Before the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, there was the United States Postal Service (USPS). Sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. The USPS was founded in 1775, one year before the US succeeded from Great Britain. The postal service at the time was much different than it is today; mail was not delivered directly to your front door and the majority of the country was without the service. Now fast forward 235 years and the USPS has built a reputation for delivering the mail every day of the week except Sunday; rain, snow or shine…you know the line! That reputation and reliability has led the USPS to be the second-largest civilian employer in the U.S. with the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world.
Recently the USPS has become the subject of hot debate, putting some of their future services in doubt. The most recent proposal to cut costs, calls for the USPS to eliminate Saturday service in an attempt to avoid an estimated $238 billion deficit it would incur over the next decade. Groups directly affected, such as the postal unions, are opposing the slashes in service, while direct marketers are agreeing with the changes.
It might seem strange that direct marketers would agree with a proposed cut back, especially when their business hinges on the mail service. The truth is direct marketers and their printers have been preparing for changes in mail service for some time. The common view is that cutbacks to the mail service are acceptable as long as they protect the mail service as a whole. Cutbacks, like removing Saturday mail service, may be the only option the USPS to be viable, without raising rates.
In the past year alone mail volume dropped 26 billion pieces, from 203 billion to 177 billion in 2009. The volume of mail will rebound slightly as we move out of a recession, but will never reach the level it once had. Today direct marketers use strategies like variable data to reach targeted recipients. Variable data is a technique done by printers that utilizes the advantages of a digital printer to produce in mass customization as opposed to mass production.
To give an example, let’s discuss a coupon sent out for a hotel with variable data for mass customization. Let’s say last summer you stayed at national hotel chain in Florida that was right on the beach. Since you stayed there, the hotel chain has your address and knows where you visited. When the hotel chain goes to print coupons they can customize your coupon from their database to be specifically for the same hotel you stayed in. Every coupon the hotel prints can be customized. That could mean 10,000 coupons all printed at once, all targeted specifically to their recipients.
Even with the proposed cut backs in mail service, innovations like variable data make direct mail practical. By targeting every recipient directly it is possible to make the most of every dollar spent. The USPS and direct mail are never going away, that is why printers such as Kopytek have everything under one roof. Whether it be printing with variable data or using our mailing house to deliver printed pieces fast and easy, we can help!
