Trends in Print and Mail

Please note: This blog post isn’t about any political candidate, party or campaign.

Over the last few weeks, I watched both the Republican and the Democratic National Conventions. Throughout the broadcasts, one question kept running through my mind – “Who was the lucky company that got the contract to print all those signs?”

Almost every new speaker meant another set of signs for the attendees. Some speakers had multiple themes, which meant multiple signs with different messages. Each convention had about 50,000 attendees. With just one sign per attendee over 4 nights, that’s 400,000 printed signs.

Less than a week later, my mailbox is being filled with letters from both camps. I’m an independent – or “unenrolled”– voter, so I belong to neither party. Anyone cross-referencing mailing lists will find it’s difficult to fit me into a specific profile. I’m a small business owner. A veteran and a member of the American Legion. A proud supporter of the Southern Poverty Law Center. I’ve voted for Republicans and Democrats. So everyone tries to get my vote and my campaign contribution.

While some people may complain about direct mail, especially political fundraising mail, I love it. Yes, I maintain a presence on social media – beginning with this blog. I’m also on LinkedIn, Twitterand Facebook. And while I try to curate feeds that provide multiple perspectives and opinions, I know that my personal bias impacts my choices. But the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) makes sure that I receive different viewpoints.

The USPS realizes how important their role is during this election, and has developed a strategy for maximizing the use of direct mail. Beginning last year, Jim Cochrane, USPS Chief Marketing Officer, put together a team to reach out to candidates and election officials. A special website, Deliver the Win, was launched to explain how campaigns can best use mail to reach out to potential voters. Including the ever-elusive millennials.

At the same time, more states are moving to vote-by-mail. The regulations differ by state, while the ballots are unique to each voting authority – either county or municipality. Many laws refer to postmarks, which may, or may not be applied by the USPS. In a close race, these votes may decide elections. David Williams, USPS Chief Operating Officer, has stated he’ll use the lessons learned during the way they successfully handled the high-volume 2015 Christmas season to meet the challenge. With the world watching, there will be no tolerance for error. Or delays.

Successful campaigns – political and marketing – understand the importance of multimedia communication. Supporters and customers respond differently to different types of messages. Savvy marketers don’t choose physical OR electronic interactions they choose physical AND electronic exchanges.

The 2016 election demonstrates the importance of print and mail in the marketplace of ideas.

In what must be a speed record for the 114th Congress, the Postal Reform Act of 2016 (H.R.5714) was filed, marked-up and passed by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in just two days. And with bipartisan support.

Most of the provisions introduced in the draft version published last month remain, including:

I was in New York City last week, having coffee with my good friends, Ray and Marv. After getting caught up on personal matters, we started to talk about what we’ve been seeing lately in the industry. We shared stories about misfortunate mailings that seemed to become more commonplace. Departments with address lists so bad, they needed manual coding. Improperly formatted letters that were returned to sender, because the bottom lines of the address didn’t show in the window. A marketing mailing that included a Business Reply Mail envelope, with the Courtesy Reply Mail post office box.

Ray observed, “Everyone is so focused on digital, it seems that no one can do physical mail correctly anymore.”

Interestingly, we shared almost 100 years of industry experience between the three of us. Ray and Marv have run successful projects for physical billing and e-billing for their company. Some of the other companies in the stories had certified mail center managers. However, in each case, the professionals weren’t consulted. The experts were ignored. And the results included thousands of dollars in misspent print and postage.

In the world of digital natives and Customer Communications Management (“CCM”), physical mail doesn’t get the respect it deserves. However, most customers still prefer to receive their bills in their mailbox. Marketing campaigns are more successful when they include a postcard or a letter. Many industries are required to use mail to prove compliance with government regulations.

So, why the disconnect? Probably because people are more attracted to what is new. The latest software or mobile device. Hosted solutions that bring together multiple platforms. The buzz words and acronyms used by consultants and pundits (anyone else remember when “CRM” was the mantra of the day?).

Besides, physical mail is “just mail”. There isn’t anything magical or exciting about printing a piece of paper, inserting it into an envelope and putting a stamp on it. Anyone can do that. The mailroom is down in the basement. Surely, no one important works down there.

The preceding paragraph may slightly exaggerate how the rest of the business world views print and mail operations. But it’s closer to the truth than many of us care to admit. We must work to be recognized as experts in order to prevent bad decisions before they’re made.

Steps to take to create the change in perception include:

Last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (“Committee”) released the draft Postal Reform Act of 2016. The draft bill has already received praise and criticism by the postal community. Both fans and critics of the U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”) will find parts of the bill to support and oppose.

Overview

For people without the time to read the complete 188-page bill, the Committee has published a 4-page summary of the major provisions. Several key aspects of the bill:

Recently, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) filed a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission to establish the 2017 Promotional Program. The first of the 2017 promotions will begin Jan. 1, 2017. There are six (6) proposed promotions:

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Title 39 of the U.S. Code states that the mission of the US Postal Service is:

“…to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities.”

Before we had a country, we had post offices and post roads. For more than 375 years, dedicated men and women have delivered the correspondence and parcels that helped form and bind a nation together. Many of those same people helped our country in other ways – in business, politics and public service. This is the first in a series of occasional articles profiling their lives and contributions.

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From March 20 through 23, 2016, over 3,500 mailing professionals gathered at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in Nashville, TN for the 2016 National Postal Forum (NPF). Attendance was the highest in about 5 years, with about 30% first-time attendees. More importantly, there was a noticeably increased presence of mailing professionals under the age of 30 – a great sign for the future of our industry.

Classes were well-attended, with sizes ranging from 65 to 200 people. Even the last class on the last day at 4:30 in the afternoon, still drew a full house. Of course, the event with the most number of attendees occurred on Monday morning, when the entire NPF gathered to hear the Keynote Address from Postmaster General (PMG) Megan Brennan.

The theme of PMG Brennan’s speech centered on momentum and technology. She explained that there was never a better time to reinvent mail. Listening to their customers, the US Postal Service (USPS) will focus on: