Britain's Royal Mail Group PLC entered ad agency territory with the announcement last week of an interactive service for small businesses breaking their first direct mail campaign.
Called DM Online, the do-it-yourself service lets users craft mail campaigns from conception to mailing using tools on royalmail.com/dmonline.
DM Online will offer services like list purchase, mail design, production, mailing and fulfillment. The materials can be tracked and saved at any stage of the supply-chain process. Offline printing and mailing also can be tracked on the Royal Mail site.
“The service is designed to be as simple as possible, allowing users to experience each step in developing a piece of DM in their own time, utilizing a demo that shows the power of DM Online prior to entering the transactional aspect of the site, all whilst following best practice models,” Andrew Kershaw, head of media information at Royal Mail, said in a statement.
