewing the possible closure of 241 post offices as of November 20.
The Atlantic's Daniel Indiviglio reacted to the US Postal Service's November 16 announcement that it lost $3.8 billion during fiscal year 2009 by saying that cutting Saturday service "is a pretty reasonable idea."
John Potter, postmaster general and CEO of the US Postal Service, used the open session of the November 13 USPS Board of Governors meeting to press again for structural reform of the agency, insisting that real reform must reduce the number of delivery days from six to five per week.
FedEx is conducting an international advertising effort promoting the shipper as a reliable partner during an uncertain economic period. The effort, which uses the tagline "FedEx delivers to a changing world," contains digital elements and a microsite. The initiative, which launched last month, is targeting small-to-medium businesses and influencers in the UK, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, China and Mexico.
UPS on October 22 reported revenues of $11.2 billion for this year's third quarter, a year-over-year decline of 14.9% from last year's $13.1 billion. The shipper also saw its average volume per day drop 3.9% from 14.9 million packages to 14.3 million. Operating profit during the third quarter dropped to $929 million from $1.63 billion last year, a decrease of 43%.
UPS is using an e-mail marketing effort to promote an initiative to offset carbon dioxide emissions generated by the transport of packages. The shipping company is targeting environmentally conscious consumers and businesses with the campaign, which launched October 6. UPS began offering some US shippers the opportunity to pay a small fee to offset the environmental impact of their shipments this week.
The US Postal Service is cutting in other ways than just consolidating branches. About 5,000 full-time agency employees who are eligible for retirement accepted a buyout package this week, and 18,000 more have taken an offer but have until the end of this month to formally accept or change their minds, according to a report in The Washington Post.
Company of the week R2C GroupR2C creates, produces, distributes and measures messages that inspire and compel consumers to do something with a brand to drive commercial advantage. The full-service advertising agency specializes in creative, production, media, analytics and performance. |
What's in our mailbox this month: fitness postcards from Retro Fitness, American Woman Fitness Centers, Union's United Taekwondo Academy, and Bally Total Fitness. (We're totally pumped.)
Social data can improve a brand's bottom line and customer relationships. Just ask brands Infiniti and Diamond Nexus.
Here are three must-have data sets that every marketer should include in his or her email strategy.
