Direct Mail

The U.S. Postal Service is marching towards a more "centralized delivery," where residents pick up their own mail from clusters of mail boxes located in their neighborhood. Local postmasters are sending hundreds of letters to fast-growing communities, warning that cluster boxes will be the way mail will be delivered to new developments.

Delivering mail is the agency's largest fixed cost—$30 billion. Ending such door deliveries would save $4.5 billion a year. That's more than the $3 billion it would have saved from ending Saturday mail service, according to government reports.

Sussex, Wisconsin-based Quad/Graphics is strengthening its direct marketing platform and solutions this year with multimillion-dollar investments in mail processing and equipment, including creating two regional commingling centers to drive greater postal savings and efficiencies for direct mail marketers; investing in a new custom Web press and other equipment upgrades in its Effingham, Ill., plant; and adding print capabilities to its Westampton, N.J., plant.

Technology and changing consumer expectations are helping to transform mail into an even more powerful communications channel, Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe told the nation’s largest annual gathering of mailing industry leaders today.

The big wheel of business has turned a million times over since Johannes Gutenberg spearheaded the printing movement. Many recognized opportunity and seized it. 

Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe told a Senate committee that the Postal Service’s financial problems are more urgent than ever and will continue to get worse until Congress takes action to reform its business model.

By now you’ve all heard the news I presume. The news from the United States Postal Service that they will stop delivering first class mail on Saturdays starting this August. Whether this means an increase in other channels such as email, mobile, radio and so on, is obviously not known, yet.

Rest assured though marketers across the country, those who currently included direct mail as part of their integrated marketing strategy, are busy making plans for the switch.

Stamford, Connecticut-based Pitney Bowes Inc. announced a new collaboration with PageTech, a leader in PCL (Printer Control Language) print stream conversion software, for the Volly secure digital delivery service.

The Postal Service Board of Governors met last week to discuss a wide range of accelerated cost cutting and revenue-generating measures in the face of an unprecedented set of financial challenges, heightened by the inability of Congress to pass comprehensive postal legislation.

Stamford, Connecticut-based Pitney Bowes technology was selected by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to begin providing support and maintenance of its network of postal meters.

Stamford, Connecticut-based Pitney Bowes Inc. announced that the Pitney Bowes board of directors has appointed Marc B. Lautenbach as president and chief executive officer, effective immediately.