| Arandell Corporation Honored with Three Gold Ink Awards 2010-08-12
Menomonee Falls, WI, August 12, 2010 --- Touted as “the industry’s most prestigious print competition,” the 2010 Gold Ink Awards Competition has once again recognized Arandell Corporation for its outstanding printed work. Honorees in the Printed Catalog, Web category include Patagonia for its Summer 2010 catalog, Nike for Fall 2009 and Bebe for Spring 2010.
North American Publishing Company, the sponsor of the Gold Ink Awards annual print competition, delegated a panel of graphic arts professionals to judge over 1,000 entries in nearly 50 categories over a period of four days. The print awards are based on quality of printing, technical difficulty and overall visual effectiveness.
Jim Treis, Arandell Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, stated, “Our receipt of these awards reinforces our team’s strength in showcasing our clients’ marketing efforts through printed masterpieces. I speak on behalf of everyone at Arandell when I say that we are proud of the hard work that goes into producing each piece that goes through our facility.”
Saluting the industry’s finest producers of printed work, the Gold Ink Awards and Hall of Fame Gala will be held in conjunction with GRAPH EXPO 2010, Monday, October 4 at the Hyatt Regency at McCormick Place in Chicago.
About Arandell Corporation
Founded in 1922 and based in Menomonee Falls, WI, Arandell Corporation provides high-quality premedia, printing, mailing, distribution, list management, database marketing strategies, mobile solutions, education, logistics and consulting services to America’s premier custom publishers, catalogers and retailers. Arandell is on the cutting edge of ecologically-preferred methods for conserving resources and protecting the environment with their production practices. Visit the Arandell blog for current topics and print industry information.
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| Bring your Catalog to Life with an Electronic Catalog 2010-08-11
You have already worked hard to create a beautifully-printed catalog and you already have a web site, right? So why not leverage the two channels together to promote your brand to a broader audience, resulting in an increased ROI for your catalog? Our digital catalog software gives you the ability to easily turn a printed catalog into an electronic version, offering myriad advantages. Not only does a digital catalog enhance your brand and make it consistent across channels, but this solution can also be:
- Seamlessly integrated into your Web site;
- Delivered to customers via a link, creating additional opportunities for email marketing and prospecting;
- Employed at retail locations as a guide for customers;
- Tied into your online, social media and mobile marketing programs;
- Uploaded instantly, so that your customers are always viewing your most up-to-date catalog with current images and prices;
- Sent to your call centers before the catalog drops so that representatives are fully prepared for catalog orders to come;
- Created quickly and affordably;
- Accessed 24/7 from anywhere in the world.
We offer this cost-effective solution to all of our customers, saving you the time and expense of having to search for an outside provider. Creating a digital version of your catalog to display on your Web site gives you the opportunity to increase the return on the piece that you have already worked so hard to produce.
To view an example of a digital catalog, visit http://www.customer-connect.net/ or click here.
Questions? Contact Dave Koteski, VP of Arandell Prepress at 800-558-8724.
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| Arandell Corporation Recognized at 2010 National Postal Forum 2010-04-21
MILWAUKEE, WI — The U.S. Postal Service recognized Arandell Corporation with its Corporate Business Achievement Award for the company’s commitment to a successful business partnership with the Postal Service. The award was announced at the annual National Postal Forum, held April 11-14 in Nashville, TN..
“We are pleased to recognize and honor Arandell Corporation for its innovation, creativity and leadership,” said Steven J. Forte, USPS Senior Vice-President of Operations, who nominated the company for the award. “It has produced winning business results and supported the mailing industry.”
Arandell Corp., based in Menomonee Falls, WI, is a family-owned, privately held printer and mailer, producing and distributing high-quality catalogs and custom publications for the world’s leading marketers. It provides service to retail, consumer, business-to-business, brand and custom specialty organizations. Arandell offers single-source production which includes premedia, printing, bindery, personalization, data processing, co-mailing, mailing and distribution, logistics, website development and electronic commerce.
According to the U.S. Postal Service, Arandell has been on the cutting edge of ecologically preferred methods of turning hazardous materials into productive uses, conserving resources and protecting the environment. Arandell is a test site for products limiting negative impact on air and water quality and misuse of land and makes capital investments in the latest and most-effective pollution control equipment. Arandell has made a commitment to surpass Federal and State laws regulating water and air quality, and collaborates with suppliers and customers to implement programs limiting the environmental impact of its products throughout its life-cycle from manufacturing to disposal.
Arandell has received tri-certification in forestry management practices from the Forest Stewardship Council, Sustainable Forestry Initiative and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification. All three of these organizations are non-profit, non-governmental groups recognized globally for promoting responsible forest management. Arandell participates in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Green Tier program and is a SmartWay partner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect our environment, reduce fuel consumption and improve air quality for future generations. It continues to invest in state-of-the-art pollution control equipment and recycles oil, paper, cartons, pallets, plastics, aluminum and steel.
Arandell was among a select group of postal customers honored as “best in class” in the “Corporate Business Achievement” award category.
Founded in 1922 and based in Menomonee Falls, WI, Arandell Corporation provides high-quality premedia, printing, mailing, distribution, list management, database marketing strategies, education, logistics and consulting services to America’s premier custom publishers, catalogers and retailers. Arandell is on the cutting edge of ecologically-preferred methods for conserving resources and protecting the environment with its production practices.
Visit the Arandell blog, www.arandellblog.com, for current topics and print industry insight.
www.arandell.com, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved
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| Arandell Announces Mobile Solutions, Powered by Digby 2010-04-15
Arandell and Digby enter Strategic Marketing Agreement to develop cross channel unification strategies.
Menomonee Falls, WI, Austin, Texas, April 15, 2010 — Arandell Corp., North America’s premier and most robust offset printing company, today announced a partnership with Digby, the leading provider of mobile commerce solutions for retailers, to power Arandell Mobile Solutions, providing retailers with mobile optimized extensions for their print catalogs. Additionally, Arandell and Digby have entered into an ongoing Strategic Marketing Agreement to develop innovative and cutting edge cross-channel marketing practices that fully leverage the complementary strengths of catalog, mobile and in-store channels.
“Through our internal response analysis we conduct for our clients, catalogers who integrate a mobile solution into their overall marketing mix see a significantly higher customer response to their marketing messages, produce a higher customer average order and achieve higher customer retention” said Jim Treis, EVP Sales and Marketing at Arandell. “We chose to partner with Digby because of their expertise and experience in our market, coupled with the fact that their solution works seamlessly across multiple phone platforms. This combination makes Digby unique in the market. They were the natural choice to power for Arandell’s Mobile Solutions offering.”
Consumers are increasingly looking to their mobile devices to research products they are interested in. Making it easy and efficient for mobile users to find product specifications, access social content such as product ratings & reviews, share products with friends through integration with Facebook, and even access product availability in retailer’s stores, all of which are components of a comprehensive multi-channel strategy. Arandell and Digby have developed best practices and standards for catalog retailers that enable consumers to use their mobile device as part of the shopping experience. Mobile integration points include mobile friendly urls and bar codes that provide consumers with real time access to relevant information for their purchase decision.
“Forward thinking retailers are treating mobility as a strategic opportunity and delivering an immersive mobile experience.” said Dave Sikora, CEO of Digby. “Our relationship with Arandell will allow us to deliver a compelling mobile experience that complements their direct mail and catalog initiatives.”
According to a recent survey by Ruder Finn1, an independent public relations agency, 34% of mobile users use their devices to find background information on products or read product reviews.
1 Ruder Finn Mobile Intent Index (http://intentindex.com/mobile)
About Arandell Corporation
Founded in 1922 and based in Menomonee Falls, WI, Arandell Corporation provides high-quality premedia, printing, mailing, distribution, list management, database marketing strategies, education, logistics and consulting services to America’s premier custom publishers, catalogers and retailers. Arandell is on the cutting edge of ecologically-preferred methods for conserving resources and protecting the environment with their production practices. Visit the Arandell blog, www.arandellblog.com, for current topics and relevant information in the printing industry.
About Digby
Digby is the leading software as a service provider of mobile commerce solutions for top retailers. The award winning Digby Mobile Commerce Suite delivers an optimized shopping experience with both web and application based mobile storefronts that include easy search, browse and purchase capabilities, personal information integration, secure wallet and location based service functionality. Led by software industry veterans, the privately held company is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For additional information, please visit www.digby.com.
For additional information, contact:
Katy McDermott
Marketing/Sales Analyst
Arandell Corporation
KMMcDermott@Arandell.com
www.Arandell.com
Stephen Slezak
Marketing Director
Digby
sslezak@digby.com
www.digby.com
www.arandell.com, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved |
| Arandell Corporation Receives 2010 Web Offset Association Award 2010-03-02
Highlighted as “showcasing the best of the best in the web offset print arena”, the Printing Industries of America’s sponsored Web Offset Association (WOA) awarded Arandell Corporation with 1st Place in their Heatset C6 Category.
Jim Treis, Arandell Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, stated, “The WOA Print Awards demonstrate the hard work and tireless effort our teams put forth to create a flawless artistic marketing piece. I’m proud to share in the honor and success of this award.”
The client’s perfect bound catalog was produced using heatset printing and four colors on coated paper and was judged on registration, level of difficulty, folding / binding / finishing and overall craftsmanship of product.
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| Arandell Teams Up with ACMA 2010-02-23
Arandell Corporation has teamed up with the American Catalog Mailers Association (ACMA) to help bring the voice of catalog mailers to Washington.
The ACMA National Catalog Forum is one of the only events exclusively focused on the needs and interests of C-Level catalog executives and marketers. The conference will take place April 13-15, 2010 in Nashville, TN.
The Forum will cut to the chase and focus on what matters to the catalog/multichannel merchant.
ACMA’s primary purpose is to lobby in Washington on behalf of catalog mailers. This event will showcase ACMA’s cause in action by giving participants the opportunity to meet key decision-makers from both the Postal Service and Postal Regulatory Commission.
For more information on the ACMA National Catalog Forum, click here.
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| Money-Saving Strategies for Direct Mailers 2009-06-16
Gary Sierzchulski, Arandell's VP of Data Systems, was recently featured in a DM article titled, "Money-Saving Strategies for Direct Mailers."
For more than 20 years, we have seen 15% to 20% of all mail files in such poor shape that often the client says, "just mail it" to avoid delays or additional work. This cannot continue. As postage costs continue to rise, you should keep the following tips in mind.
Even though the US Postal Service now requires that some form of Move Update be completed on your files every 95 days, it is important to read and understand the reports that are generated from the list processing on your files. The reports show what was corrected/updated and also what was not or cannot be. The records that cannot be corrected (with ZIP-plus-4s and delivery point validation) should almost always be eliminated from the mailing. These records will cost more to mail, may not be delivered and should be flagged on your housefile to avoid future problems. Also, Move Updates will not correct or catch all issues. Additional products should be used, or at least tested, to see what incremental gains can be achieved.
Once the file reaches your printer or mailer, verify what products are run on your file to either verify or clean up the records. Often nothing should be run because the work was already done and you do not want to lose your segmentation schemes. Many of them do have the capability to verify files without changing data.
Click here to read more money-saving strategies.
(www.dmnews.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Don Landis featured in: Five Or Six Day Mail Delivery? 2009-02-18
Although many catalog industry experts support Postmaster General John E. Potter’s appeal last month to Congress to let him reduce postal delivery to five days per week, the president/CEO of the Direct Marketing Association is categorically opposed.
DMA president/CEO John A. Greco Jr. wrote in a Feb. 6 letter that “going from six to five day delivery is trimming around the edges instead of going straight to the heart of the problem. A healthy, viable, sustainable Postal Service is in the national interest. We support the USPS efforts to restructure their retiree benefit payments, and encourage them to explore other cost-cutting measures to find savings solutions. We believe that a reduction in service should be looked at only as a last resort.”
During his Jan. 28 testimony before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee, Potter said: “If current trends continue, we could experience a net loss of $6 billion or more this fiscal year.” Potter asked lawmakers for the authority to drop the six-day schedule, which Congress mandated in 1983, allowing the USPS to suspend delivery on the lightest volume days.
The USPS in 2008 lost 9 billion pieces of volume. Catalog-dominated service categories were down nearly 25% for the year ended Sept. 30, 2008. The USPS recently acknowledged the fiscal year 2009 forecast of 8 billion pieces is low and sees piece count erosion exceeding 12 billion pieces or more.
Potter asked Congress to change the payment schedule for funding its retirees’ health benefits. In 2008, total retiree health benefits costs came to $7.4 billion—nearly 10% of the annual operating budget, he said.
The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 requires accelerated prepayment of future retiree health care costs. The USPS “is the only public or private entity required to prepay health benefit premiums at these extremely high levels,” Potter said in his testimony.
Don Landis, vice president of postal affairs for catalog printer Arandell Corp., says Potter’s request for five-day mail delivery could be just to get Congress to delay the prefunding of retirement and health benefits. “Our customers seem to think [Potter] is not serious” about five-day mail delivery, he notes. “I think he is serious. The advantage to five-day delivery is reduction in cost, “and with the low volume it could probably be pulled off,” Landis says. The disadvantage—especially if it is Tuesday or Wednesday—would be the limited in home dates available for catalogers causing marketing strategy changes.
Also, Landis adds, “the possibility is printer and mailers would have limited drop shipment appointments available causing potentially not meeting an in-home date at all.”
Greco wrote that most DMA members are engaged in multichannel marketing, “and while our other channels show consistently higher growth rates, mail still plays an important role in the overall integrated marketing communications mix. As a marketing community we still rely on the USPS and any degradation of services could have a negative impact on the economy. We believe that a reduction in delivery days could drive some marketers away from using the mailstream which would further reduce mail volume and cause greater strain on the USPS current fixed costs. The solution? The USPS should pursue a fundamental cost restructuring along with stimulus/incentives that would reward marketers to continue to use mail in their multichannel mix.”
Greco added: “Aren’t jobs and positive economic activity what we need these days?”
So, what is the answer?
I agree with the following assessment from Joe Schick, director of postal affairs for printer Quad/Graphics. “Should they be reducing service at a time when they are also going to be increasing prices, albeit at the rate of inflation?” he says. “In a normal time and place we’d all answer no.”
But given the current economic environment, if the USPS can still meet the needs of its customers by reducing mail delivery to five days a week, “why should anyone care?” Schick asks?
“It would be disingenuous for me/Quad to insist that they continue six-day delivery when we would not want to be dictated to by our clients as to when we run our presses and binding lines,” he says. “That is determined by us and is driven by the needs/requirements of our clients. As long as at the end of the day, we have met our obligations to our clients, it should not matter to anyone how it was accomplished.”
As always, you can count on Arandell to bring you the most up-to-date postal information. For additional information, please contact Don Landis, VP of Postal Affairs or Susan Pinter, Director of Postal Affairs. They can also be reached at 800.558.8724.
(www.bigfatmarketingblog.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Arandell Corporation Achieves SFI and PEFC Certifications 2009-01-26
Adding to its already renowned sustainability practices, Arandell Corporation announced today that it has achieved the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) chain-of-custody certifications. Passing an intense third party audit of its purchasing behavior and environmental practices made these achievements possible.
Arandell was recognized for its commitment to sustainability in February 2006 with the Forest Stewardship Council chain-of-custody certification. Adding SFI- and PEFC-certified papers to its product offering gives clients the opportunity to be more selective in choosing paper that aligns with their environmental objectives. Blake Hutchison, Director of Purchasing at Arandell, expressed his pride in this accomplishment. "We are very excited to be tri-certified. By adding these two certification standards, we have presented our customers with more options for environmental responsibility as well as helped to make sure the world's forest lands are maintained in the most responsible way. These certifications are just two more examples of the many ways in which Arandell seeks to be a good steward of our environment." FSC, SFI and PEFC are all non-profit, non-governmental organizations recognized globally for promoting responsible forest management.
The list of qualifications for each of these certifications is extensive. Some of the requirements include: the ability to track paper from the moment it arrives at the plant to the moment it goes out the door as a finished product; a committed upper management group who conducts audits of the program at least annually; and a constantly-informed associate pool of all disciplines, including Receiving, Customer Service, Press, Bindery and Shipping. All production associates need to know what needs to be done in order to maintain certification on each and every project.
“Our achievement of tri-certification is a salute to all our associates’ commitment to improving the environmental impact of our business,” proclaimed Don Treis, CEO of Arandell Corporation. “I am proud to be part of an organization who has consistently been an industry leader in environmental sustainability.”
Arandell Corporation has had the honor of serving its customers since 1922. The company is known for producing and distributing high-quality catalogs and custom publications for the world’s leading marketers from its state-of-the-art facility in Menomonee Falls, WI. The company’s environmental commitment is also reflected in its September 2007 acceptance into the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Green Tier program. Green Tier provides regulatory and publicity incentives to organizations that voluntarily achieve superior environmental performance.
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| Arandell Corporation Expands Sales Management Team 2008-11-03
Arandell Corporation, the country’s premier web offset printer, announced today that it has added to the strength of its powerhouse sales team. Tom Benedict, Vice President, National Sales Manager, brings nearly 20 years of printing industry experience to his executive position at Arandell. He will be charged with directing all sales activities throughout the country.
"I'm delighted to be joining the Arandell team,” states Mr. Benedict. “As one who, for most of my career, has competed in the catalog market, I have always had great respect for the reputation that Arandell has earned as the premier catalog printer in the industry. And now that I have the privilege of leading and representing the Arandell sales team, I know that the bar has been set high. I am confident that we will continue to raise the bar even higher."
During his career, Mr. Benedict has excelled in his senior sales and executive-level positions. Most recently, he served as the Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing at Banta Corporation (now RR Donnelley) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has also worked in an executive capacity for Quebecor World and American Signature.
“Tom’s extensive experience in sales management & training, strategic planning, business development, profit improvement and customer relations will surely bring our sales team to an even higher level of success,” expresses Jim Treis, Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing. “With the current dynamics of our industry, we want to be even more aggressive with our approach to acquiring new business.”
Arandell Corporation has been proudly serving its customers since 1922. The company is known for producing and distributing high-quality catalogs and custom publications for the world’s leading marketers from its state-of-the-art facility in Menomonee Falls, WI. |
| Arandell's Jim Treis in the News 2008-10-30
Jim Treis, Arandell EVP Sales and Marketing, was recently interviewed for an article about our Goss Sunday 3000/32 presses. The article was featured in the most recent issue of Goss's Web Offset publication.
Recent orders for six presses in Brazil, including four for Plural Editora e Grafica, will extend the installed base in Latin America. In total, Sunday 3000/32 presses with close to 250 printing units have been ordered since the first installations in 2004. There are a myriad of reasons why these printing industry leaders are turning to the 2x8 Goss press. Extending the web width to eight pages, created a 32-page format that can deliver “industry standard” increments: 4-, 8-, 16-, or 32-page signatures per web at speeds of up to 100,000 impressions per hour.
Gapless blankets are vital
Perhaps the most significant number associated with this high-productivity press is “2”. The fact is the Sunday 3000/32 press can produce 2 times more throughput than a traditional 16-page press, using the same size press crew. Gapless blankets play an integral role in the 2x8 format, as the tubular blankets eliminate vibrations that could otherwise compromise speed and print quality with the wider, eight-pages-across cylinders. The Sunday 3000/32 press can also be installed in a two-web configuration to produce up to 64 pages per revolution or 6.4 million magazine pages per hour. The 32-page Sunday press certainly comes from a
notable lineage. Back in 1993, the introduction of the first Sunday 3000 press (with a 2x6 format) heralded a revolution in web printing. Gapless blanket technology shattered production barriers, with speeds accelerated far beyond anything achieved before. Web widths were stretched from four to six pages. With gapless blankets and pinless folders extending the printable area on the cylinders, the result was a shorter cut-off which could save up to “ or 10 mm of paper per impression. This translated to significant cost savings – hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, in some cases. Two companies that have reaped substantial
benefits from their use of the Sunday 3000/32 press are Arandell and Quad/Graphics. Both were also early adopters when the previous-generation Sunday 3000 press extended web widths from four to six pages. Arandell’s interest in the new 2x8 press
was spurred by a desire to gain tighter control over labor costs and to produce more pages per makeready with the same number of people. “We were looking around at what was available in the ‘next-generation’ technology, particularly as it would allow us to produce more with fewer or the same resources,” recalls Jim Treis, Arandell’s executive vice president of sales and marketing. “In our market the 16-page format is very popular, so being able to produce two 16 pagers at one time was important.” One press can replace three Arandell’s affinity for Sunday technology was far from an overnight phenomenon. Since 1995, the company, whose clients are primarily in the special interest and high-end catalog industry, had been replacing its fleet of 2x4 M-1000™ presses with 2x6 Sunday 3000 systems. Arandell now runs five of the Sunday 3000/24 presses in its “mega-plant” in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. In 2004, the company put in one of the first Sunday 3000/32 systems.
“The truly extraordinary aspect is how much throughput you can get through with the same crew,” said Treis. “Basically, we’re manning this press with the same number of people as we used with our 16-page M-1000 presses, with far greater output. Even though we have six Sunday machines in place now, it’s like we replaced 20 of the older technology presses. “We’re doing our makeready at 2,200 – 2,400 feet per minute, and we run all day long at 2,800 –3,000 feet per minute. If you calculate it out, that’s
approximately 35 miles an hour.” While speed is a primary consideration, print quality does not take a back seat. “Our clients require exacting color,” he said. “This is one of the few presses in the world that can deliver that exacting color at the speeds we require. Actually, when we made the switch from our older M-1000 presses to the first Sunday 3000 systems, the color was the primary issue. That’s why we were drawn to this gapless-blanket platform.”
Mike Popp is vice president of press technology with Quad/Graphics, the largest privately held printer of magazines, catalogs and other commercial products in the Western Hemisphere. Sunday™ 3000 presses anchor Quad/Graphics facilities throughout the
United States. At the company’s headquarters in Sussex, Wisconsin, the 2x8 models are centerpieces in a pressroom where multiple presses can produce a combined total of a full pallet of signatures every 45 seconds. More productivity, less labor
“We’ve got eight Goss 2x8 presses, dispersed among our various plants across the country,” he said. “The reasons we have them are simple: their productivity and labor savings. The format allows us to do more high-quality work with fewer people.”
Popp highlighted the gapless blanket technology as a particularly appealing feature. “The gapless blanket – versus the gap technology you see on the older machines – is a tremendous advantage for us as it relates to paper savings. You can significantly reduce your cut-off size over conventional gap presses. The non-print on this particular machine is a sixteenth of an inch; typically when you have a gap, you’ll have to throw away about a quarter inch at a minimum but often it’s as much as 3/8 of an inch. The paper savings alone are significant.” The ease of integrating the Sunday 3000/32 presses into the overall printing process is as important to Popp as it is for Treis. “You can do a lot with your configurations,” he said. “Because the electronics on the press are so much more sophisticated, it allows you to configure your press to best match the needs of the plant.”
Of course, none of these benefits would come into play unless the press produced high-quality printing. On that point, Popp’s customers provide a powerful testimonial. A lot of our high-end coffee table magazines are running on this particular press,” he said.
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| Arandell Corporation Expands Co-mail Capacity 2008-05-06
Arandell Corporation, the country’s premiere web offset printer, has announced an increase in its co-mail capacity. The added capacity expands the company’s current ability to accommodate the ever-increasing demand for co-mail that has resulted from the USPS 2007 Rate Case.
Beyond its co-mail capacity, Arandell’s system offers participants a great deal of flexibility. Perhaps one of the top advantages of the system is that catalogs and publications of various formats and sizes can be combined. Saddle-stitched and perfect-bound catalogs and publications can be integrated into one mailstream, and there is also room for variance in trim size and thickness.
Arandell places first priority on clients’ mail plans. “The Arandell way allows clients to use their ideas and to choose the mail plan of their choice instead of a mail plan that is dictated to them,” said Jim Treis, executive vice president, sales & marketing. “The Arandell way is your way.”
Arandell Corporation is a privately-held printer that produces and distributes high-quality catalogs and custom publications for the world’s leading marketers from its state-of-the-art facility in Menomonee Falls, WI. |
| Arandell Corporation Receives Five Graphic Excellence Awards 2008-04-09
Each year, the Printing Industries of Wisconsin hosts the Graphic Excellence Awards competition, which acknowledges graphic arts companies throughout the state that demonstrate superb craftsmanship in creating and producing visual artistry.
Competing against over 1,100 entries, Arandell was awarded five distinctions in three different categories. The most prestigious of the awards is Best of Category, granted in the Web Press Printing, Coated Paper (four or more colors) category. Three clients’ printed works were selected to win Awards of Excellence in the Stochastic Printing and Web Press Printing, Coated Paper (four or more colors) categories. Arandell was also awarded a Certificate of Merit in the Product Catalogs (four or more colors) division.
Jim Treis, Arandell’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing expressed what these awards mean to the company. “The Graphic Excellence Awards are a tribute to the hard work of Arandell’s associates and to our clients’ execution of beautiful marketing pieces. I know I speak on behalf of everyone here when I state that we are very proud of the work that we produce and we are honored to work with our clients.”
The Graphic Excellence Awards honor those who create and produce the best print media. The statewide competition has promoted excellence in print communications for the past eight years. The Printing Industries of Wisconsin is the state’s graphic arts trade association, representing an industry with more than 44,000 employees and $7.3 billion in annual sales.
Arandell Corporation is known internationally as the expert in the art and science of catalogs. The privately-held printer produces and distributes high-quality printed materials for the world’s leading catalog and retail marketers from its state-of-the-art facility in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. |
| Maintain Multichannel Contact with Your Customers 2008-03-10
The following is an article from Gary Sierzchulski, VP of Arandell Data Systems, that was recently featured in the DMNews Essential Guide for Multichannel Retail.
E-mail marketing today is what direct mail was fifteen years ago — still relatively inexpensive, and a lot of testing involves few incremental costs. The big difference is that today’s customer does not have the patience to sift through clutter.
All our tests showed that a direct mail piece accompanied by an e-mail — as a way to enforce the message — will almost always out-pull response as opposed to using only direct mail or e-mail. Customers still need to clearly see and have time to view your products and offerings, so the catalog is still king. E-mail is becoming the enforcer of the brand and the offer – but it is still not the “store.” If used in conjunction with the catalog, response rates will reflect the strategy.
For current customers, the e-mail message needs to be tied into a recent purchase or activity. The more — and quicker — you acknowledge your customer’s past transactions, the better chance you have of a response. The key is to maintain all customer purchase and contact information. It is easier to acknowledge past activity in an e-mail than in a direct mail piece, but that direct mail piece is still the backbone of your marketing program and an easy and effective way to present your “store.” Direct mail program consistency reflects a commitment to your customers and prospects.
In a recent case study conducted with a gardening cataloger, catalogs combined with e-mails pulled a $0.07 sale per e-mail versus a $0.03 with an e-mail alone. When tying a recent transaction to the e-mail, the HTML open rate was 8.79% versus 3.27%. When sending another direct mail piece to a buyer within 30 days of purchase, the response rate was, on average, three times the response rate of a mail piece going to that buyer within 60 days of purchase and eight times the response rate of a catalog or direct mail piece reaching them within 180 days. As always, in today’s multichannel environment, properly crediting the order to the original marketing channel is key in measuring the true effectiveness of your channels.
To read more articles from the DMNews Essential Guide for Multichannel Retail, click here.
(media.haymarketmedia.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| WOA and Flint Group Announces 2008 H. Howard Flint II Pressroom Manager of the Year Award 2008-01-07
Web Offset Association and the Flint Group are pleased to announce the recipient of the H. Howard Flint II Pressroom Manager of the Year Award. The recipient is Jeff Wendt of Arandell Corporation. Wendt joined Arandell Corporation in 1989 as a job planner and worked his way up through the ranks. Wendt oversees a workforce of 107 union associates who are supervised by eight pressroom managers. His pressroom produces over 1.8 billion signatures annually and operates four 24-page format M3000 presses, one 16-page format M1000 press, and one 32-page format M3000 press. Combined with the support of his associates, he has the responsibility of monitoring and maintaining profitability and productivity in the pressroom.
Beyond his daily responsibilities in the pressroom, Wendt works to promote the First Responder Team and has served as its Director for the past several years. In addition, his efforts have helped Arandell achieve a status of environmental excellence. He was instrumental in reducing the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) generated by the Company’s presses. He also worked with the Company to install state-of-the-art pollution control equipment. In 2007, Arandell implemented Lean in order to increase efficiencies throughout the plant and the office. Wendt has been active in several of the team-building events, all of which have contributed to the success of this year’s Lean initiatives. He also keeps apprised of industry trends and keeps Arandell at the forefront of the commercial printing industry by researching new technologies.
Wendt’s nominators and supporters have made it quite clear that he is well deserving of the award. As one supporter expressed, “Jeff not only excels in his day-to-day responsibilities but also goes the extra mile to take care of fellow associates and to advance the company within the industry.”
This award is dedicated to the memory of H. Howard Flint II, chairman of Flint Ink, who passed away in 2005. Mr. Flint was an industry luminary and well known for his dedication to training and education. He was a strong supporter of WOA as well as PIA/GATF and the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation. He was active in many areas of the association.
The Web Offset Association and the Flint Group will present Wendt with a commemorative plaque and a conference package. Wendt will have the opportunity to recognize a graphic arts school of his choice with a $2,000 scholarship check. The presentation is scheduled for Sunday, April 27, at the Renaissance Hotel in Schaumberg, Illinois during the Offset & Beyond Conference.
For more information about the H. Howard Flint II Pressroom Manager of the Year Award or the Offset & Beyond Annual Management and Technical Conference, please contact Teresa Rees at (412)259-1804 or via email at trees@piagatf.org.
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| Arandell Corporation Welcomes Blake Hutchison as Director of Purchasing 2007-11-20
Arandell Corporation announced today the hire of a Director of Purchasing. Blake Hutchison is the newest member of Arandell’s distinguished team.
Mr. Hutchison has been hired as the Director of Purchasing. He brings significant experience in the paper industry to this position, and will focus primarily on the management and direction of the Company's paper utilization. He will also work to expand the paper purchasing services that Arandell offers to its clients, as well as work with clients to determine which paper is best for their printed product.
Rick Dethloff, Vice President of Purchasing at Arandell expressed that Blake has already made a strong contribution to the team. “Blake has already demonstrated an ability to solve problems and apply critical thinking when faced with a complex issue. His industry knowledge will serve Arandell well as we embark on the path to improve the purchasing process.”
Blake is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He comes to us from Midland Paper Company, where he served as a sales representative.
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| Arandell Corporation to Participate in Green Tier Program 2007-09-28
Today Arandell Corporation of Menomonee Falls was welcomed into the state’s Green Tier program, which provides regulatory and publicity incentives to organizations that voluntarily achieve superior environmental performance.
Representatives of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and other state officials welcomed Arandell Corporation with a celebration today at the State Capitol. “As an individual company, Arandell has proven itself a leader in environmental thinking within the printing industry. The company’s accomplishments in the last few years speak for themselves,” said DNR Secretary Matthew Frank.
“More importantly, Wisconsin is becoming the state for green printing. Green Tier is a young and growing program, but printers clearly are seeing value to both their businesses and the environment by going beyond compliance.”
Arandell specializes in printing high-quality catalogs at its Menomonee Falls facility, measuring 566,000 square feet. Prior to joining Green Tier, the company recycled more than 43 million pounds of paper, aluminum, plastic film and inks. By switching to a new lighting system, Arandell saves 1.8 million kilowatt-hours annually. Arandell also reduced its emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 20 tons after it installed new press wash systems. Arandell’s reduction of VOCs curbs the amount of ozone produced in southeastern Wisconsin and helps the region to address its ozone non-attainment status.
In response to being accepted to the Green Tier program, Don Treis, Arandell CEO said, "I'm very proud of the mutual efforts of our associates and those of the Wisconsin DNR. This achievement demonstrates how the combined workings of industry and state governments can result in a positive environmental impact."
As a Green Tier participant, Arandell pledges to add to its environmental performance. The company will target reductions in water and energy usage as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Arandell will identify new methods for continually reducing its VOC emissions, and pledges to reuse or recycle 100 percent of the silver and nickel used. Arandell will also continue its certification by the Forest Stewardship Council and continue using paper originating from sustainably managed forests.
Green Tier was signed into law in 2004 to encourage a collaborative approach to environmental performance between the DNR and Wisconsin businesses. As part of Green Tier, Wisconsin organizations voluntarily commit to reducing their environmental footprint by developing and implementing environmental management systems. These systems act as a roadmap, presenting organizations the opportunity to adopt new technologies and practices to continually improve their environmental performance.
Arandell is a Tier 1 participant in Green Tier. In exchange for a commitment to superior environmental performance, the DNR grants benefits to Tier 1 participants including deferred civil enforcement, a single point of contact within the department, the use of the Green Tier logo on written materials, and annual public recognition of participation.
For more information on Green Tier and Arandell, visit the DNR Web site’s Green Tier page at http://greentier.wi.gov.
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| More Domestic Paper Price Increases Announced 2010-08-24
The North American paper manufactures are at it again. Recently, a new wave of price increases have been announced. Here is what we are seeing from the likes of Verso Paper, NewPage, Sappi, AbitibiBowater, West Linn, etc:
Coated freesheet (CFS): 4 – 5% increase
Coated groundwood (CGW): 5.5 – 7% increase
Some grades, such as supercalendared (SC) will see increases as high as seven to 10%. Most of these announcements take effect with shipments on or after September 15, 2010. All brand extensions, basis weights and finishes are included in these announcements.
These latest increases come at a time where operating rates on CGW products are still very high and lead times are still six weeks for some products. Operating rates for CFS products at some mills are still high, although we are beginning to see a slowing of demand as the busy season for paper making begins to come to an end.
You may have also heard that some mills recently announced dramatically low second quarter earnings. Coincidence? I think not. The North American mills are still hurting from the loss of the Black Liquor tax credit and they are looking to make up that loss with high prices.
If you have questions about how your paper pricing will be affected by these increases, please feel free to contact Blake Hutchison, at 800-558-8724.
For additional paper news and contact information, visit www.arandellblog.com. |
| DMA and Affordable Mail Alliance Continue Fight to Oppose USPS Rate Hike 2010-08-05
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Ranking Republican Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has released a statement agreeing with the Affordable Mail Alliance that the exigent rate hikes proposed by the USPS are not justified under the law.
Collins, one of the main authors of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), wrote, “I have repeatedly expressed my concerns to the Postal Service that reducing service and increasing rates are not the means to raise mail volume and restore fiscal balance… As the author of the PAEA, I can unequivocally state that the law does not provide for an exigent rate case based merely on poor economic circumstances or on increased utilization of electronic or other alternatives to traditional mail. Neither of these circumstances is exceptional nor extraordinary as required by law.”
Senator Collins’ letter was a welcome dose of reality after the USPS issued a press release earlier today asserting that the rate increase is consistent with Collins’ understanding of the “exigent circumstances” test.
“Senator Collins, the author of the exigency standard, is the best judge of whether it has been met,” said Tony Conway, AMA member and Executive Director of the Alliance for Nonprofit Mailers. “That’s why her letter, clearly stating that the Postal Service hasn’t met the standard here, is so telling.”
Last week, DMA and the Affordable Mail Alliance asked the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to dismiss the USPS’ request to increase postal rates by ten times the rate permissible by law. In a response submitted to the PRC yesterday, USPS asserted that Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) – one of the main authors of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) – believed that the rate increase is consistent with her understanding of the “exigent circumstances” test.
For further information, please visit www.affordablemailalliance.org.
(DMA, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved)
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| DMA Statement on Postal Service Rate Hike Request 2010-07-26
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and the DMA Nonprofit Federation (DMANF) today asked the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to dismiss the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) request to increase postal rates by ten times the rate permissible by law. The petition was filed by the Affordable Mail Alliance, of which the Direct Marketing Association and the DMA Nonprofit Federation are supporting members. The Affordable Mail Alliance’s members are commercial and nonprofit organizations. Commercial mail accounts for 85 percent of the Postal Service’s revenues.
The Postal Service seeks to raise prices by an average of 5.6 percent — more than ten times the current rate of inflation — claiming as “exigent” circumstances the recession of 2008-2009 and electronic diversion of First-class mail. This action by USPS comes just three years after Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) of 2006, which was supposed to prevent rate increases that exceed the rate of inflation. USPS claims that there are “exigent circumstances” that necessitate an increase, and that one of those circumstances is the shift of mail to the Internet.
The motion filed by the Affordable Mail Alliance asserts that “the Postal Service’s most fundamental problem is not the Internet, or the recession, but a lack of effective cost control.”
“Businesses across the country have had to make difficult decisions due to the recent recession - tightening their belts, increasing productivity and in some cases, cutting their workforces as their revenue fell by 20 percent or more,” said Jerry Cerasale, DMA’s senior vice president of government affairs. “Because of this highly efficient management, many of those same businesses – including UPS and FedEx – have managed to return to profitability within a quarter or two. The Postal Service has not taken the same difficult steps. Instead, its unit costs rose by six percent in 2009 as prices fell across the economy. The Service has a lot more work to do to bring their costs under control before turning to its customers for yet another rate increase.”
In the motion, the Alliance holds that “raising prices above the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in this case would nullify the single most important safeguard for mailers and the public in PAEA. If the increases are approved, the central regulatory constraint of PAEA will be dead.”
Cerasale also said, “The things that Congress envisioned as ‘exigent circumstances’ were events like September 11th, Katrina, or the anthrax crisis. Mail shifting to the Internet and the economic downturn just don’t rise to the same level as those other events.”
The Affordable Mail Alliance includes charities, large and small businesses, American household names and the customers who use the Post Office every day – customers that will suffer if USPS successfully raises rates again.
To view the full text of the petition, please click here.
(DMA, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved) |
| Print Catalogs Deliver Digital Orders 2010-07-21
Campaign Shows Online Retailers How to Go Beyond the Web to Double Sales
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service is reaching out to e-tailers with a campaign showcasing the power of catalogs with the potential to double online transactions and achieve revenue lift of over 100 percent by creating print extensions of their Internet shopping websites.
“Getting Started in Catalogs” is a USPS promotional campaign featuring a “Catalogs and e-tailing” instructional DVD and a live webinar series. The DVD features testimonials from widely recognized companies such as Dell and Zappo’s, who built their businesses into market leaders within their respective industries by adding catalogs to the marketing mix.
The first of three free webinars takes place July 20, with tutorials on catalog production and the smartest and most cost-efficient ways to produce a catalog. Additional webinars will be held July 28 and Aug. 24. Follow-up support from sales personnel with the Postal Service also is available.
“Putting a focused, attractive catalog in the hands of your customers has a unique ability to engage their attention, and prompts them to browse your site and place orders,” said Steve Hernandez, acting vice president, Sales. “For e-tailers looking to push their sales to the next level, catalogs are a proven medium for delivering transactions and enhancing customer loyalty.”
A market study by comScore shows that among visitors to retail websites, twice as many catalog recipients made a purchase as those who did not receive a catalog – more than doubling the online conversion rate. A revenue increase of 163 percent resulted from a comparison of purchases and money spent by catalog recipients versus those who did not receive a catalog in the comScore study, and 28 percent more items were ordered by catalog recipients.
Customers can learn more about growing their businesses through the use of catalogs, order a free DVD, and register to attend the free webinars at: http://www.usps.com/promotions/catalogs.htm.
Ordering the DVD and registering for the webinars also is available through a targeted direct mail campaign incorporating Business Reply Mail, along with Web ads appearing in online retailer publications.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
(United States Postal Service, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved) |
| Mail Holds Own As Top DM Channel – For Now 2010-07-20
Direct mail will account for $19.17 billion in media supplier advertising revenue during 2010, making it the top revenue generator tracked by forecasting firm MagnaGlobal. But combined spending on online direct and local digital marketing will reach parity with it this year, and will surpass it in 2011.
In 2010, total supplier ad revenue will amount to $169.1 billion, and direct mail will make up 11.3% of that, according to MagnaGlobal. At $15.4 billion, direct online will account for 9.1%. But local digital and online revenue is tracked separately. Add $3.7 billion from local digital, and online is estimated as generating only slightly less than mail.
If forecasts hold, 2011 will provide a watershed moment in which local digital and direct online ad revenue will total $21.1 billion, or 12.3% of the $171.2 billion in supplier revenue MagnaGlobal anticipates. In contrast, direct mail will account for $19.6 million, or 11.4% of total spending.
Online marketing’s increases come even with weakness in the online classified sector serving as an anchor, according to MagnaGlobal.
MagnaGlobal counts direct mail, online direct and directory spending, but not local digital, in its direct calculations. Last year, the $42.8 billion direct spending generated made up 26.2% of total supplier ad revenue. The $43.6 billion foreseen this year will amount to 25.8%, but the anticipated $45.1 billion in 2011 will pull direct’s percentage back up to 26.3%.
Why the dip this year? Spending on the summer Olympics, combined with the congressional elections this November, will boost television revenue faster than direct response channels’ revenue. During 2010, local and national TV spending jumped to $53.84 billion from $50.57 billion.
MagnaGlobal’s predictions are based on several assumptions, including continuing, if unspectacular, improvements in the economy and no “double dip” recession.
(Directmag.com, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved)
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| Creating your best holiday catalogs ever 2010-07-20
It may be the middle of summer, but in the catalog world, the holiday season is here. Merchants have finalized their orders, marketers have anticipated circulation, and print orders are in. But what about your creative plans? What are you doing to plan the best holiday catalog ever? Here's what I do.
1. GATHER INFORMATION
First things first, get “the skinny.” Creative staff can be most effective when they have facts and information.
Meet with marketing. Find out all the specifics you can: When does the holiday book mail? Has the print date been established? Will there be different versions and, if so, will they all be prepared at the same time?
How many pages will be completely newly designed vs. revised? How many cover versions will there be and to whom will they be targeted? What offers will be carried on the front cover? What other information needs to be included on the front cover?
If you don't have it, ask marketing to provide a positioning and/or brand identify statement. Ask them to provide a target audience profile.
Who are your customers, what are their demographics? Do you have psychographic or lifestyle information that would give you a better sense of the buyer? Of the prospect?
What about the competition? Map out on a chart of attributes, where you stand compared to competitors.
Meet with merchandising. Ask the merchandising staff for an overview of what's going to be in the catalog, and what categories and product highlights will be most important. Holiday catalogs usually have a different mix of products, which may translate into alternate layout presentations and photography plans.
Get a sense of what trends are affecting your customer. What's important to her — color, texture, assortment, selection? How does she feel about product performance? Fashion? Entertaining? How does she think about pricing and how might that affect the presentation of price points in the catalog?
Prepare a comprehensive schedule. The information you've gathered will help you put together a thoughtful timetable for catalog development.
Backing up from the mail date, determine how much time you need for planning (discussion and brainstorming), concept development and actual catalog development (turn over of product information, layouts, copywriting, photography, page development, mechanical development and turn over to printer).
It's not unusual for companies to anticipate four or even five months for all of this, depending on the scope and content of the catalog.
2. DISCUSSION AND BRAINSTORMING
Now it's time to put your heads together to begin to anticipate creative development. This head start with creative provides the opportunity to go further and do better work.
It also helps you better plan against time and budget requirements. And there are several factors that can make your meetings more productive.
Attendance. The core members of your main creative staff should attend, naturally. The answer to “how many is too many?” differs from company to company.
You may also want to invite key freelancers. Some companies make sure representatives from other departments attend. Marketing and merchandising can bring a lot to creative brainstorming, and including them can be a real team-building activity.
Preparation. Make sure everyone comes to the meeting armed. First of all, notice of the meeting should include a “background sheet” that shares information the participants should start thinking about: a positioning statement and a brand identity description, important company goals, customer profile, competition, catalog mail plan specifics, etc.
Ask the participants to do some homework, such as reviewing previous catalogs, looking at the competition, and collecting and bringing “swipe” (examples of photography, layouts, copy or general creative work that might be considered) to the brainstorming discussion.
Note-taking. Designate a note-taker beforehand to capture all the great suggestions and ideas that surface. This also helps you keep track of the action plan: Who is responsible, and how and when will they follow up?
Discussion leader. The person in charge of this meeting should be a good leader and listener. It's important that he or she set a clear framework for the meeting, including communicating the scope of the discussion and timing. This person must be able to energize the group, draw people out, cut short conversations that have become unproductive and summarize.
Time, location and refreshments. If there's ever a time to get out of the office, this is it. Book a hotel conference room for half a day and have it catered. Or ask a local restaurant to host the group in the morning and then provide lunch.
If you need to use an internal conference room, make sure you provide refreshments and put up signs (and send out e-mails) that reflect a real “out-of-the-office” message. Being away from computers and the demands of day-to-day work is essential to free thinking and productivity.
3. DEVELOP CONCEPTS
Creative concepts allow your creative staff to examine different scenarios and ideas before beginning actual catalog development. A common complaint of creative staff is that they don't have time or opportunity to explore or demonstrate their ideas. Provide your team with the time and tools to develop concepts as part of the process.
The concept stage is the perfect time to re-look at positioning and brand statements. Are they clear? Is everyone on board and “rowing in the same direction”? A clear vision for the brand is a necessary foundation for successful concepts and strong creative.
When done correctly, concepts have many benefits. They can reveal new treatments for old presentations, solve ongoing challenges, uncover time- or money-saving activities, update a look and improve the overall design.
Concepts can move a company to the next level, since they challenge the team without jeopardizing a schedule. If your staff is too swamped to create concepts, or you think you might benefit from outside perspective, consider an agency, freelancer or consultant.
Scope of concepts. Treat concepts as defined assignments. There should be a creative brief defining what is to be accomplished. Normally, these pages are examined in concepts:
• Front cover — This is an opportunity to explore dramatic options for your most important page.
• Opening spread — These pages typically contain some editorial and set the pace for the rest of the catalog.
• High-density spreads — Explore how the most challenging spreads might be handled.
• Impact/low-density spreads — Determine how to get powerful pacing pages for the most important item.
• Specialty spreads — Take the time to plan pages unique to the holiday, such as price-point spreads, category spreads, gift spreads and so on.
There are several specific creative considerations for a holiday catalog. For one thing, the cover is always critical: When consumer mailboxes are at their most full, you need an appealing, attention-getting cover to stand out from the pack. (For more, see “Dos and don'ts for holiday catalog covers”)
Here are four ways to make your holiday book a winner.
• Add seasonality throughout the catalog. Use seasonality to reflect the time of year. If it “feels” new and different, the customers are reminded of what's coming up and they get in the mood to shop.
Color can support a holiday feeling in the form of type, rule lines, icons and background tints. Green and red are obvious choices, but gold and black is an elegant way to lend a holiday feeling. Kwanza colors, or even blue and white might be appropriate, depending on your audience.
Illustrations and artwork can be festive as well. A red wreath around a spread might call out a special section. Small, illustrated gift boxes could call out gift favorites.
Props and surfaces are great tools. Garnet-hued tablecloths, twinkling lights in the background, wine glasses, wrapping paper — there's no end to the warm and fuzzy signals that are all holiday reminders.
• Reposition product with photography. Changes in photography can up the holiday feeling in a book and reposition product to be more appropriate for a season. A new shot, different propping or a different environment can communicate a different message.
A blouse becomes a gift, a dress is now for entertaining, a serving dish offers Christmas cake, and candles are housewarming gifts. Just don't let props get in the way of the product — they should support and enhance, not overpower.
• Create layouts to better support holiday merchandise. This may be the one time of year that grids really work well for almost everyone! Grids hold together categories (“Gifts for him”) or price points (“Gifts under $100”) or themes (“Stocking stuffers”) and help the customer shop. Following the cue of the merchants to solve other problems, this might be a good time of year to anticipate navigational bars, category openers, more (or fewer) silhouettes, editorial visuals, etc.
• Refine your voice. Just as a warm spirit is translated into friendly greetings during the holidays, it is appropriate to align the copy in a catalog to reflect the mood. Holiday spirit can be reflected in headlines, subheads, lead-ins, selling (body) copy and/or editorial copy.
With the right planning, concept development and execution, you can make this your best holiday book yet. To improve your odds for success, have a published schedule with presentation and approval dates that will be respected and adhered to by all participants.
DOS AND DON'TS for holiday catalog covers
ONE OF THE BIGGEST MISTAKES YOU CAN MAKE IS LEAVING THE FRONT- COVER PLANNING UNTIL THE END. AS YOU DEVELOP THE CREATIVE FOR YOUR FRONT COVER, CONSIDER THESE DOS AND DON'T:
• Do push yourself on drama and differentiation. Impact is critical.
• Do place your logo front and center, high and easy to read. Make sure it stands out in a pile of mail.
• Do place offers (FREE anything, % off or $ off) high on a page (upper right preferred) in a dot-whack, and please use the color red.
• Do put your phone number and Internet address on the bottom of the page; they're a signal to buy.
• Do make sure the cover reflects your positioning and builds your desired brand.
• Do make sure it's relevant to your customer base.
• Don't muck up the cover with less important messages.
• Don't plan a cover that anyone could do; the harder it is to do, the less chance you'll see it somewhere else.
And don't forget about the importance of the back cover: Holiday is the time to work hard and show the catalog recipient a variety of products and price ranges right off the bat.
This is crucial for prospects not familiar with your offer. If you place two or three products representative of different price points on the back cover, you'll invite more people in. — GSJ
(Directmag.com, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved)
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| USPS Proposes 5.6% Rate Hike; Mailer Group Opposes Exigent Case 2010-07-07
In an exigent rate case filed July 6 with the Postal Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Postal Service proposed a rate hike averaging 5.6%. Catalog or Standard Mail flats rates would go up 5.1%, first-class mail stamps would increase 2 cents to 46 cents, first-class mail postcard prices would rise 2 cents to 30 cents, periodicals would see an 8% increase and Standard Mail parcel rates would increase about 23%. If passed, the rates are slated for implementation Jan. 2, 2011.
But the considerable opposition to the exigent rate case could play a key role in the PRC’s 90-day decision-making process culminating with its Oct. 4 verdict. An upstart group called the Affordable Mail Alliance, which now represents 129 postal customers, is asking the PRC to reject the USPS proposal to increase postal rates by 10 times the rate permissible by law.
“Never has the entire postal customer base risen as one in opposition against a rate case,” said Jim Cregan, executive vice president of government affairs for the Magazine Publishers of America, during a conference call the Affordable Mail Alliance held right after the USPS announcement of the proposed price increases. “It’s an unfortunate and unnecessary diversion from the job we’re trying to do for the Postal Service,” Cregan said. “It is wrong based on law, economics, and on public policy.”
Under the provisions of the 2006 postal reform law, rate hikes should be tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), or rate of inflation. This is the first time the USPS is requesting price increases above the rate of inflation, which is allowed under postal reform law as long as the Postal Service can demonstrate “exceptional or extraordinary circumstance.”
The USPS no doubt feels the steady drop in mail volume since 2007 and its mounting financial losses count as extraordinary circumstance. Even with the proposed increase, the agency’s projected net loss would be $4.7 billion for fiscal 2011.
Without the proposed price increases, postal officials estimate a $7 billion net loss in fiscal 2011. The Postal Service says it would have needed to raise rates an average of 20% across all product lines to completely close that projected gap.
But for mailers, a 5% increase is far too much right now, and the mailing community is outraged. “Volume is dropping and the answer is to raise postage? It makes no sense,” says Jerry Cerasale, senior vice president of government affairs for the Direct Marketing Association and member of the Affordable Mail Alliance.
“The Postal Service’s plan to right its ship is to hit its customers first,” Cerasale says. “It should be looking to reduce excess capacity and control the inflation of postal costs.”
Tony Conway, the executive director for the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, says the USPS is equipped to handle 300 billion pieces of mail per year, and this year it will handle about 170 billion pieces. “The system is twice as big as it needs to be. The rate increase shouldn’t be the first shot. It should be the last shot.”
Don Landis, vice president of postal affairs for catalog printer Arandell Corp., says he believes an exigent rate case is illegal. The idea of any postage increase at this time is “self-defeating and will lead to further decline in volume,” he notes. “I believe the USPS has not done all it can within its power to further reduce cost.”
What’s more, Cerasale believes that the $50 billion the USPS was overcharged for payments to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) from 1972 to 2009 should be transferred to prefunding annual retiree health benefits.
The USPS has asked Congress to waive its annual $5.5 billion payment for retiree health benefits. If Congress waives that payment before its Sept. 30 adjournment, withdrawing the exigent rate case “might be something to consider,” says Stephen M. Kearney, senior vice president, customer relations for the USPS.
If the exigent rate case is passed, a 5% increase in postage will come out of circulation volume for most catalogers, says Hamilton Davison, executive director of the American Catalog Mailers Association, which is also part of the Affordable Mail Alliance. That will further push mail volume down “and reduce the use of USPS products across many of its categories,” he says.
It’s not just about the higher costs: ”We are also very concerned about the precedent this sets,” Davison says. “Can the USPS hit mailers anytime there is a budget gap? We feel that is not what Congress meant to accomplish when writing a rate cap mechanism into postal reform (PAEA) in 2006.”
(MultichannelMerchant.com, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved)
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| USPS to Propose Exigent Rate Increase 2010-07-06
Heads up! The USPS announced this morning that they will present an exigent postage increase to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) later today. Standard Mail will see an average increase of 5.6% with an effective date of January 2, 2011.
We will continue to update the blog as we receive more information. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Don Landis or Susan Pinter at 800-558-8724.
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| New Round of Paper Price Increases Announced and Lead Times Creeping Out 2010-05-07
We have been bombarded the past few days with price increase announcements from our North American mill partners.
Click here for a listing of which mills have announced, how much they are initially going to increase their prices and when they will take effect.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me or call me at 800-558-8724
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| Consumer Confidence at Highest Level Since April 2008 2010-04-27
Consumer confidence rose to 57.9 in April -- it's highest level since September 2008, The Conference Board announced Tuesday.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News economists had expected the index to rise to 53.5 in April. The index was at 52.3 in March and at 46.4 in February. It hit a record low of 25.3 in April 2009. (Base year 1985 = 100.)
Meanwhile, the Present Situation Index increased to 28.6 in April from 25.2 in March, and the Expectations Index improved to 77.4 from 70.4 last month.
Consumers Sense Improving Conditions
Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, said improving business and labor market conditions have lifted the mood of consumers.
"Consumer confidence, which had rebounded in March, gained further ground in April. The Index is now at its highest reading in about a year and a half (September 2008, 61.4). Consumers' concerns about current business and labor market conditions eased again," Franco said, in a statement. "And, their outlook regarding business conditions and the labor market was also more positive than last month. Looking ahead, continued job growth will be key in sustaining positive momentum."
Further, consumers' assessment of current conditions improved in April. Those claiming business conditions are "bad" decreased to 40.2% in April from 42.1% in March, while those claiming business conditions are "'good" increased to 9.1% from 8.5%.
Consumers' assessment of the job market also improved in April. Those saying jobs are "hard to get" decreased to 45.0% in April from 46.3% in March, while those claiming jobs are "plentiful" increased to 4.8% from 4.0%.
The board said consumers' short-term expectations also took a positive turn. Consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased to 19.8% in April from 18.0% in March, while those expecting conditions to worsen decreased to 12.6% from 13.6%.
A Gathering Trend
Investors should pay attention to the Consumer Confidence Index because, historically, consumer spending has accounted for about 65-70% of U.S. GDP. Increases in consumer confidence are directly correlated with increases in consumer spending. Hence, if confidence rises, and a trend forms, that most likely means good things are ahead for corporate revenue and earnings.
After tepid housing data from Case-Shiller that showed a seasonally-adjusted February price decline in most major U.S. cities, investors will take the better-than-expected consumer confidence data. Americans remain concerned about the U.S.'s high unemployment rate, but they are beginning to see signs of an uptrend in job creation, to go along with the improvement in business conditions, as evidenced by the commercial activity around them, solid earnings reports, and by U.S. stock market gains.
Provided consumer confidence continues to rise in the quarters ahead, that would be another shot in the arm for the U.S. economy, as a rise in confidence bodes well for retail sales. Even so, the American people will need to see tangible signs of sustained job growth, with rising, real incomes, to keep consumer confidence heading higher.
See full article from DailyFinance.
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| CATALOG VISIBILITY AT ALL-TIME HIGH, SAYS USPS 2010-04-26
Catalog mail is most definitely on the radar of the U.S. Postal Service, according to Tom Foti, the agency’s manager, marketing mail.
During his session at the National Catalog Forum in Nashville last week, Foti told attendees that the USPS – as a top priority -- wants to identify catalogs and manage them as a single product. Other priorities include the 2011 price change strategy (in lieu of next year’s scheduled exigent postal rate case) and operational cost saving initiatives.
“Catalog visibility is at an all-time high,” Foti said, referring to the USPS catalog industry team.
What’s more, he said, the USPS needs to work with catalogers to finalize a definition of a catalog and combine standard flats and carrier route products. “It creates a more acceptable representation of the product and use of product,” he noted. “We want to maintain existing price structures and existing makeup requirements.”
Regarding price, Foti said the USPS is trying to mitigate any “significant” increase. Volume commitments could lead to discounts for catalogers, he added.
Another initiative Foti discussed was reaching out to 35,000 e-tailers with annual sales of at least $3 million, espousing the benefits of catalogers. “This we believe will be good for the industry,” he said. “It’s a significant opportunity.”
Foti said the implementation of the flats sequencing system (FSS) can also help reduce costs for catalogers in the future, but how much savings remains to be seen. “We need to nail this down and figure out how to price these products and come up with a product cost coverage strategy,” he said.
(MultichannelMerchant.com, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved)
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| 2010 USPS Summer Sale & 5-Day Delivery Website Address 2010-04-05
The USPS recently made the following announcements regarding the 2010 Summer Sale and a newly-launched website regarding 5-Day Delivery.
2010 USPS Summer Sale
The USPS has announced the 2010 Standard Mail Summer Sale Program. To be eligible to participate in the 2010 event, a company must have mailed 350,000 or more Standard Mail letters and flats between July 1 and September 30, 2009 through Permit Accounts owned by the customer or through ghost permits. The sale offers eligible companies a 30% postage rebate for a predetermined volume threshold mailed between July 1 and September 30, 2010.
Additional information about the Summer Sale Program is available at www.usps.com/summersale.
5-Day Delivery Website Address
The USPS has launched a website on usps.com to provide information to all customers about its proposal to implement a five-day street delivery schedule. The Postal Service proposes to end regular Saturday mail delivery to street addresses as part of a comprehensive plan to ensure that it can continue to deliver affordable service to the American people. Post Offices will remain open on Saturdays.
The website has a planning guide for businesses and household customers, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.
The site is live and can be visited at http://www.usps.com/communications/five-daydelivery.
www.arandell.com, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved
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| Paper Price Increases Announced 2010-03-18
Over the past three business days, we have seen the North American paper mills announce price increases. Click here to view a list of mills, the affected grades, and when the increase takes effect. |
| Mail Service Update 2/26/2010 2010-03-01
New Jersey
In Northern New Jersey, Bergen and Sussex Counties, 3-digit ZIP Code areas 070-079, are experiencing intermittent county-wide disruptions to both delivery and retail operations due to snow.
Pennsylvania
Because of winter storm warnings and severe weather conditions, Central Pennsylvania postal officials announced a suspension in delivery and collection operations in the following 3-digit Zip Code areas: 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187 and 188. The counties affected by this suspension are: Susquehanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Lackawanna, Sullivan, Pike, Wayne, Carbon, Schuylkill, Columbia, Bradford and Wyoming. Retail operations remain open.
West Virginia
The Postal Service has suspended mail delivery due to snow and ice covered roads in the following areas: ZIP Code area 262, Randolph, Tucker, Upshur, Webster; 3-digit ZIP Code areas 249, Greenbrier and Pocahontas; 3-digit ZIP Code areas 267, Mount Storm, Elk Garden, Aurora, Eglon and Terra Alta.
Information courtesy of http://www.usps.com/communications/news/serviceupdates.htm.
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| Due to Winter Storm, USPS Delays/Changes 2010-02-10
February, 2010 - Due to the storm the Postal Service is suspending delivery and collections throughout the region. The decision effects delivery and collections for all of Maryland, Washington DC, Northern Virginia down to Richmond and west to Charlottesville.
For more information, visit www.usps.com/communications/news/amcclosures.htm. |
| Revised Droop/Deflection Rule 2010-01-15
Earlier this year, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced the implementation of revised deflection requirements, which went into effect on January 4th, 2010. As a follow up to this implementation, the industry met with the USPS early this week to further discuss the challenges ahead with the droop/deflection requirement. The revised rule states: if a piece does not comply with the deflection 3 inch rule, the piece drops to the Non-Automated Rates. According to the USPS, the floppy pieces need to be taken off the machines and manually processed because the flimsy flats do not feed well on the automated equipment. In turn, this is incurring additional manufacturing and processing costs to the postal service. This will be a big impact for ALL mailers!!! A perfect example is a Standard Mail Flat Catalog weighing less than 3 ounces - The postage will go from .262 cents per piece to .367 cents per piece. This is a 28% increase!!! WOW, the catalogers are not happy with this rule, especially in today’s world of cutting costs and reducing page counts.
The industry continues to work with the USPS as partners to come up with solutions that benefit the mail owner along with their vendors: the Mailer and the USPS! More to come…….
(www.arandellblog.com, Image courtesy of www.photoheritage.org, All Right Reserved, Copyright 2010)
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| Retailers Tap Into Software To Know Their Customers 2010-01-07
Most people think of the grand challenges in computing as big science projects. But with the holiday shopping season just ended, retail marketing is emerging as a real-world incubator for testing how computer firepower and smart software can be applied to human behavior.
Major retailers have long sifted through in-store sales and demographic information to aim goods at different stores and to tightly manage supplies. What is changing, experts say, is the rapid surge in the amount and types of digital data that retailers can now tap, and the improved computing tools to try to make sense of it.
The data explosion spans internal sources including point-of-sale and shipment-tracking information, as well as census data and syndicated services. Companies also track online visitors to Web commerce sites, members of social networks like Facebook and browsers using smartphones.
The better tools, they say, are ever less expensive and faster computers and so-called business intelligence or analytic software for finding useful information and patterns in that data.
Retailers are increasingly mining huge troves of digital information to improve the decisions they make about pricing, shelf-stocking and offerings.
"This huge and growing ecosystem of data is an asset that some retailers are really beginning to exploit for competitive advantage," said Thomas H. Davenport, a professor of information technology and management at Babson College near Boston. "It brings more science into the business. Relying on gut feel is yesterday's strategy in retailing."
Mountains of data and whiz-bang technology are no cure for tight-fisted shoppers, of course. And this was a challenging holiday season for most U.S. retailers. Even computing enthusiasts acknowledge that the technology is far better at fine-tuning decisions on pricing, product assortments and shipments than the basic merchandising judgments about what goods to make and buy from suppliers.
"In the world of retail merchandising, there will always be a mix of art and science," said Lori J. Schafer, a retailing expert at SAS Institute, which specializes in analytic software. "But the more you can get into customers' heads, the better off you are."
That is certainly the strategy at The Wet Seal, a U.S. specialty retailer of clothing, mainly for teenage girls. Wet Seal is a so-called fast-fashion retailer, meaning that trends in its market change quickly and that the company has little time -- as few as three weeks -- to put its clothes, shoes and accessories into stores after its buyers make their decisions. Staying in tune with the shifting tastes among young women is crucial, said Edmond S. Thomas, the chief executive.
Its stores account for more than 80 percent of Wet Seal's sales, but the company's presence on the Web is growing, using its site as a source of market insights as well as revenue. Last year, it introduced a Web feature called Outfitter, which allows users to put together their own outfits online.
The virtual outfits are posted, and users can browse through them, comment and exchange recommendations. So far, more than 300,000 user-generated outfits have been designed, generating millions of page views.
"We can get a read on where our customer is headed faster than ever before," Mr. Thomas said. The user designs, he said, helped the company see early signs of a recent trend toward more informal outfits -- dressy tops, but casual bottoms, usually jeans.
In October, the company created an iPhone application called iRunway. With it, a customer in a store can tap in an item's ticket number -- bar code recognition comes later this year -- and see how it has been used in outfits that other customers have created online.
The user-generated product selections and recommendations, combined with mobile phone access, build a community of customers that should increase sales, Mr. Thomas predicts. "We're at the very initial stages, but that will be the wave of the future in fashion retailing," he said.
Nihad Aytaman, a senior technology manager at Elie Tahari, a private $500 million-a-year maker of designer clothes for women and men, said the information housed in the company's data warehouse had grown fivefold in the past three years and was constantly mined for sales trends and to orchestrate supplies and shipping.
"It takes all this data and makes it visible and meaningful, so you can make sense of it and act on it," said Mr. Aytaman, an engineer with an M.B.A. "But you're not creating something that wasn't there. Designers and merchandisers have to go with their gut if they are making something new. No computer can mimic human intuition," he said.
(CRM-Daily.com, Copyright 2010, All Right Reserved)
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| Pitney Bowes: Many mailers not taking advantage of Postal Service mandate changes 2010-01-07
One-third of the respondents to a Pitney Bowes Business Insight survey said they use manual updating procedures when mail is returned to them from the National Change of Address or Address Change Service methods due to incorrect recipient addresses.
The Pitney Bowes unit released the findings on January 4, the same date that companies whose mailings are not compliant with the US Postal Service's Move Update Standard will first be billed an additional 7 cents per assessed piece. The study queried more than 50 executives and IT managers who conduct high-volume mailings in the insurance, finance, communications and utility industries.
According to the survey, 39% of respondents said they have an automated process in place to deal with returned mail from NCOA and ACS methods. The survey also found that 64% of respondents use NCOA to identify address changes to reduce the number of undeliverable mail pieces. Fifty-four percent use ACS to make sure that new address information is returned to the mailer.
“The survey indicates that not everyone out there is 100% compliant, and that the overall marketplace hasn't fully updated as a move update strategy,” said Matt McPartlin, global portfolio director for Pitney Bowes Business Insight's Communications Intelligence division. “There has been a lot of adoption, but not 100%, and I think the US Postal Service is aware of that as well.”
Forty-six percent of respondents said they consider handling return mail a manually intensive process, while 22% said having multiple databases requiring updates is a key constraint.
The goal of the Move Update Standard is to reduce the volume of undeliverable-as-addressed mail, which the federal agency says costs about $1.6 billion to process. The standard's latest mandates, which became effective in November 2008, require businesses to update their bulk mailing lists for both First Class Mail and Standard Mail within 95 days of the mailing date.
(Article courtesy of dmnews.com.. Photo courtesy of krmb.wordpress.com.. Copyright 2010. All Rights Reserved.)
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| Test Your Catalog's Effectiveness 2010-01-05
10 Questions to determine your book's viability
Mailing a catalog is a considerable investment, so every single book, every page, every photograph must work hard to maintain the catalog's goal: tapping customers on the shoulder and driving a sale no matter the channel.
Has your team lost sight on how important this format is? Are you taking advantage of every square inch of the printed catalog?
All catalogs should be using 10 primary response drivers. To see how your book stacks up, consider these 10 questions.
1. Have you built an engaging brand experience?
Your brand is more than just a logo and tagline. It represents the perception consumers have of your company, who you are, what you stand for.
And a catalog is one vehicle that helps you manage and promote your brand. It's the tangible representation of your brand brought to life on the printed page.
Your catalog must reflect your brand. What is your brand promise? What do you deliver that none of your competitors can claim? Your catalog cannot simply present products on a page.
EXTRA CREDIT: Are you critiquing your catalog from the customer's point of view? Create an experience that connects with them on an emotional level. Everything you do must deliver on the brand promise one way or another — through photography, offers and, especially, copy.
2.Are you using your front and back covers to maximum advantage?
The front and back covers are the two most important pages of the entire catalog. The covers dictate whether or not you will earn the customer's consideration at all.
When planning your catalog, spend more time on your front and back covers than any other spread. Your covers literally have seconds to get the recipient's attention — make them count! Successful catalog covers — both front and back — accomplish five key goals:
•Grab attention with a compelling visual
•Quickly tell who you are with a consistently presented logo and tagline
•State any key offers or messages
•Get readers to open the book with inside page references
•Sell! Sell! Sell!
To read more, click here.
(MultichannelMerchant.com, All Right Reserved, Copyright 2009) |
| Electronic vs. Printed Communication: The Sustainability Battle (Part II) 2010-01-05
My first post about this subject brought up some lively debate. One of the critiques of my last post was that in comparing print and paper to computers and electronics, people do not purchase computers to receive advertisements. Very true. But I think it misses a huge point, and that is that people DO buy computers to communicate and to disseminate and store information, and some of that information is in the form of advertisements. The discussion of how green print is versus electronics is not just related to advertising, it applies to ALL forms.
As I was working on a follow-up, I received perhaps the best educational piece I have yet seen on the subject. NewPage, one of our mill partners, periodically puts out a new piece in their educational series they call “Ed.” Their 13th edition is titled “Balance” and it is all about communication and sustainability. The pages about the lifecycle of both the computer and paper are what really caught my attention. The lifecycles of both start at the cradle (with the obtaining of the raw materials), and ends at the “grave” (end of life of the product). Some key distinguishing factors:
Manufacturing:
•After the raw materials are gathered for a computer (materials which include zinc, iron, and nickel), it takes as much chemicals, water and fossil fuels to make one desktop computer as it does to manufacture a mid-size car. (The amount of fossil fuels used to make that same computer is roughly 10 times the weight of the computer itself.)
•In contrast, paper’s main component (wood from trees) is a readily-renewable resource. More than half of the papermaking sector’s energy needs are met with renewable biomass fuels. And, 99% of the chemicals used in the pulping process are recovered and burned in the mills’ boilers to create steam energy.
Transportation to consumer:
•Most computers used in the United States today come from manufacturers overseas. In order to get them here, computers are shipped via transport ship or air freight, the two modes of transportation leaving the greatest carbon footprint. And then it is put on trains or trucks to get to its final destination, adding further to the footprint.
•If your paper is manufactured domestically (here in the U.S.), rail or truck are the shipment options and the carbon footprint in minimized, with rail being one of the (if not THE) most efficient forms of transportation.
Grave (or “back to cradle”)
•18% of the three million tons of electronic waste in the U.S. is recycled each year, and of that waste, only about 14% of the components can be recycled into usable materials. The other components (like lead and mercury) must be specially handled.
•57% of the paper produced is recycled, and recycled paper can be collected and returned to be remanufactured up to five times.
Some other interesting factoids in this piece:
•70% of toxic waste in the U.S. landfills comes from e-waste.
•Burning a CD produces four times as much CO2 as printing a single annual report.
•Four million trees are planted EVERY DAY in the U.S.
•62 trillion spam emails are sent every year, contributing greenhouse gases equivalent to two billion gallons of gasoline.
The piece is excellent and a real eye opener. I would highly recommend reading it. If you would like a copy, I would be more than happy to send you one. (Or, you may order your own copy at www.edliveshere.com)
(Arandellblog.com, All Right Reserved, Copyright 2010)
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| New USPS Shipping Rates Take Effect Today 2010-01-04
Prices for Priority Mail will change on Jan. 4, 2010. Customers also can look forward to several Priority Mail innovations. In a first for the shipping industry, the Postal Service is introducing cubic volume-based pricing for large volume commercial Priority Mail shippers. Customers who ship small dense, space-efficient packages will receive a financial incentive through a new, tiered pricing option.
This encourages greener, more efficient shipping and is one more way the Postal Service is eco friendly. Other benefits for Priority Mail customers effective in January include a decrease in the domestic Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope retail price from $4.95 to $4.90. The popular Priority Mail Small Flat Rate Box will continue to be one of the best consumer values in the domestic shipping market at under $5. Its 2010 price will remain at $4.95.
To read more, click here. |
| Postal Service Starts New Fiscal Year with More Red Ink 2009-12-14
Fall has historically been among the busiest of time at the post office but the mail sacks are not quite as full this year. Preliminary financial and operating information for October paints a somewhat grim portrait and seems to support the Service’s earlier projection that mail volume could drop by another 11 billion pieces in FY2010. Total volume in October was 17.3% below the figure for the same period last year; and, the two categories that account for 90% plus mail volume, First Class and Standard, were down 11.5% and 22.2%, respectively. The net operating loss for the month was $221 million down almost one half billion dollars from last years positive $309M. To access The USPS Preliminary Financial Information, click here.
(prc.gov, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Mail and Marketing Groups Launch Online Forum on Postal Service's Future 2009-12-14
A coalition of postal, mailing and marketing groups launched a Web forum on December 1 to bolster discussion about the state of the US Postal Service and how the federal agency can maintain its relevance in the future.
The goals of PostalJournal.com are to explore the evolution of the USPS as part of the nation's economic and communications infrastructure and to create an exchange of ideas about the industry, without consideration to professional affiliations. The Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom), the Mailing and Fulfillment Service Association and the Envelope Manufacturers Association launched the site with the support of the Direct Marketing Association and Direct Communications Group.
The portal contains reports and papers by external authors and conference presentations from a number of industry experts.
“It's an initiative I've discussed with several of my colleagues, that there needed to be a place where people could present ideas and have them discussed, criticized and built upon without having to worry about speaking on behalf of anyone they specifically represented,” said Gene Del Polito, president of PostCom. “There are a lot of creative people out there who spend a lot of time thinking about the postal service, and their thoughts might be spoken more freely and openly if given a place like the Postal Journal, where they can present ideas to their colleagues without having to say, ‘This is the association I work for.'”
Del Polito added that the forum, open to anyone, will not act in support of any positions.
“There is not going to be any lobbying,” he said.
Ken Garner, president and CEO of the Mailing and Fulfillment Service Association, said that the USPS' financial state – the agency reported a $3.8 billion net loss for the 2009 fiscal year – was an impetus for the site's creation.
“You have an agency that, if it were not for some relief attached to HR 22, would have lost $7 billion last fiscal year,” he said. “Whether we like it or not, the agency is necessary for the survival of MFSA and its members, and so any time you have financial hemorrhaging like this going on, you have to be concerned.”
Congress allowed the USPS to delay $4 billion in retiree payments earlier this year.
Alan Robinson, president of Direct Communications Group and an author of one of the papers featured on the site, said that the portal's goal is to make the USPS “a viable entity for the next decade, and not just the next year.”
Jerry Cerasale, SVP of government affairs at the DMA, said that the USPS “is a valuable communications and advertising channel for our members, and we need the USPS to continue to be valuable.”
To read the full story and related links, click here.
(DMNews.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| A Flurry of Postal Updates: Droop Test, Move Update, Winter Sale, Dry Release Cards 2009-12-02
The postal world is always busy, but this week we have received quite a few updates and wanted to makes sure you were aware of some specific issues. Please click here for the most up-to-date information. |
| 9 Reasons to Mail More in 2010 2009-11-20
Do any of these sound familiar?
“My sales are down.”
“The economy is weak.”
“My budgets are frozen.”
“We are barely surviving as is.”
“I don’t have enough staff or time to even think about prospecting.”
“I have plenty of non-active buyers on my file who I can turn to.”
And the best one…..”business is not good right now.”
If you answered, “yes” to any of these, you are a great candidate to ramp up your prospecting in 2010, or for most of you, to actually begin prospecting again after a year or two of not doing it. Why? Because the cost and timing to acquire a new customer could not be better.
First let’s look at the cost side of the equation.
1. The USPS has frozen rates for 2010 and is considering offering incentives to mail more. Even without the incentives, rates are locked for 2010 and for budgeting purposes you have a stable fixed cost.
2. List brokers are willing to deal like never before. Co-ops are also loosening their rules and barriers to entry. Discounts and incentives that were once for only the large mailers (are there any of those left?) are now being offered to virtually all mailers.
3. Arandell Corporation is also in a great position to provide you with the most innovative solutions to reduce your costs and deliver your message as efficiently as possible. Technology in the industry has never been better.
4. Your other suppliers have also been driven to invest in the tools, technologies and personnel to keep you going (as well as themselves) and will do whatever they can to earn your business (and to stay alive themselves).
The other side of the equation is timing and as they say…”timing is everything.”
1. Despite the fact that the economy is shaky, there are people out there still wanting and needing goods and services. If you have been to a mall lately, they are still very crowded. Yes, some stores are doing better than others, but isn’t that always the case and isn’t that what marketing is all about?….finding and talking to people who fit your target? There will always be winners and losers.
2. Because there are fewer competitors of all kinds out there, there are fewer catalogs and direct mail pieces being delivered. If you have a good product, demonstrate value, provide a great experience and deliver memorable customer service, you will be noticed and successful. Again, as bad as it may be out there, people are buying, people are going to stores and people are looking to feel good. What an opportunity.
3. You also have the opportunity to capture customers, maybe for a long time. Keep the messages and your brand going. Once you stop, your “loyal” customers will likely forget about you and stop as well. The people that never heard from you have fewer messages to decipher and that is a good thing for you, so again, now is the time.
4. The amount of available data used to find the “best” prospects is also at an all-time high. Today, you can slice and dice using an infinite amount of data if you feel so inclined.
5. The methods to reach new customers are greater than ever. Every channel has potential for you in today’s environment. Do not assume that your potential customer is not using all of them in their daily lives today.
So, while it won’t be easy, the path to growing your business is a little smoother than it once was and may ever be. You don’t have to jump in with both feet but now is the time to test the water….. at least with your toes.
To read related articles, visit www.arandellblog.com.
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| USPS Suffers $3.8B Loss in 2009 FY 2009-11-18
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) today filed its 2009 fiscal year-end financial results, showing a net loss of $3.8 billion for the year — despite cost-cutting efforts resulting in $6 billion in cost savings and a $4 billion reduction in required payments for retiree health benefits. Cost savings reflect a reduction of 40,000 career USPS employees as well as reductions in overtime hours, transportation and other costs. The $4 billion reduction in required retiree health benefit payments was passed into law for fiscal 2009 to allow USPS to maintain fiscal solvency while continuing to provide universal, affordable service to the nation.
To read more, click here.
(AllAboutROImag.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| Because that's the way it has always been done... 2009-11-18
Have you heard that line before? If so, I hope you don’t accept it as your “final answer.” Just because something has always been done a certain way, that’s no reason to keep doing it the same way, unless of course the method has no room for improvement. And, I certainly hope you have not been applying the “because it has always been done that way” mentality to your catalog design. You can still maintain brand image while also changing up variables such as layouts, messages, formats, sizes, page counts, in-home dates, etc. In fact, you should be changing things up to measure how response rates fluctuate from one catalog design to the next.
Maybe you’re a cataloger who has always mailed letter-size booklets or “Slim Jims.” How has your response rate changed since the USPS implemented its new tabbing regulations earlier this year? If it has gone down, maybe it’s time to try something new, like a traditional upright format. Have you typically produced a catalog with an oblong format? With the USPS bringing out new Droop Test regulations, now is the perfect time to implement a new format for your catalog because the oblong is not going to survive with the new droop/deflection standards. Could you transition to an upright or square format? Try it! Have you always treated all customers, regardless of purchase history, the same? If so, maybe it’s time to use a more dynamic approach to how you target customers. Do you use database marketing to help you with those efforts? If not, it’s time.
all about ROI recently released its “50 Best Tips of 2009“; I highly recommend reading it, as it gives some great ideas for changing up your current multichannel marketing plan (or offering you reassurance for the one you already have). Regardless of what strategies you decide to implement going forward, don’t apply the same ones as this year just because “that’s the way it has always been done.” That’s a sure fire way to bring your success to a standstill. Change is good. Embrace it!
To read more from the Arandell Corporation blog, click here.
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| Potter insists on five-day delivery as part of Postal Service reform 2009-11-16
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.
Reform legislation also must address the “impossible demands” of the current prefunding schedule for retiree health benefits and it must give the USPS freedom to use its extensive retail network to pursue new sources of revenue, Potter said. He thanked the Obama administration and Congress for passing legislation that reduced the Postal Service's payment to its Retiree Health Benefits Fund by $4 billion in fiscal year 2009.
However, Potter added that the USPS needs structural reform, which requires additional legislative changes.
“We must recognize the reality that the Postal Service faces this same problem in 2010 and in years to come,” he said. “We will continue to struggle to match our revenues to the costs of our expanding delivery network.”
The temporary funding relief of $4 billion helped the Postal Service avoid its worst net loss in history for fiscal year 2009. It would have lost $7 billion had it been required to make full payment of $5.4 billion into the fund on September 30, the last day of its fiscal year. Even with this funding relief, the USPS is expected to report on November 16 that it lost about $3.1 billion, its second highest loss since it was reorganized in 1970. The agency will submit a 10K report to the Postal Regulatory Commission and the Office of Management and Budget on next week, which will detail the year-end financial results for FY 2009.
Joseph Corbett, CFO of the Postal Service, said the agency had a volume decline of 26 billion pieces in 2009, the largest single-year volume loss in its history. He added that the agency implemented unprecedented cost cutting, which resulted in an additional savings of $6 billion. Most of the cost cutting came from an aggressive reduction in work hours, or the amount of hours needed to sort, process, transport and deliver the mail. The Postal Service reduced work hours by 115 million, the equivalent of reducing the number of full-time employees by 65,000, Corbett said.
The USPS has targeted further work-hour reductions for next year of about 80 million to 90 million. It anticipates a moderating of its volume and revenue declines, but it still expects losses in both categories, Corbett said.
He added that the Postal Service tends to lag the general economy on recovery, so it does not anticipate growth until the third or fourth quarter of next year. Details about its goals and targets for the 2010 fiscal year will be revealed next week when it also releases its 2010 Integrated Financial Plan, Corbett said.
To read the comments about this article, click here.
(DMNews.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| 50 Best Tips of 2009 2009-11-13
We’re excited to continue our November tradition of offering you our treasure trove of the 50 best tips of the year. Our editorial staff reviewed every word published in our print publication over the past year, as well as in our e-newsletter and website. That includes All About ROI magazine, The ROI Report e-newsletter, and the best from our former incarnation, Catalog Success, and its related e-properties. From those, we’ve extracted the most “out-of-the-box” (sorry, I hate that clich, but it’s kind of appropriate here) and easy-to-implement ideas, tactics and pointers.
In our usual cut-to-the-chase style, all the tips are here for you to act on them as is. Or, you can refer to the articles and issue dates we reference if you’d like to review the complete stories. And all of them can be accessed on our website,AllAboutROImag.com.
So feast on these money-making and cost-saving pointers, and know that although we put these big, sexy numbers before each one, they’re only randomly ranked; all of them are worth a look. —Paul Miller, editor-in-chief
CHANNEL INTEGRATION
1. Assess your profitability by channel.
“When you dig down into the core of the numbers by channel, it’s an eye-opening experience. There are a lot of people over the next few years who’ll have radical changes in their marketing mix.”
Jason Marshall, Gaiam
“Finding the Perfect Balance,” June, All About ROI
2. Integrate online and offline data thoroughly.
Having to create another inventory database can be a major headache when deploying a web store. Ideally, a web store should integrate with an existing brick-and-mortar store or catalog database to save time and money on setup and maintenance. One database makes purchasing, inventory control, product updating and fulfillment much easier.
Brad Malmberg, Xsilva Systems
“4 Ways to Make the Most of Your Web Store,” July 21, The ROI Report
3. Segment “pure” web buyers.
When doing a matchback, you have buyers who gave a source code to either your call center or shopping cart, online buyers who didn’t give you a source code but received catalogs, and buyers who ordered but didn’t receive catalogs. Flag those who didn’t receive catalogs as “pure” web buyers and segment them separately because they respond very differently to catalog mailings.
(AllAboutROImag.com, All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2009)
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| Postal Service announces mix of price cuts, increases for 2010 2009-11-10
Less than a month after the US Postal Service announced it will not raise rates for 2010 on its “market dominant products,” a category that includes services used largely by direct mailers and publishers, the agency revealed a mix of increases and rate cuts on other services for next year.
The agency disclosed that the price of a domestic priority mail flat-rate envelope will drop from $4.95 to $4.90, while the cost of a priority mail small flat-rate box will remain at $4.95 for next year.
However, the agency also disclosed that priority mail customers will see an average price increase of 3.3% next year, while express mail users will see prices jump by 4.5% and international shipping services prices will go up by an average of 3.3%. The price changes are effective January 4, 2010. The price of a first-class mail stamp will remain at 44 cents next year.
“The object is always to ensure that each particular product category handles its own individual institutional costs, and I think these prices reflect that,” said Dave Lewin, PR representative for the USPS.
In a frequently asked questions section on the USPS' Web site, the federal agency explained that prices are increasing due to “the cost of doing business – for things like transportation, utilities and healthcare benefits.”
The Postal Service told customers last month that it will not raise rates for next year on its first-class and standard mail, periodicals and single-piece parcel post services, although it has said its fiscal-year 2009 mail volume is as much as 20 billion pieces lighter than the year before. Direct mailers told DMNews at the time that the decision not to raise those rates will have a positive impact on mailers. The announcements also come at a time when the USPS is deciding what local postal office branches to close.
(DMNews.com, All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2009)
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| Paper Market Predictions for 2010 2009-11-09
Gazing into the crystal ball, here are some things that I see coming in the New Year:
Supply:
Throughout 2009, seldom has a week gone by where we have not read about a sawmill closing, a paper machine being idled or a mill closing their doors. Supply is what paper mills can control the most, and to try to keep pricing in line with demand, they have taken a large chunk of capacity out of the system. The mills have also looked at their platforms and tweaked schedules to fit demand. In some cases, grades and basis weights that were run two to three times per month are now only run once, and some are only run once every six weeks. This has resulted in us seeing lead times and LDC dates push out to four to six weeks on some grades, where they had been only two to three weeks earlier in the year.
Inventories have been worked down to lower-than-normal levels, and I believe that paper mills are going to engage in rush inventory building or order pre-making due to their desire to have cash readily available and not tied up in inventory.
So, with reduced schedules and inventories and fewer machines making paper these days, I would watch for some LDC extensions for the next couple of months. I expect more mill downtime in the first and second quarters as demand decreases over the first half of 2010. If the second half of 2010 is busier than 2009, which I certainly hope it is, I expect longer lead times and potentially some tight markets, especially for SC grades. A key thing to remember is that it is not going to be as easy to get paper during the second and third quarters of 2010 as it was in 2009. Plan ahead.
Demand:
Demand estimates for coated paper in 2010 range from a 2% to 8% INCREASE over 2009 from what I can see. In speaking with the paper mills, a general consensus is that 2009 was horrible, but 2010 should see a small improvement; somewhere in the 3% to 6% range and this is what they are budgeting for. I believe they are hoping that the holiday season goes well and that companies will start to print again. I believe (and hope) they are right in their predictions.
Price:
The increase announcements that were to have taken effect in October never really materialized. I believe that was more of an effort by the coated and uncoated producers to try to stop the pricing reductions of the second and third quarters more than trying to get more for their grades.
But, rest assured that there will be more increases coming in 2010. Several factors will lead to this, but the big factor is the elimination of the black liquor tax credit at the end of 2009. During the third quarter, U.S. paper mills that had pulping capacity took in almost $1 billion in tax credits from this program. In many cases, this helped the mills to go from red to black on the balance sheets. Well, that is going away. Input costs for the mills have been rising and this credit has been helping them weather the storm. Watch for an announcement sometime in January. That probably will not hold for long (if at all), but there will be at least $3.00/cwt worth of paper increases in 2010. Plan on it for the second half of the year.
For contact information and related articles, visit www.arandellblog.com.
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| Arandell Corporation Teams Up with BCC Software 2009-11-06
Mail Manager Full Service, BCC's premium solution, meets Arandell's high-volume postal needs
Rochester, NY — BCC Software, a BWE BELL + HOWELL company and a leading developer of high-performance mailing technology solutions, announces that Arandell Corporation, one of North America's largest privately held web offset printing companies, has joined the BCC family thanks to the comprehensive capabilities of Mail Manager Full Service™, BCC's top-tier postal software product.
"We are delighted that Arandell Corporation has chosen to work with BCC Software as their postal solutions provider," says BCC Executive Vice President Chris Lien. "We are constantly working to add new features and enhanced functionality to the Mail Manager family and all BCC products and services, to offer the best possible tools to drive the success of current and future clients."
Mail Manager Full Service provides integrated support for the Full Service Intelligent Mail barcode and delivers a comprehensive suite of USPS CASS™ and PAVE™ certified presorting and list-management functionality including enhanced merge/purge and deluxe 24/7 automation capabilities, and a proprietary address-matching API that delivers dramatically higher processing speeds than the industry-standard USPS matching engine.
Founded in 1922 and based in Menomonee Falls, WI, Arandell Corporation provides high-quality printing, mailing, distribution, list management, data-based marketing strategies, education, logistics and consulting services to America’s premier custom publishers, catalogers and retailers. Arandell is on the cutting edge of ecologically preferred methods for conserving resources and protecting the environment with their production practices.
"Arandell Corporation is excited about our partnership with BCC Software. With challenges like rapidly-evolving market conditions and the ever-changing postal world, it is essential we partner with companies that allow us to stay ahead of the industry. We know that BCC's products and services will meet those challenges, while also enabling us to maintain customer loyalty," says Jim Willms, Arandell's Vice President of Production Planning.
(bccsoftware.com, All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2009)
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| U.S. Postal Service Announces 2010 Shipping Prices; Price of First-Class Postage will not Change 2009-11-05
The simpler way to ship — with convenient Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes from the U.S. Postal Service — will be just as simple in the New Year, when new prices take effect.
Prices for Priority Mail, a product familiar across America through popular television and online advertisements featuring Al the Letter Carrier, will change on Jan. 4, 2010. Customers also can look forward to several Priority Mail innovations.
In a first for the shipping industry, the Postal Service is introducing cubic volume-based pricing for large volume commercial Priority Mail shippers. Customers who ship small dense, space-efficient packages will receive a financial incentive through a new, tiered pricing option. This encourages greener, more efficient shipping and is one more way the Postal Service is eco friendly.
Other benefits for Priority Mail customers effective in January include a decrease in the domestic Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope retail price from $4.95 to $4.90. The popular Priority Mail Small Flat Rate Box will continue to be one of the best consumer values in the domestic shipping market at under $5. Its 2010 price will remain at $4.95.
Cubic volume-based pricing will not be the only first in January for customers who qualify to ship at Commercial Plus prices. A Priority Mail half-pound price, based on distance, will be added only in the Commercial Plus pricing category. And, a new Priority Mail Flat Rate padded envelope measuring 9.5 x 12.5 inches will be available exclusively for Commercial Plus shippers. This envelope is specially designed for jewelry, electronics and other delicate goods.
“We have put together a range of creative and innovative products and services for our customers,” said Robert Bernstock, president, Mailing and Shipping Services. “With these new offerings, the Postal Service is reinforcing the value of Priority Mail as the right product at the right time,” he said.
In addition to an overall price increase of 3.3 percent, on average, for Priority Mail, there will be new prices for Express Mail, Global Express Guaranteed, Express Mail International, Priority Mail International, Parcel Select and Parcel Return Service, also effective Jan. 4.
Prices for First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Parcel Post and other mailing services products will not change in 2010, with the cost of a First-Class Mail stamp remaining at 44 cents.
“The Postal Service is the best buy in the market, whether you’re watching your budget or gearing up as the economy starts to rebound,” Bernstock said, noting that other shippers have announced price increases of nearly 6 percent for 2010, excluding fuel surcharges. Most shippers add extra fees for fuel, rural delivery, Saturday delivery and other items to a customer’s final bill. The Postal Service has no comparable surcharges.
Customers who pay for their shipping services online will continue to save compared to retail prices. Online costs will be, on average, 5 percent less than retail for Express Mail and 5.7 percent less for Priority Mail. Online savings for international shipping will be 10 percent less than retail for Global Express Guaranteed, 8 percent less for Express Mail International and 5 percent less for Priority Mail International.
A complete listing of 2010 prices is available at http://pe.usps.com under the “Jan. 2010 Price Change” link. The new prices and product innovations are pending Postal Regulatory Commission review.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
(USPS.com, All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2009)
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| Really - There will be no postal increase for 2010! 2009-11-03
Since John Potter’s (USPS Postmaster General) recent announcement that there will be no postal increase for 2010, I have been receiving a large volume of calls and e-mails from clients and prospects expressing their extreme delight over the issue. Mr. Potter made the announcement in mid-October that there would be no increase in 2010 for Market-Dominant Products, including Standard Mail, First-Class Mail, periodicals and single-piece Parcel Post. I was somewhat surprised at this decision based on the difficult financial situation facing the USPS, but hopefully, this move will be an encouragement for marketers to get back in the mail or to increase their current circulation. I have seen signs this may be happening as catalogers plan for their 2010 mailings. No postal increase makes that task a lot easier and less stressful.
Throughout the past couple of weeks, there has been some speculation as to whether rates could rise outside of a CPI increase or exigent rate increase. Please rest assured that the USPS has confirmed that there will be absolutely NO rate increase for Market-Dominant Products (again, Standard Mail, First-Class Mail, periodicals and single-piece Parcel Post) in 2010. So, lock in those marketing budgets now…no need to wait for additional postal rate updates from the USPS. Keep your postal budget as is and take advantage of this opportunity to increase your mailings to reach more prospects or to re-active prior customers.
For additional postal news and contact information, visit www.arandellblog.com.
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| The Continuing Relevance of Direct Mail 2009-10-22
It's an understatement to say the ability to reach consumers with a targeted message through mass media has become fragmented. Audience share on the big three networks has diminished considerably, cable options are endless, magazine and newspaper circ is down, and audience shares for radio have also taken a dip.
Through it all direct mail—if done properly—has continued to consistently produce return on investment on a consistent basis. The sheer amount of databases available enables any marketer to precisely pinpoint their audience. If marketers continue to apply the tried and true "principle of affinity"—a common denominator between product, offer and audience—they will no doubt be able to acquire new customers.
Sometimes, to be successful we have to step back in time and apply some old marketing principles to be profitable. For example, the understanding and application of consumer psychology to direct marketing campaigns, both online and offline, can enable marketers to reap benefits. Knowing exactly who your customer is and how they behave in today's economy is essential.
While traditional, longstanding practitioners of direct mail such as catalogs, magazine publishers and credit card companies have cut back their mail volumes, there are a host of marketers testing and successfully using direct mail to positively impact their bottom line. Some of companies doing so are major retailers, national restaurant chains, consumer packaged goods companies and healthcare marketers. Their offerings are varied and their direct mail campaigns are not used exclusively for immediate mail order sales of products or services.
For example, retail chains use direct mail to increase store traffic or to draw a consumer's interest to specific products they have purchased in the past. Their secondary intent is to build brand loyalty—they want you as a customer long term. It can be as simple as reaching out to pre-natal and new mothers to promote infant and toddler departments. Some national retailers and regional supermarket chains are also effectively using direct mail to increase the customer base of their in-store pharmacies. For example, Publix Supermarkets, primarily located in the Southeast, uses a direct mail offer to increase pharmacy customers. They offer a $25 Publix gift card for a new or transferred prescription.
While mail volume from tried and true direct marketers is down, there are many new companies entering this marketing channel simply because they have been able to obtain positive ROI results from their test campaigns. Have heart: direct mail is here to stay.
(www.directmag.com , Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Blog Visits to Benefit the Make-a-Wish Foundation 2009-10-19
It sure is hard to believe it’s already October 19 and we’re starting to think about the holidays!
Each year, as a way of embracing the holiday spirit and to show our gratitude, Arandell Corporation donates to the Make-a-Wish Foundation at year’s end. In the past, we have arbitrarily chosen the amount to be donated and this year we’re going to try to change things up. This year, YOU will be driving how much we donate. In fact, if you’re reading this blog post, you have already made an impact on the campaign.
For every unique hit that we receive on the Arandell Blog between today (October 19) and December 15, Arandell will donate $1 to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. We’ll be driving these hits by updating our blog posts even more frequently than we normally do. And not only do the blog posts appear here, they will also be linked on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
To visit the Arandell Blog, click here. |
| Axing Myths About Controlling Paper Costs 2009-10-16
I recently read an article in Multichannel Merchant that detailed some ideas about how a cataloger can gain control of their paper spend for 2010 and how these ideas will always result in lower costs. In reviewing these ideas, I found some of them to contain the truth, but not “the whole truth” as they say in court. So I thought I would provide some perspective from a printer who supplies paper for many of our clients.
Idea #1: Establish long term pricing now
Pricing levels have decreased some 20% YTD. And while the buyers of paper have had the upper hand throughout the year, that will change in 2010. The producers will be able to pass along some increases.
Printers have the upper hand when it comes to negotiating pricing caps. When an end user is negotiating their prices with a mill (through a merchant), their only negotiating tool is their annual tonnage. A printer has the ability to take the annual tonnage of all of their paper clients, combine them and use the whole as leverage with their mill partners, thereby increasing the paper buying power of their clients. By being part of the whole, you can significantly limit your exposure to these increases.
Ideas #2 & #3: Challenge your printer to reduce waste and use paper calculators
Paper waste is a natural part of the printing process. A printer is not only challenged on their waste factors by end users, but also by the industry as a whole. The more they can reduce their waste factors, the better position they are in to reduce paper consumption costs. A “paper calculator” is a very generic tool that some merchants have put together to try to challenge the printer on their waste and create an “in” with an end user.
The printer knows their presses. They know the most efficient way produce a job on press. They know what grades, basis weights, finishes and specific brands of paper perform the best on their presses. They work everyday on ways to reduce paper waste factors. Yes, it is important to consider waste. But to use a very generic calculator to come up with tonnage numbers that really have no basis in reality is a good way to create contention. Trust me; the printer is doing their very best on your behalf.
Ideas #5 & #6: Reduce your cover and text weights
Always a good thing to consider when looking for ways to reduce paper costs. But BE CAREFUL. It might not always be the best idea. The USPS has just announced new “droop test” regulations that have a lot of end users scrambling to HIGHER basis weights in order for their pieces to pass the test.
You also might want to consider how your printed piece will look. As you decrease your basis weight, you are sacrificing opacity and creating “show through”. Your printer should have plenty of printed samples of what downgrading in basis weight will look like.
Idea #8: Ship rail
Remember the idea of combining purchases to leverage paper prices? The same can be done with shipping costs. The more paper you are ordering as a whole will dictate whether or not you are able to ship rail. An end-user who prints three or four times annually only gets to combine those tons in a shipment. But a printer who may have three or four other paper clients printing right around the same time can combine those tons and get them to ship rail. A printer has the ability to forecast, well in advance, and is in a much better position to work with mills to achieve maximum transit cost savings.
Some other ideas not mentioned in the article:
For those end users who purchase their own paper: pay close attention to your consumption reports. The leftover inventory that is listed on your report is REAL MONEY and should be utilized as quickly as possible. Make sure you work with your printer to find a home for it as quickly as possible.
If an opportunity to use it isn’t readily available, work with your printer to get rid of the paper. They might have an opportunity to use it on another printing for another client and might buy it from you.
Do you know what the storage and handling charges are at your printer? If not, you should. The storage and handling of paper is a real cost to a printer. If they aren’t supplying the paper, they are going to need to charge for those services.
In many cases, if the printer is able to supply the paper, they will waive those charges.
Questions? Please feel free to contact me any time at 800-558-8724, ext. 165.
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| No Postal Increase for 2010 2009-10-15
The following was released from the Postmaster General this afternoon. Some great news for your Thursday afternoon!
For questions regarding this release or other postal issues, please contact Don Landis , Arandell VP of Postal Affairs or Susan Pinter, Director of Postal Affairs at 800-558-8724.
To Postal Service Customers:
Many of you have expressed concerns regarding mailing costs for 2010. The tough economic climate has presented significant challenges to all of us and pessimistic speculation has suggested that postal prices could increase by as much as 10 percent.
As we begin a new fiscal year and as many of you, our business clients, are preparing your 2010 operating budgets, we want to end all speculation.
The Postal Service will not increase prices for market dominant products in calendar year 2010.
Simply stated, there will not be a price increase for market dominant products including First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, periodicals, and single-piece Parcel Post. There will be no exigent price increase for these products.
This is the right decision at the right time for the right reason. Promoting the value of mail and encouraging its continued use is essential for jobs, the economy, and the future of both the Postal Service and the mailing industry.
While increasing prices might have generated revenue for the Postal Service in the short term, the long term effect could drive additional mail out of the system. We want mailers to continue to invest in mail to grow their business, communicate with valued customers, and maintain a strong presence in the marketplace. Changes in pricing for our competitive products—Priority Mail, Express Mail, Parcel Select, and most international products—are under consideration. We expect to announce a decision in November.
We are committed to working with customers to find ways to grow the mail through innovative incentives like the Summer Sale and contract pricing. Mail is the most effective means of communication and advertising and we will continue to work together to increase the value of the mail. Mail is a smart investment for the future.
John E. Potter
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| Catalog "Busy Season" Solutions 2009-10-08
As Americans prepare to carve pumpkins, Trick or Treat, join friends and family in a time of giving thanks and purchase presents for loved ones, the catalog and direct mail world awakens. We in the direct mail business understand the rush of excitement of preparing files for catalog layouts, fine tuning mail files, controlling order fulfillment and optimizing marketing strategies. A direct mailer’s world is turned topsy-turvy this time of year to ensure we utilize every ounce of what the holiday season has to offer.
Arandell Corporation understands that catalogers and direct mailers are in the midst of an exciting, stress-filled and demanding season.
To read more, click here. |
| The Effect of Post-Consumer Waste Paper (PCW Content) 2009-10-08
As a catalog printer, from time-to-time, Arandell will receive concerns from environmentalists about the products we produce and the materials used to produce them. (You can imagine, as the one charged with purchasing all o f our paper, I take an interest in these concerns because most of them revolve around paper!) In a previous article I addressed the “greenness” of catalogs and direct mail pieces. As I continue to research the environmental impact of direct mail pieces I am finding helpful tools to calculate the positive and negative impact of direct mail.
To read more, click here.
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| Ways to Use Copy to Build Customer Relationships 2009-09-29
Does your marketing copy, no matter the channel, talk to or at your targeted customer base? Are you writing blindly to a customer base you know very little about?
Before you begin your next product description, direct mail piece or email promotion, know who you're writing to — and strike up a conversation. Get to know your prospective audience intimately enough to write to its specific desires, concerns, fears and needs. If you don’t take the time to research your audience, you could be left wondering why your promotion fell flat.
A Little Data Goes a Long Way
Whether you're in-house, off-site or a freelance copywriter, understanding the customer profile of the company you're writing for is crucial. Most companies have this information on hand and are more than happy to share it with you.
Every so often, ask for updates to the profile to see if there are changes or new trends evolving. The more you know about customers, and write to their needs, the more likely your promotion will make it through the door (or inbox) of their homes and businesses. And you start to build that coveted relationship.
Here are five things you'll find on a typical customer profile:
1. Age group: What age group are you catering to? Typically age is stated like a statistic — 0 to 20, 21 to 35, 36 to 45, 46 to 60-plus. But I prefer to take it a step further (and put a personal touch to numbers):
• children;
• teens;
• young, single adults;
• couples with small children;
• couples with older children;
• empty nesters;
• retirees; and
• a mix of the above.
Each group has its own special dynamics. Couples with small children have different needs and concerns than retirees, who may very well be ready to hit the road in their new RVs after years of dedication to jobs and family.
2. Gender: Which gender typically purchases most of the product you're selling — male, female or both? Gender affects the tone in your writing. Be sure to appeal to both men and women if purchasing power is shared equally between the genders.
3. Marital status: Single, married, divorced, widowed? Take into consideration the similarities and the very different needs and wants of consumers.
Click here to read more way to use copy to build your catalog relationship.
(www.allaboutroimag.com, All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2009) |
| Briefs' 75th birthday a mentionable event 2009-09-25
They gathered, they looked at the camera, and they said, "Briefs!"
What else would you say when the occasion is a group photo of the 350 employees of Jockey International Inc., marking the 75th anniversary of the invention of men's briefs?
Tighty-whiteys? In these fashionable times, men are wearing at least as much color as white under their clothes, according to Sally Tomkins, Jockey senior vice president of design.
Men's underwear has come a long way since the 1934 introduction of briefs by Jockey. The style was considered daring at the time, an era when guys had a choice of boxer shorts and union suits.
Briefs were invented after an executive of the company, which was then known as Coopers Inc., received a postcard from the French Riviera showing a man wearing a bikini-style swimsuit. The executive, Arthur Kneibler, thought the style would work as underwear.
The new design was called the Jockey brief because of its jock-strap functional benefits, offering more support than anything on the market at the time.
The Jockey brief was first sold at Marshall Fields in Chicago on Jan. 19, 1935. It was a sellout, in spite of a blizzard that day.
Coopers Inc. changed its name to Jockey in 1971, adopting its popular brand name.
The celebration Thursday at the company's Kenosha headquarters included a fried chicken lunch, a ceremonial signing by employees of several pairs of the largest briefs Jockey makes (waist size: 60), and the group photo. Everyone received free mini-brief key rings and folding chairs, which they used to view an outdoor "Jockey's got talent" show in the park across from the headquarters.
"It's exciting," said owner and Chief Executive Officer Debra Waller, who expressed hope that her company, which was founded in 1876, would continue to make underwear for another 130 years.
Economic bellwether
Jockey's celebration comes at a time when men's underwear has gained attention as an economic indicator. A report on National Public Radio earlier this year discussed the theory voiced by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan: Underwear is the first place where a man will cut back in tough times because no one sees it. So a drop in sales of men's underwear would be a sign that the economy is in trouble.
If that's true, better times may be just ahead. A report from the NPD Group in Port Washington, N.Y., for the first half of 2009 shows male underwear is one of the only categories of apparel that increased in sales, up 4.8%.
"Men's underwear is a commodity business and is showing us that the consumer hasn't disappeared ... if they need it, they will buy it. Need doesn't change," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for NPD.
"We seem to do well in an environment that's not quite as good," Waller said. Even so, sales have slowed at Jockey recently, as retailers cut back on the amount of inventory they carry.
It helps to have a big brand name, Waller said. But she's not happy that some people refer to all briefs as "Jockey shorts" - not all briefs are Jockey, she pointed out.
Added product lines
Jockey products for both men and women have traditionally been sold at department stores. But in recent years the company has widened its distribution to mass retailers. Wal-Mart started selling a Jockey product named Life in 2001, and Target is testing a new line called "J" in nearly 200 stores. Both of those lines are less extensive than regular Jockey brands, which are sold online and in Jockey's own retail stores in addition to traditional department stores.
A 2008 report from NPD Group showed that sales of briefs represent just 25% of all men's underwear bottoms sold that year. The other 75% is a mix of the diverse styles now available, including low-rise briefs, boxers, the trunk, and boxer briefs.
Boxer briefs, which look like briefs with longer legs, are the biggest trend now, Tomkins said.
Tomkins ought to know. In addition to supervising Jockey's design team, she gets a lot of feedback from consumers wherever she goes.
"People love to talk about their underwear," Tomkins said.
Betsy Morton, senior vice president of human resources, agreed that it's sort of an occupational hazard of working for an underwear company.
"It's amazing how many people will talk about their underwear," Morton said. "They show it to us."
http://www.jsonline.com/business/61383012.html
(jsonline.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| Do You Pass the Droop Test? 2009-09-18
First of all, I should clarify WHAT the droop test is. I can only imagine what you all thought of when you read the title of this post….
The droop test measures the flexibility of catalogs. If mail pieces are too flexible they will topple over as they travel through the USPS sorters and scanners. Implementing deflections standards, or droop standards, will greatly reduce the amount of direct mail pieces that fall off the machines. Recently, the USPS extended the deadline for the deflections standard implementation from September 8, 2009 to January 4, 2010.
How to test your catalog
Click here to see a brief three minute instructional video. Otherwise, read on!
Place any catalog that is mailed as a flat on the end of a flat surface. Align the longest edge of the catalog perpendicular to the surface edge. If the catalog is square, align the spine perpendicular to the surface edge.
If the catalog is 10 or longer:
• Extend the catalog 5 inches from the edge.
• If the catalog droops less than 3 the catalog is mailable as a flat.
If the catalog is less than 10":
• Extend the catalog half its length off the edge of the surface.
• The catalog must not droop more than 2 less than the extended length from both ends. Click here to use a calculator to determine the allowable droop for catalogs less than 10.
• You failed the droop test, now what?
Contact us! We have lots of solutions for drooping catalogs. We can work with you to make sure you optimize postage savings and pass the deflection standards … all without changing the style and branding of your catalog!
Here are some additional resources if you would like to learn more about the new deflection regulations:
Click here to view the final USPS ruling on Deflection Allowance.
Click here to contact me.
Click here to contact Susan Pinter, Arandell’s Director of Postal Affairs.
If you don’t like these new regulations say something about it! Contact the American Catalog Mailers Associations, or email the DMM Advisory at dmmadvisory@usps.com
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| Mail's Multichannel Power 2009-07-27
Despite rising postage and paper costs, direct mail remains an important part of apparel marketers' multichannel mix. Developments in variable data printing and database marketing enable these marketers to send targeted messages to their best customers that feature high-quality imagery and creative that attracts buyers.
The mail channel's effectiveness has even led at least one "dot-com" retailer to embrace postal means as a way to reach its customers. Shop.NHL.com, the e-commerce arm of the National Hockey League that sells league- and team-related apparel, found that focusing on a good catalog experience can spur online sales. With 30 teams and a number of different apparel styles available, sifting through the Web site can be daunting for some consumers, says Joslin Warren, director of commerce and development for the company.
Catalogs are often a more compelling way to showcase apparel. "People like getting things in the mail, flipping through and seeing all the options, she explains. "Sometimes, with our site, we have an overwhelming number of products, so to be able to sift through all of them quickly and easily in a 30- to 32-page catalog is easier for consumers."
The marketer's catalogs are heavily customized based on information collected online, and Warren notes that customization helps draw customers in to explore fully what's being offered — both in the catalog and online.
"[When they] get a catalog and see their team on the cover, it makes them more likely to buy," she says. "We find the more that we customize the catalog, the more they are going to purchase."
Shop.NHL.com isn't the only online company that sees value in direct mail, says Mike Gatti, executive director of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, a division of the National Retail Federation. "You see a lot of pure-play online retailers advertise in print," he notes.
The drive to reach consumers with the most relevant message possible to drive the most response for the least amount of dollars, especially given the realities of the economy, has led to even more synergy between CRM and direct mail, Gatti adds.
"The CRM program allows direct mailers to identify customers for products — it helps cut out the waste," he says. "The tighter the economy squeezes you, the more important it is to pinpoint the best customer."
To read more about the power of the catalog, click here.
(www.dmnews.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| 6 Tips to Deepen Customer Engagement and Increase Sales 2009-07-13
Consumers no longer tolerate “spray and pray” marketing blasts, said Ernan Roman, founder and principal of Ernan Roman Direct Marketing, in a session he led at last month's DM Days New York Conference & Expo. Citing the popularity of the National Do Not Call Registry as an example (of which 76 percent of American consumers have signed up for, compared to 50 percent for the average voter turnout for a presidential election in this country), Roman stressed to the audience that marketers must engage their customers and prospects in personal relationships to succeed in today's environment.
Here are some tips that Roman, as well as Yvonne Brandon, senior program manager of integrated marketing programs for the Kitterman Marketing Group, who also spoke during the session, offered to help marketers forge these new relationships with customers.
1. Focus on relationships, not just sales. The down economy has profoundly changed the expectations and priorities of both B-to-C and B-to-B customers and prospects, Roman said. The result: Customer engagement and relevance of communications have emerged as key drivers for increased response and repeat purchases (i.e., lifetime value). To increase sales and regain consumer trust, engage in socially responsible marketing, Roman advised.
2. Differentiate your brand. Do this by providing value as defined by your individual customers in the opted-in channels they prefer, be they Web, e-mail, stores, direct mail, etc. Personalize e-newsletters to the needs of opted-in recipients with customized content, Roman suggested as one example.
3. Satisfaction is a minimum expectation. It's no longer enough to just satisfy customers with your products and/or services. Citing a recent voice of customer (VOC) relationship survey his company conducted, Roman said that engagement/relationship strength has 12 times more influence on retention and repeat purchases than satisfaction does. Provide opt-in communications at the frequency customers want.
And engaged customers are more likely to tell their families and friends about particular brands. According to the VOC, engagement/relationship strength has 18 times more influence on word-of-mouth recommendations than satisfaction. With this data in hand, it's wise to reallocate greater budget spend for retention/relationship building, Roman advised.
4. Adapt to today's changing dynamics. Marketers operate in an environment where disposable income and consumer confidence are down, but buyer expectations are up. Avoid practices such as “spray and pray” e-mail blasts and constant bombardment in favor of asking consumers up front to define their unique requirements in response to meaningful value propositions.
Click here to read more about deeping your customer engagement.
(www.allaboutroimag.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Retailers That Truly Understand Product Personalization Reap Rewards 2009-07-06
Online retailers that pay close attention to how customers react to personalized product recommendations have an excellent opportunity to drive more sales, says a new report and survey from personalization technology vendor MyBuys Inc. and research firm the E-tailing Group Inc.
In a survey of 1,000 consumers with annual household incomes of $50,000 and higher who shop online at least twice each month, 43% of respondents find it very or somewhat valuable if the retailer offers specific product recommendations tailored to their personal tastes and shopping histories. 76% report purchasing additional products based on merchant recommendations at least occasionally and 21% very frequently. “With merchants focused more on the bottom line than ever before, it is important to understand if these recommendations influence buying behavior and the results are very positive,” MyBuys and the E-tailing Group say in a report titled “Delivering the Added Value Consumers Expect from Personalized Product Recommendations.”
The use of personalized product recommendations is evolving, and consumers expect web merchants to offer them a more sophisticated experience than in the past, the report says. MyBuys and the E-tailing Group found that 43% of consumers expect a retailer to use their past purchase histories when making new recommendations and 20% believe merchants should take into account their browsing patterns and other factors. “Consumers have heightened expectations,” the report says.
Personalized product recommendations help shoppers make better buying decisions, the report says. “Recommendations play a valuable role in shopping, including convenience and time savings while also aiding selections,” the report says. “Shoppers are purchasing more when they see personalized product recommendations.”
(www.internetretialers.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| USPS Officially Studying Five-Day Delivery Option 2009-07-01
Bolstering U.S. Postmaster General John E. Potter’s prediction that five-day mail delivery will become a reality, the U.S. Postal Service has launched an internal study to examine the feasibility of eliminating Saturday mail delivery nationwide.
Not that the Postal Services seems to be in any hurry to get rid of Saturday delivery. USPS spokesperson Gerald McKiernan says there is no set timetable. “We’re planning a series of outreach meetings with customers and stakeholders and continue dialogue with members of Congress.”
How long will that process take? “That answer is in the hands of the Congress,” McKiernan adds. “There have been some findings that have been shared internally. They continue to be refined and it would be premature to discuss anything just yet.”
The National Association of Letter Carriers, for one, opposes the elimination of Saturday mail delivery. The NALC received a letter dated June 11 from the Postal Service requesting the union’s input on this study.
Said NALC president Bill Young in a release: “Downsizing the Postal Service to meet the needs of a severely depressed economy is short-sighted and self-defeating. It will cost us tens of thousands of jobs and open the way to competitors to provide service on the sixth day.”
How do consumers feel about this? A Gallop poll conducted two weeks ago found that 66% of U.S. consumers were in favor of reducing the number of mail delivery days from six to five as a way to help fix the Postal Service’s budget.
(www.multichannlemerchant.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| Paper weight: How low can you go? 2009-07-01
In the ongoing battle to reduce catalog production costs, many mailers look at reducing the basis weight of their paper. This can be a good move, since it typically leads to significant cost savings. But it's not a decision that should be taken lightly: Going with a lower-weight catalog paper has repercussions as well as advantages.
First, why would you reduce the basis weight or your paper? The initial answer is, naturally, to have less overall weight, and therefore lower costs.
Let's say your printer needs 500,000 lbs. of 40-lb. paper to produce the catalog, and you're considering moving down to 38-lb. stock instead. Doing this will reduce the poundage required by 5% to a new total of 475,000 lbs.
So are you 5% ahead? Maybe, maybe not. That's where it gets interesting.
In nearly all cases, a paper mill's price structure dictates that as you go down in weight, you go up in price. In the case of 40-lb. paper vs. a 38-lb. stock, whatever price you're paying for 40 lb. will be $1.50/hundredweight (cwt) more for 38 lb. Here's the math, using a hypothetical price of $41/cwt for 40 lb.:
•40-lb. 500,000 lbs. x $41/cwt = $205,000
•38-lb. 475,000 lbs. x $42.50/cwt = $201,875
= $3,125 savings
By going to lighter paper, you've saved $3,125, or just about 1.5%, not 5%. So you might immediately conclude that it's not worth moving down based on a savings of just 1.5%.
But there's another key variable you need to look at: postal costs. Although you may have only saved a few thousand dollars in basis weight reduction, you could be saving many thousands more in postage costs. It all depends on your mail class and the weight of your book relative to U.S. Postal Service guidelines.
Click here to read more about changing your paper wieght.
(www.multichannlemerchant.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Postal Mail Volume Decline = Opportunity 2009-07-01
Okay, I’ll admit it, I love direct mail marketing. I look forward to going home at the end of the day, seeing my family and then looking at and opening my daily mail. I also love emerging media, but mail makes us, subliminally, feel important. Someone is trying to contact you and wants your attention. They are trying to convince you and educate you that their insurance, olive oil, magazine, steaks, wine or clothing is better and they’ll give you a deal to prove it to you.
Thus, when I continue to read that mail volume continues to decline I don’t panic. Why? Because it allows those of us who have had much, much success with the medium look even better. That’s because we have less clutter and fewer competitors to worry about. We understand how to test, how to sell the offer and how to measure and apply our discoveries to the next effort.
Personally, I still have a lot of success with direct mail — both for my companies and for the consulting work we do for others. I have seen a downward trend from many, but have also seen those who commit to testing succeed and grow despite the economic worries that surround us.
Now is the right time to mail and test. Make sure that your work is tied back into the web, microsites, email and the like, but still mail. And, if you are doing two-step campaigns, do not forget about testing your follow-up material and approaches.
(www.bigfatmarketingblog.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| 10 Reasons Why Address Quality Matters 2009-07-01
It seems like every year, companies must do more to ensure addresses are accurate and current. Standardize, correct, validate, update, append, barcode… and then remember every change for the next mailing. While address accuracy helps the postal service streamline operations, you must also take into consideration the many ways address quality adds value to your business. Here’s my top ten:
1. Increase Sales. Even a 2% lift on your direct mail and cross-sell efforts can have a significant impact on your bottom-line results—but mail has to reach the right person first.
2. Lower Postage Costs. While the USPS sets mandates, they also provide incentives. A small increase in coding rates could help you save up to 0.5% or more on postage.
3. Maintain Reputation. Even if your mail is delivered, customers notice when you consistently get their address wrong, sending a signal that you don’t care that much about the relationship.
4. Optimize Call Centers. Late or misdirected mail may account for up to 30% of your calls. Better mail delivery means fewer calls and more satisfied customers.
5. Make Better Decisions. Having specific address information can help ensure you apply the correct taxes, assign the right territory and properly assess risk.
6. Reduce Fraud. When sending high-value mail, including checks, goods and cards, address quality can help mitigate loss or fraud.
7. Eliminate Duplicates. Consistent and accurate addresses provides for better merge/purge results, so you’ll send one (and only one) communication to each person.
8. Speed Results. Faster mail delivery can expedite new orders, streamline remittance and improve your cash flow.
9. Eliminate Returned Mail. With the cost of returned mail estimated at $3 - $10 per piece, it pays to get it right the first time.
10. Avoid Postal Penalties. In January, you can expect the USPS to get stronger on move update non-compliance. The original plan (still in discussion) was based on a formula that measured how well you incorporate change of address information; and if you fail to meet pre-set thresholds, the USPS could charge you the equivalent of the single-piece rate (now $0.44 for one ounce) for the entire mailing. While the details are subject to change, the message is clear.
So while running move updates or adding that secondary address element may seem like a hassle at the time—remember there’s something in it for you, too.
(www.commintel.net, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Tips From a Direct Mail Master 2009-06-17
Say one thing for David Avrick: His ideas on direct mail are backed up by 40 years of tough experience.
Take his belief that “free should be free.” He determined this after running a free-with-purchase offer.
“The FTC came in and said free means unconditional,” he said during a session at DM Days 2009.
Avrick fought it. He collected supermarket products like a free toothbrush taped to the toothpaste that the consumer had to buy, and he won the argument. But he now seems to agree with the FTC.
Then there’s his suggestion that mailings contain only one offer. He recently tested this, placing two inserts in package inserts. Response went up, but “we paid twice as much for printing and one cannibalized the other.”
Here are some other classic tips from the veteran:
*State the benefit. Mailers are “constantly hiding the benefit,” Avrick said. “It’s like a joke, with the punch line at the end. You have seconds to grab their attention.”
*The benefit has to be real. “Ninety percent of all magazine offers say, ‘Save 67% off the cover price,’ or ‘Save $20 off the cover price,” Avrick said. “I always wondered: Is that the reason I’m subscribing to this magazine—to save $6? If there’s no benefit, why don’t you just shut it down?”
He continued: “Start with the strongest benefit, then keep them coming until you get the reader to the response device.”
*Back up what you say. “Who says I can lose 30 pounds in 30 days?” Avrick asked. “Is it a person saying that? A lab test saying that? A claim without support is somewhat like not a claim at all.
Click here to read more from the direct mail master.
(www.dmnews.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| Are you prepared for the biggest postal change in years? 2009-06-15
Beginning in late November 2009, mailers will be required to switch to full-service Intelligent Mail barcode (IMB) to qualify for greater U.S. Postal Service discounts. IMB offers a dynamic alternative to the extremely limited POSTNET barcode. As you prepare to make the switch to IMB, here are five tips to make sure you take advantage of IMB's benefits.
Take time to understand the requirements. Beginning in November, the USPS will implement the following updated requirements: Unique identification in Intelligent Mail barcodes on letters and flats; Intelligent Mail tray labels, with unique barcodes, used on trays and sacks; Intelligent Mail container placards, with unique barcodes, affixed on the outside of pallets and placed on containers (if the mail is containerized); and electronic postage statements and documentation (when documentation is required)
Mark important dates to know. Last month, two IMB service levels—basic and full-service—became available, but all full-service features and postage discounts do not become available until November 29. USPS is expected to eliminate automation discounts for the old POSTNET barcode in May 2011.
Get the most reduced rates. As of November, the greatest IMB postage discounts will be available through full-service only. And as part of the annual price adjustment announcement this year, the USPS will recommend to the Board of Governors that letters and flats requiring a barcode and mailed under the full-service option of Intelligent Mail pay lower automation prices in the fall of this year than pieces mailed under the basic option or with POSTNET barcodes.
Take advantage of free address correction. With the post-mailing OneCode ACS (Address Change Service) process, the USPS electronically captures move updates and immediately notifies you with address correction information and delivery point validation. This fully automated service greatly reduces the amount of resources required to identify the mailer. And as the IMB involves reading from a single barcode, it confers the benefit of increased accuracy and efficiency.
Free start-the-clock scan reports will be available. This system facilitates high-level tracking of your mailings with real-time, online access. The USPS will provide detailed reports for Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU), plant-load and drop ship mail, noting when verified mailings were entered into the USPS system or ready to be transported. As each individual mail piece is uniquely identified, this is especially helpful for tracking specific mail pieces as they flow through the system. It can also be used to gain other valuable information like address quality feedback.
Full-service IMB offers the ultimate win-win, with greater accuracy, control and visibility, all with reduced overall postal costs. But how well your business understands the unique requirements and advantages of this mandate, as well as manages its implementation, will prove essential to its budget as well as continued growth and success.
(www.dmnews.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| 'Smart Change' at ACCM 2009-06-10
One of the best takeaways for me from the recent Annual Conference for Catalog & Multichannel Merchants (ACCM) in New Orleans was the need to be open to “smart change,” a term I “borrowed” from Sarah Fletcher, creative director of Catalog Design Studios, a catalog creative consulting firm. She said, “The big take-home for me from this year's conference was No. 1, don't panic, and No. 2, be open to smart changes.”
In a session I moderated at ACCM called “How to Survive and Succeed Despite Tough Times,” Fletcher gave the following example: “I heard a lot of talk about moving to slim jims, but, as Mary Ann pointed out in her roundtable discussion, they don't pull the same weight as a full-size catalog. There's a place for slim jims as a sale book or an off-season mailer, but saving a little bit on postage and getting a big drop in response is going the wrong direction. You'd do better to trim your circulation and stay with a full-size book. Don't panic, and test before you make any big changes.”
I couldn't agree more. The days of simplistic answers are as gone as the days of not targeting segments of customers or not being mindful of return on investment.
In fact, the discussion of slim-jim catalog formats was a popular one. Gina Valentino, president of Hemisphere Marketing, observed: “The Q&A after the panel session that I led was an arena for attendees to share their current challenges and discuss how best to manage budgets for the third and fourth quarters. The discussion about the potential changes to slim-jim (maximum letter rate) specifications led to a revealing opportunity to mail flats rather than slim jims. Identifying significant postage savings with co-mailing combined with the cost and less user-friendly three tabs pending on a slim jim are causing mailers to rethink their strategies."
So what are some more smart changes? Fletcher defined a few: “Smart changes are things like leveraging your best-sellers by making sure they're in the best positions and have the best page placements, as well as making sure that your catalog is well-organized and easy to shop. Use cover lines and promotions. If you need inspiration, now is not the time to go out on a limb. If you can't afford to take a risk, examine what worked in the past and see if there's something you can bring back.”
Throughout ACCM, I found other indications of “smart change.” There was a new willingness to talk much more openly about the challenges we're all facing. For example, in my session we discussed how sales for March 2009 and April 2009 seemed to be unlike previous years, one month greater than usual and one month less. Many folks spoke up because they'd observed the same unusual sales pattern, describing what they felt were the causes and how the pattern could be normalized for reporting.
To read more about the changes at ACCM, click here.
(www.allaboutroimag.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| 9 Ways to Use Twitter as a Marketing Tool with your Catalog 2009-06-09
It seems that Twitter is all the rage these days. The topic seems to polarize people: Some find it a useful and productive marketing tool, while others find it a waste of time and “much ado about nothing.” I fall more into the first group, in that I remain cautiously optimistic. I use Twitter to build my personal brand (www.twitter.com/gilbertdirect) and drive traffic to my blog.
In this multiple channel, integrated world, I see Twitter as a great tool to help you engage your prospects and customers and take them to the next level. Turn prospects into customers, customers into advocates. Above all else, ask for and receive the much needed feedback a 21st century company needs to thrive.
The following are nine quick tips on how to use Twitter to your benefit:
1. Call out and provide specials to your customers. Make sure these are real-time specials or offers, but try to not be too pushy. Fit the offers and specials into the context of your customer conversation; don’t overpromote.
2. Let people know when to expect their catalogs.
3. Drive prospects to catalog request and/or e-mail sign-up pages.
4. Link to and broadcast your blog posts. These are great ways to keep people informed.
5. Tweet news and information about your company and products. New products, company news, press releases, corporate milestones, testimonials and “meet-the-employee” articles are great examples of things to tweet. Anything you think will get people both familiar and, more importantly, emotionally involved with your brand is worth your while.
6. Ask questions. Twitter, like any social network, is all about conversation. Have someone who can spend time working with your followers to answer their questions. Engage your followers to provide information about how to make your company even better. If harnessed correctly, Twitter can be an exceptional customer service tool as well.
7. Encourage key employees to open Twitter accounts as well, creating more than one voice for your company. Have them add their Twitter addresses to their e-mail signatures.
8. Add Twitter badges to your Web site. This enables customers and prospects to easily join in on the fun.
9. Add Twitter links and badges to all of your outgoing promotions and collateral. Build Twitter into your branding.
(www.allaboutroimag.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| USPS Summer Sale Final Approval 2009-06-05
Arandell Corporation has received the following notice from the DMM Advisory concerning the final approval of the USPS Summer Sale.
DMM Advisory
Pricing and Classification — keeping you informed about the prices and mailing standards of the United States Postal Service
Summer Sale: A Great Way to Save on Standard Mail!
Today the Postal Regulatory Commission completed their review of the Summer Sale. We encourage our customers to get ready to mail and save! Beginning July 1, the Sale offers 30 percent off postage for qualifying Standard Mail letters and flats volumes above a set threshold. Mailers have until September 30, 2009, to take advantage of the savings. Our Federal Register notice on Postal Explorer provides all of the details.
As always, you can count on Arandell to bring you the most up-to-date postal information. For additional information, please contact Don Landis, VP of Postal Affairs or Susan Pinter, Director of Postal Affairs. They can also be reached at 800.558.8724.
The Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) is available on Postal Explorer (pe.usps.com). To subscribe to the DMM Advisory, send an e-mail to dmmadvisory@usps.com
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| DM Sales Lead Jos. A. Bank Growth 2009-06-04
Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. generated $161.9 million in first-quarter 2009 net sales, up from $145.4 million in net sales a year ago. The company’s net income rose from $9.8 million to $11.5 million during the same period. The most recent quarter ended May 2.
Direct marketing represents a relatively small percentage of this: Direct channels brought in $15.4 million during the most recent quarter, compared with $13.8 million a year ago. But that 12.1% year-over-year growth was much stronger than the 4.3% increase seen in comparable store sales, and even outpace the 11.4% overall growth rate.
Direct marketing was more profitable, as well. At just under $6.5 million in operating income, direct marketing profits made up 41.8% of direct sales, compared with store income of $27.5 million, or 19.1% of sales.
The company managed to make its DM activity more profitable despite trimming sales and marketing expenses from 41.9% of total revenue a year ago to 40.1% for the quarter just ended. Overall expenses for the remainder of 2009 are expected to increase, however, as the chain promotes new retail outlets.
(www.directmag.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Catalog Success Morphs Into All About ROI 2009-06-03
Effective June 1, 2009, Catalog Success is now All About ROI: Retail/catalog Online Integration. This move is right for you, and it’s right for us. The lines between retail, catalog, Web, brand merchandising and wholesaling have become blurrier than ever before. The catalog business, as its own separate entity, can’t stand on its own any longer.
So we decided to reinvent the wheel and focus heavily on integrating all the sales channels. You’ll read about it here on our Web site, in our repositioned e-letter, The ROI Report, which debuts on June 9, and, of course, in our monthly print magazine, which just came out.
Originally launched in 1999 as a publication solely for catalog marketers, Catalog Success’ evolution to All About ROI is 110 percent in sync with what’s going on in the overall retail market. It's in no way a knee-jerk reaction to the current state of the economy.
As we emerge from the economic malaise, I’m completely certain that catalogers will need to learn more from retailers and online marketers, as will retailers from Web marketers and catalogers, and so forth. We’ve not only expanded our editorial coverage to encompass all facets of retail selling, but we’ve also increased our circulation to include all kinds of sellers.
I welcome and encourage your feedback, especially when you receive your first copy — whether you get it in print or digitally — of our monthly magazine. What more can we offer you to make your job easier? What topics would you like us to cover? And of course, what do you think of our first efforts?
(www.allaboutroimag.com, Copyright 2009, All Right Reserved) |
| 16 Ways to Prepare Your Web Site for the Holiday Season 2009-06-02
You can never be too prepared for the holiday season, especially after such a rough one last year. Now's the time to start preparing for a better Holiday '09. Try these 16 ideas on your site.
1. Maximize acquisition efforts. Offer contextual e-mail sign-ups on every page.
2. Encourage visitors to participate. Develop promotional programs that involve visitors and encourage them to participate in the development of product-specific promotions, providing users an opportunity to participate with your brand and create buzz and repeat visitation/purchases.
3. Integrate and coordinate. Support promotional efforts across multiple channels — offline, e-mail, social networks — to maximize sales.
4. Be first. Remember, the early bird gets the worm. Do a recap and competitive review of last year’s messaging to analyze trends. Then, schedule this year's promotional efforts accordingly to win market share.
5. Create destination events. Examples of this technique include: a Thanksgiving Day online preview; a holiday catalog with destination microsites and special benefits such as pay less or price guarantees; hot product preordering; and special discounts, such as a gift card with every purchase.
6. Reward best customers. Create exclusive Web site offers or events for loyalty members, e-mail subscribers or heavy online purchasers to reward them for their support.
7. Be helpful. Offer gift suggestions, create gift registries or holiday countdowns detailing the last day for guaranteed holiday delivery.
8. Unleash the power of the crowd. Use collaborative filtering and data to highlight popular items by category or user segments.
9. Maximize preordering opportunities. Promote new releases early, and offer preordering capabilities on your site. Target users for preordering based on their past purchases.
10. Go local. Leverage local events and store information to target and promote local shopping specials and events.
11. Leverage co-op dollars with manufacturers. Develop co-op brand promotions, such as a “Sony Day,” to reduce costs and extend promotional efforts.
12. Think inventory/price alerts. Trigger communications that encourage visitors to come back and order based on shipment arrivals and/or price drops. Include guarantees or additional benefits so visitors don't go elsewhere.
13. Upsell. Include relevant upsell offers on order confirmations with one-click ordering back to the Web site.
14. Think last minute. Suggest gift cards and e-certificates when your shipping deadline passes.
15. Spread the word with social networking. Give visitors the ability to post wish lists, products, among other things to their social networks directly from your Web site.
16. Create a visitor think tank. Ask visitors to submit holiday and promotional ideas they'd like to see from your brand. Remember, holiday 2009 is all about social shopping.
(ww.ecommerceandmarketing.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Cost-Cutting, Revenue-Building Checklists ’09 2009-06-01
The economy’s in the tank. Costs continue to increase. Response rates are down. What can you do to cut costs that you haven’t done already? You can’t slash and burn your way to prosperity, even in difficult economic times. I see catalogers making cost-cutting decisions that’ll negatively affect their businesses in the long term. It’s not just a matter of reducing expenses, but rather a combination of continued marketing with smart expense control.
One of the first things catalogers do to save money is cut circulation. In his B-to-B Cataloging column in this issue (see pg. 26), my fellow columnist George Hague explains some effective ways to do that when you basically have no choice and management insists you do so. But my personal opinion on circ cutting is it’s a wrong move, period. A drastic cut in circ doesn’t necessarily mean improved profitability. Circ cutting can accelerate a downward spiral, which is difficult to reverse.
Reducing circ will reduce the amount of business you do through the Internet (the catalog remains the largest single driver of traffic to the Web — see my February column for more on that).
Above all else, don’t let your 12-month buyer count decrease. With this in mind, here’s my five-step economic checklist for reducing expenses, followed by a three-step plan to increase your revenue affordably.
5 Steps to Cut Costs
For this list, consider first and foremost a tactic I’ve strongly recommended in past columns: co-mailing (even for smaller mailers); then take it from there …
1. Stop mailing one-time-only Internet buyers. Most first-time Internet buyers never make a second purchase. They were surfing the Web for a specific item they wanted, so mailing them catalogs has little impact. Start by eliminating them from your circ plan.
2. Stop mailing rental multibuyers generated from the co-op databases. There’s a 25 percent to 30 percent duplication rate from one co-op to another. Rental multis created from co-ops against co-ops generally don’t perform well, although rentals against rentals, and rentals against co-ops, are fine.
3. Reduce paper costs. Paper prices have been coming down, so push your printer to ensure these savings are passed on to you. Get a competitive bid from a reliable catalog paper merchant. Consider buying your own paper and managing its use as a way to control costs. Don’t just switch to a lower-weight paper or a super cal sheet (i.e., SCA) without first testing the effect on response. Lost sales can more than offset the savings.
4. Reduce the number of version changes. Don’t repaginate every time you mail — versioning is expensive. Try a simple front cover change. Print to mail three times, changing just the front cover. You can produce two extra covers for less than $1,000 per cover change.
5. Save postage using add-a-name. This age-old process of adding one or two records to a carrier route to qualify for a discount where you were previously short of the 10-per-carrier-route requirement works. The records added bring your postal costs down.
Most mailers need a national circulation of 700,000 or more before add-a-name makes economic sense. At this level, about 5,000 to 10,000 catalogs will be added.
To read more about increasing your catalog ROI, click here.
(www.allaboutroimag.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| B-to-B : Ask 4 Questions Before Targeting B-to-G 2009-05-29
Most B-to-B catalogers sell to the government, albeit in a passive mode. Using the SmartPay credit card, federal buyers appear on B-to-B buying lists with some regularity. When properly targeted, they can become a significant percentage of any B-to-B cataloger’s business.
The few B-to-B catalogers that are proactive in the B-to-G arena are generally quiet about it. They have no desire to let other catalogers know about this lucrative market segment.
The reasons for targeting the B-to-G market are fairly simple:
• one out of every seven-and-a-half full-time employed adults is a government employee;
• there are more than 86,000 governments in the U.S.;
• the government buys every legitimate business product and service; and
• government spending represents more than 30 percent of the GDP.
Here are four questions to think about before spending time and money targeting B-to-G.
1. How do I start? Ignoring the government market as a major revenue center is no longer an option. In this economy, B-to-B catalogers have to look at any growth areas, and government business is as recession-proof as it gets. In fact, if you analyze your 24-month buyer data, there’s a strong likelihood you’ll find that 2 percent to 5 percent of your customers are government.
This data also will show that government orders tend to be 15 percent to 20 percent larger than B-to-B orders. These orders most likely are placed using a government credit card, such as SmartPay for federal orders, but are still registered as Visa or MasterCard orders in your records. On the federal level, this surpassed $19 billion in fiscal year 2008. The micropurchase level — the level under which no contract is required — is now $3,000.
This isn’t an easy or fast market to enter, but real growth with real profit is doable for companies that sell in both open market environments and via contract.
Start slow, be smart, target your efforts to legitimate buyers (people and agencies that need your products and/or services), and real growth can occur.
2. Can my company handle the long haul? The government is a long-haul market. No company comes in and starts accumulating market share fast and easy. Understand and accept that if you want 15 percent or more of your business in B-to-G, this is an incremental process requiring resources you may not currently have in-house.
These resources vary from company to company, but you may need a veteran of the government market, some new accounting methods if you choose to sell via contract or perhaps some outside guidance.
To read more about B-to-G marketing, click here.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| ACMA Forum Recap: Conference Provides Pick-Me-Up From ACCM 2009-05-21
Coming on the heels of the downcast ACCM conference in New Orleans, the American Catalog Mailers Association's (ACMA) National Catalog Advocacy & Strategy Forum offered the 50 or so attendees on hand some potential relief and plenty of optimism.
The event, coordinated by Hamilton Davison, the upstart two-year-old organization’s executive director and aggressive lobbyist for postal relief on behalf of catalog marketers, offered sessions featuring members of the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), the USPS and mailers. The focus was primarily on gaining more favorable postal rates for catalogers still reeling from the killer postage increase of 2007.
“There’s a tipping point happening right now that’s incredibly important to understand,” said ACMA Chairman Stan Krangel, who’s also president of Miles Kimball Co., a cataloger of gifts and novelties, in his opening remarks. “Unless we can get involved [in postal affairs], it’s going to be tough sledding. We need to take responsibility for our own destiny.”
The sessions from the event, which was attended by representatives from such marketers as Crate & Barrel, Uno Alla Volta, Ross-Simons and Paul Fredrick MenStyle, among others, as well as such vendors as MeritDirect, Direct Media and ParadyszMatera, primarily consisted of public dialogs with PRC and USPS reps. And such heavy hitters as PRC Vice Chair Nanci Langley and USPS President, Shipping & Mailing Services, Robert Bernstock, pledged to seek action to ease future postage punishment on catalog mailers.
“Collectively, you are being noticed,” Langley said. She reminded attendees that following the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (aka postal reform), which adjusted the role of the former Postal Rate Commission from rate maker to regulator, the PRC is no longer tied down by an outdated law from 1970 distancing it from mailers. “Our door is always open; we’re easily accessible,” she said, admitting that previously the PRC was largely unaware of the market implications of postage increases.
To read more about the ACCM forum recap, click here.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| It’s Not too Soon to Plan Holiday Marketing Strategies, Expert Says 2009-05-15
With consumers likely to be crunched for cash as well as time in the coming holiday shopping season, it’s not too soon to plan for sharper marketing and merchandising strategies, says Gene Alvarez, vice president and retail analyst at research and advisory firm Gartner Inc.
As retailers plan campaigns in search marketing and comparison shopping engines, for example, they should ensure that the landing pages show the exact products featured in search rankings and comparison listings, he says.
“If a shopper searches on the name of a retailer and ‘kids digital camera,’ the retailer’s landing page shouldn’t show a $1,000 professional digital camera, it should show a Crayola or Mattel digital camera,” Alvarez says.
“This holiday season, when comes to online shopping, many consumes will be looking for value, but will still be crunched for time,” he adds. “The more a consumer has to wander around a retail site to find a product, the less likely she’ll stick around and buy something.”
He adds that retailers will probably have to work harder to benefit from effective promotional campaigns, such as the usually popular holiday season free-shipping offers. “We’ll see a ton of free-shipping this holiday season, so free-shipping may not differentiate a retailer,” he says. “So it may have to sweeten the deal, such as if a customer spends $100 or more, he gets free shipping plus 10% off.”
(www.internetretialer.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Techniques to Find and Cut Unprofitable Circulation 2009-05-12
The old saying is, “98 percent of your prospecting circulation won’t respond to your next catalog. So the trick is to find the 2 percent that will and just mail to them.” Another way of approaching this dilemma is to isolate as many as possible of those 98 percent who won’t respond and stop mailing them.
The last few months have been a roller-coaster ride, with response rates trending downward due to our economy's struggles. No one knows if/when we're going to hit a plateau, but almost everyone agrees that response rates are taking a hit. Smart mailers are looking to cut wasted circ through aggressive suppression opportunities.
Here are some techniques to find households that won’t respond:
• NextAction is offering a modeling product to suppress marginal prospecting circ. Does it make sense to optimize your prospecting circ and suppress households that won’t respond? Catalogers have been successfully optimizing older housefiles for suppression and reactivation, so the next logical step is to optimize your prospects. As Robin Opie, NextAction’s vice president of analytics, explains, “We saw a tremendous opportunity to add value with a strong suppression product and have been working for well over a year to develop an entirely new set of analytical methods that are engineered from the ground up to identify those customers that are least likely to respond to a given offer. The most promising of these methods is a nonregression-based approach that borrows many of its analytical methods from today’s best spam filters.”
• Model at your co-op database your marginal housefile names, and suppress the households that won’t break even. Smart mailers have been suppressing and reactivating old housefile names for some time now.
• Segment your singles and multis, and drop the singles if they respond below breakeven.
• Look at the two-time, three-time and four-time-plus multibuyers from marginal lists, and only mail those multibuyers that are above breakeven.
• The co-op databases can identify households that have become dormant and have little or no mail order activity in the past six months. These households are suppression opportunities.
• Use a ZIP table to suppress geographic areas where your catalog does poorly.
• Find databases of foreclosures and bad credit to suppress those households who've run out of money.
• Look at geographic areas that have been hit hard by the recession, such as Florida, Las Vegas and parts of California, and suppress those distressed areas.
• Tighten your retail market areas, and mail closer to your retail stores. Cut the fringe areas where driving time and expense may make people reluctant to visit your stores.
• Combine the optimization scoring from co-op databases with your own RFM segmentation of older house segments (e.g., one-time vs. two-time and <$50 vs. >$50), and cherry-pick house segments to suppress.
Cutting the fat from your proven prospecting circ is a better option than simply cutting circ across the board, dropping mailings or cutting your merchandise margins. Set a goal of cutting a percentage of your proven circ, and see if you can maintain your historical dollar-per-book revenue from each of your proven lists.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| PRC Conducts Review of Postal Service's Summer Sale 2009-05-11
On May 1, 2009, the Postal Service filed with the Commission a notice announcing its intention to adjust prices for Standard Mail
letters and flats pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 3622 and 39 CFR part 3010.\1\ The proposed adjustment is in the form of a ``Standard Mail Volume Incentive Pricing Program'' (also known as the Summer Sale program) with a planned implementation date of July 1, 2009 and a planned expiration date of September 30, 2009. This proposal represents an innovative approach by the Postal Service to utilize greater pricing flexibility for market dominant products under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), Public Law 109-435, 120 Stat. 3218 (2006).
To read more, or to comment on the proposal click here.
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| Cleaning Up Your Catalog Creative 2009-05-06
Most catalogs realize an average 2% response rate. How can your catalog design help grab the other 98%? You can use design and photograph to boost you catalog’s performance, according to Lois Boyle-Brayfield, president of consultancy J. Schmid & Associates.
Boyle-Brayfield said in Monday’s intensive session, “Project Runway: Creating a Red Carpet Catalog,” that three criteria comprise the engine that is a catalog: Grab attention; sell the story, and make it easy! Covers, both front and back, are the “foremost opportunities” to increase results by using drama and consistency. “It’s your first line of defense,” she said. “Will they open your catalog or not?”
Creating engaging covers needs to include something to grab attention, quickly tell who you are, present any offers, get the reader inside, and sell! Back covers should not be forgotten, Boyle-Brayfield said, because they must accomplish “everything that a front cover does. I love headlines on back covers.”
Always sell on the back cover, and always repeat the company logo and tagline, Boyle-Brayfield explained. Show a range of categories and price points, consider a headline that either sells or differentiates the brand, list order options and include a mailing block. “Remember, this is a visual medium first,” she noted.
Other “hotspots” in a catalog include front inside spreads, back inside spreads, pages around the order form, and pages around inserts or bind-ins. Eye flow, Boyle-Brayfield noted, begins on the upper right hand of a catalog page and moves left and then down and right across the bottom of the page. Thinking strategically is essential, she said. “Put on your customer goggles. Always find the hook.”
Taking advantage of “hotspots” is important in terms of editorial support of the brand, best selling products, special customer messages. Pacing the reader – 30% begin from the back of the catalog and 70% spend time on the “hotter” pages – becomes an ongoing goal.
Boyle-Brayfield offered some suggestions to help pace readers: Vary your design templates; create visually interesting spreads that pull the eye in with unique layouts or design treatments; vary the size of photography; provide editorial support of the brand; and take advantage of eye flow research.
Spreads that tell a collective story or present a theme will, typically, outpull all other spreads. Themes should support your brand and should emerge out of your merchandise concept and analysis.
When the eye is overwhelmed, Boyle-Brayfield noted, “it literally quivers with fatigue. Organization is everything.” All components should support the brand, present product as the hero, accurately present all features and options, and create an easy decision path. “If a customer is engaged, compelling copy and design hygiene play a big role in closing the sale.”
Ordering should never be difficult, Boyle-Brayfield added. Try to oversimplify complicated purchase options and exploit all offers. “Don’t get too cute,” she said. “Assume the customer doesn’t get your joke.”
There are three rules to follow to give a catalog that “clean” look, she said. “Keep it simple. Keep it clean. Keep it consistent.”
(www.multichannelmerchant.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Choose Your Words Carefully 2009-05-05
Word choice is more crucial than it has been over the past half-century, according to Herschell Gordon Lewis, president of Lewis Enterprises and author of 31 books.
In his segment during Monday’s intensive session, “Project Runway: Creating a Red Carpet Catalog,” Lewis noted that word choice, “can hold or lose a catalog recipient.” For example, when should you use “perhaps” and when should you use “maybe”? The answer? Think. Don’t guess. The Clarity Commandment, as Lewis related, reads: “When you choose words and phrases for force-communication, clarity is paramount. Don’t let any other component of the communications mix interfere with it.”
Lewis centered on several rules that can help catalogers:
•The double-edge word-sword rule: Don’t use words with possible negative implications as intended positives. For example, “old” or “serviceable.”
•The Negative suggestion as positive rule: Use words with possible negative implications as intended positives. For example, “not for” and “don’t.”
•The benefit outpulls product rule: A headline emphasizing benefit will attract more positive attention than an announcement of what it is.
•The exclusive isn’t enough rule: Exclusivity without recognizable benefit is a boiler-plate pitch.
•The what’s new rule: “New” in a starburst isn’t competitive with “new” explained in terms of benefits.
•The improvement over replacement rule: Suggesting an item as an improvement may be less likely to cause confusion or rejection than suggesting a new concept.
•The reason to buy rule: Copy should include a reason to buy, the reason being non-exclusive for this catalog’s customer.
•The only here rule: Claiming primal or sole source positions both the catalog and the item.
•The passive/passive rule: Passive voice is less dynamic and less proprietary.
•The explain the difference rule: When offering multiple items with similar features, give each one a clearly understood reason to buy.
•The rhetorical uniqueness rule: Uniqueness stems easily from avoidance of generic verbs and adjectives. For example, “made” is generic; “hand-crafted” = uniqueness.
•Lewis also noted that the Web not only is price-driven, but has more than significantly shrunk attention spans. “Grab and shake wins the race,” in e-mail marketing Lewis said.
•Another trend for the 21st Century is I, Lewis said. “We write the way people talk.”
(www.multichannelmerchant.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| The USPS Offers Summer Sale Virtual Seminar 2009-05-04
On May 11, at 12:30 p.m. ET, Tom Foti, USPS manager for marketing mail will discuss the USPS Summer Sale and answer questions from virtual attendees. The Postal Service Summer Sale is likely to be approved the Board of Governors in fairly short order and the Postal Regulatory Commission will be notified soon thereafter. USPS is informing mailers on what they currently envision as the outline of the plan. The sale will run from July 1, 2009 through September 30, 2009. Mailers who mailed over 1 million Standard letters and/or flats from October 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008 are eligible to participate in the sale. (about 3,250 mailers accounting for 75% of Standard Mail volume). Mailers will receive a rebate of 30% on any mail volume in that period which is over the past threshold. Mailers’ rebate will be adjusted if their October, 2009 volume is less than their October, 2008 mail volume adjusted their mailing trend.
To read more about the postal summer sale click here. |
| 2nd Annual Catalog Forum to be Held in May 2009-05-01
The second annual National Catalog Advocacy & Strategy Forum will be held in Washington, DC, May 20-21 in conjunction with the National Postal Forum.
The meeting, which is being held by the American Catalog Mailers Association, is intended as a place where industry representatives can collectively discuss and resolve issues prior to the implementation of new postal initiatives.
“Printed catalogs are critical for most multichannel retailers, yet postal policymakers don’t fully understand their importance to us and to the Postal Service,” said industry consultant Coy Clement, in a statement. “ The industry needs a strong, effective voice in postal affairs to avoid devastating rate increases and other ‘surprises.’ There is not much any one company can do, but ACMA’s industry-wide effort deserves our support.”
At last year’s meeting, USPS Postmaster General Jack Potter, Postal Regulatory Commission Chair Dan Blair and senior postal officials discussed ideas such as this year’s “summer sales” with catalogers.
“The entire industry must come together to mobilize,” said Hamilton Davison, executive director of ACMA, in a statement. “We have been given notice by the PRC that the historical cost calculation on USPS handling of our mail portends another large increase to postage few companies can absorb. Fortunately, there is something we can do to avoid this but we must act now.” Coming to this year’s forum is a great way to start, he added.
(www.dmnews.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| More Catalogs Adding E-commerce Channels 2009-05-01
The number of print catalogs with e-commerce sites grew from 8,675 to 8,894 between March 2008 and this past March, according to the 2009 National Directory of Catalogs.
Catalogs available in online-only formats totaled 2,011, up from 1,868 the prior year, while catalogs available in print-only formats decreased from 1,574 to 1,347 in the same period.
During the past five years, the number of baking catalogs jumped 353% from 16 titles to 68, produce catalogs increased 183%, from 29 to 82, and confectionery catalogs were up 138% from 74 to 176. At the same time, manufacturing catalogs showed the steepest decline—a 43% drop—from 469 to 268, and computer catalogs dropped 33%, from 313 to 209.
Book catalogs continued to top the list during that same five-year period, with 1,156 in 2009, up from 1,071 in 2004. The other largest catalog categories are apparel and accessories, numbering 819 catalogs, up from 711, and automotive, with 593 catalogs, up from 389 in 2004.
In addition to books, apparel, and automotive, the other most popular mail order categories are education (528 catalog), gardening and horticulture (422 titles) and gifts and greeting cards (358), according to the 2009 National Directory of Catalogs.
(www.multichannelmerchant.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Multichannel Hospitality: Jack Stack BBQ 2009-04-30
Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue blends retail, catalog and e-commerce for a tastier customer experience
You can call it barbecue, barbeque, BBQ or just plain ’cue. Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue, of course, calls it business. In particular, it’s a family business that started in 1957 when the Fiorella clan opened the first of its barbecue restaurants in Kansas City, Mo., called Smoke Stack Barbecue. In 1974, the eldest Fiorella son, Jack, added another branch to the family trade by opening his own operation, which he later distinguished by renaming it Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue, introducing hickory wood to the grilling process and adding seafood to the more traditional pork, poultry and beef offerings.
Thirty-five years later, the Jack Stack Barbecue business has grown to include four Kansas City area restaurants with retail stores; a multimillion-dollar catering division and private dining service; and a thriving mail order business for barbecue meats, sauces and rubs, and logo apparel.
The secret recipe behind the brand’s success brings together a focus on the product and customer service to deliver a top-notch barbecue dining experience, whether the customer is in one of the restaurants or in the comfort of his own home. Product price points range from $54.95 for a ribs dinner package that serves two to three people to $359.95 for the Jack Stack’s Signature Feast that serves 20 to 24 people. In addition, customers can supplement their barbecue packages with add-on items, such as other meats, side dishes, desserts, sauces and rubs, and even a copy of the latest catalog.
“It’s actually a challenge to sell barbecue nationwide, because the preferred regional flavor profiles vary so widely,” explains Steve Trollinger, executive vice president of J. Schmid & Associates, a catalog and multichannel marketing services firm in Mission, Kan., that works with Jack Stack Barbecue. “It so happens that Jack Stack is, for all practical purposes, the definition of ‘Kansas City barbecue’ and benefits from the cachet associated with that positioning. The result is that Jack Stack can be very ‘niche’ with the product offering but appeal widely because it’s known as the representative brand for the genre. The company’s perfectly positioned to leverage the niche and still grow.”
Lever No. 1: Retail
Zagat-rated and featured in prominent national media— “The Today Show,” Bon Apptit, The Wall Street Journal—Jack Stack’s restaurants draw the local crowd as well as fellow barbecue lovers from around the world. The company makes the most of this foot traffic with on-site retail stores that sell its signature sauces and rubs, select frozen foods, and logo apparel. Especially for long-distance travelers, the stores are the perfect environment in which to alert customers to Jack Stack’s mail order business.
“We have a number of collateral pieces inside the store that make it clear to our guests that we have those services available to them,” says Case Dorman, Jack Stack’s president and CEO (and son-in-law of the company founder). “We’ll have marketing pieces spread throughout the store in tactful places,” he explains, emphasizing the importance of not detracting from the dining experience with a hardsell offer on these services.
In fact, the focus on the upscale barbecue restaurant brand factors largely into the company’s decision not to run a loyalty program. “We’ve always been sensitive to that balance between having a relaxing dining experience and feeling like somebody is always trying to sell you something as you’re involved in that process, so that’s probably why we’ve been slow to develop a program in-house,” says Dorman.
As such, Jack Stack is proceeding cautiously with the development of a contact management program for its retail customers. Currently, the company tracks store visits through its customer service team in its shipping division, flagging callers by catalog, online or retail source.
Another way the company leverages in-person interaction is via an insert that comes with the customers’ bills in the check presenter. Jack Stack Barbecue Vice President Travis Carpenter says this insert promotes the shipping business with information on the program as well as a 10 percent discount offer. Called Jack’s Bucks, this in-restaurant promotion helps acquaint customers with the store, Web site and catalog. Plus, Carpenter adds, it allows Jack Stack to gather customer information when the offer is redeemed.
To help drive repeat and new restaurant business, the company is continuing a partnership promotion with American Express. For the second year, Jack Stack participated in a coupon mailing that offers recipients a free entre of equal or lesser value with the purchase of a second entre. Mailed to about 15,000 people, Carpenter notes the “majority are current customers or lapsed customers, and there’s a little bit of prospecting in there, as well.” He tallies the promotion’s response rate at between 10 percent and 12 percent.
Dorman and Carpenter have been pleased with the success of the American Express mailing and the restaurants’ overall performance, especially during this recession.
“Our restaurants have maintained their sales levels, for the most part. But it is an environment where you really have to stay out there in front of your guests and continue to talk to them,” says Dorman.
Lever No. 2: Catalog
Mailed nine to 12 times a year with two different creative campaigns, the catalog reaches Jack Stack’s customer and prospecting audience of men and women, primarily ages 40 and older with average annual household incomes of $75,000. In addition to being displayed in the restaurant stores, the catalog is offered on the company’s Web site.
For visitors less familiar with the Jack Stack brand, the company devotes space in its catalog pages to sharing its down-home story and point of view.
“One of the things we’ve really tried to leverage, and with importance, is the experiential piece in our branding that says we’re selling our restaurant experience. So we attempt to use the restaurant experience to motivate people to purchase from the catalog. When you open the catalog, there’s a little history about the restaurants … and information on the restaurant locations that are in Kansas City,” Dorman explains. “What we want to share with them is just a little piece of our brand and our culture and who we are, so we can start building some value in that dining experience that’s beyond just, ‘Hey, buy a slab from us because we have a catalog,’ or, ‘Buy this barbecue meal from us because we have this catalog with a great picture.’ We try to establish our brand identity and a little history with them so they have a reference point for that.”
The catalog is the primary acquisition tool for Jack Stack, with e-mail and the restaurants pulling their weight for customer retention. That said, the company will be trimming some of its catalog prospecting activity this year and investigating online opportunities to keep its acquisition costs in line.
To learn more about Jack Stack's use of multichannel marketing methods, click here. |
| 9 Tips to Better Catalog Copy 2009-04-30
From time to time, it's important to check the shelf life of your catalog product copy. If the copy isn’t fresh, engaging or sales-driven, chances are it's outdated and you're probably losing sales. So why not take a few minutes to examine your copy and be honest with yourself: Does the copy sell the product?
Industry giants such as Herschell Gordon Lewis have revolutionized writing trends for the catalog industry. Original, persuasive copy has the power to outperform simple product description and function. Sales-generated copy keeps customers hooked from the first few words to the final bulleted dimension.
Nevertheless, how do you know if your copy is a sales generator? Keep the following nine tips in mind to make your copy sparkle, increase sales and ultimately strengthen your bottom line.
1. Get personal. First and foremost, know your customer to determine the tone of your copy. Age demographics, income and lifestyle all play into the mix. Your customer base is constantly evolving, so it's important to keep communication lines open. Listen to what your customers have to say.
2. Benefits strengthen copy. The intro sentence in copy is most important. Customers tend to skim copy, so the intro sentence should draw them in immediately with a benefit. The product must offer a convenience, solve a problem, improve lifestyle, alleviate a fear or provide some other customer benefit.
The introductory sentence of a “forearm crutch” copy block, for example, reads, “Gain an extra dose of confidence and stability with every step.” In this example, two benefits are stated — confidence (reinforces self-worth) and stability (alleviates a fear).
3. Retire “obfuscating” vocabulary. Your copy should converse with customers in an easy-to-understand manner. Don't force them to drag out the dictionary. Unless you're targeting a specific audience, you stand to lose a much broader customer base.
4. To ramble is to complicate. Avoid long run-on sentences — they tend to be complex with too many ideas jammed into a single sentence. Tighten your copy, or break it into two shorter sentences for clarity purposes.
5. Make every word count. Is your copy tight? Product copy space is typically limited; too many neutral words or phrases — e.g., with this, there is, these are just a few, you’ll be sure — add no value to content and waste space.
6. Copy should reVERBerate. Verbs denote action, allowing customers to visualize, taste, feel, hear or smell the products. In the examples below, verbs begin the copy block. You instantly bring the product to life, and customers get a sense for it without actually having it in their possessions to examine.
7. Avoid “owner’s manual" style copy. Don’t let copy sound like a fact sheet — dry and uninspiring. Do more than list a product’s functions, sizes, colors or dimensions. Remember, the copy needs to sell and provide a benefit to the customer.
8. Active vs. passive. Active sentences carry more emotion and zest than passive sentences.
Active voice: Illuminate outdoor areas with a sconce.
Passive voice: Outdoor areas can be illuminated with a sconce.
Did you also notice that in the example for passive voice the copy isn't as tight as it could be. Two “neutral” words, can be, bring no value to the content. To check copy in a Word document for passive voice sentences, go to Tools/options/spelling and grammar and check all that applies. As you do a spelling and grammar check, take the opportunity to correct passive sentences.
9. Buddy system. Finally, read your copy aloud or let a second pair of eyes look it over. Do you stumble over certain words? Is there confusing text that needs to be clarified?
Customers are continuously inundated with product offerings and choices. Stimulating, benefit-oriented copy can capture the fleeting attention spans of oftentimes harried customers. And isn’t that the goal — to keep customers browsing through your catalog and not your competitor’s? This is accomplished through clear, tight, sales-oriented copy.
With existing copy, you don’t necessarily have to throw it all away and start from scratch. Sometimes a copy makeover is all that's necessary. Reword passive sentences, dig deeper for benefits, and replace words or phrases that add no value.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| USPS Unveils Further Details on 'Summer Sale' 2009-04-22
On Tuesday, April 21, the US Postal service briefed DMA and other associations on the details of its upcoming “Summer Sale.” Although the Postal Service Summer Sale has not yet been approved by the Board of Governors, USPS is informing mailers of what they currently envision as the outline of the plan. DMA has provided a summary of that outline, which may be changed before it is brought to the Board of Governors. The plans may change further after review by the Board and the Postal Regulatory Commission.
The sale will run from July 1, 2009 through September 30, 2009.
Mailers who mailed over one million Standard letters and/or flats from October 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008 are eligible to participate in the sale. (about 3,250 mailers accounting for 75 percent of Standard Mail volume)
Mailers will receive a rebate of 30 percent on any mail volume in that period which is over the past threshold.
Mailers’ rebate will be adjusted if their October, 2009 volume is less than their October, 2008 mail volume adjusted their mailing trend.
The rebate is determined as follows:
Vol. = Volume
Post = Postage
Oct 1, 08 thru Mar 31, 09 Vol. Oct 1, 07 thru Mar 31, 08 Vol. = Trend
Trend x Jul 1, 08 thru Sep 30, 08 Vol. = Threshold
Jul 1, 09 thru Sep 30, 09 Post Jul 1, 09 thru Sep 30, 09 Vol. = Avg. Post
(Jul 1, 09 thru Sep 30, 09 Vol. - Threshold) x Avg. Post x 0.30 = Unadjusted Rebate
(Oct 08 Vol. x Trend) - Oct 09 Vol. = Oct Adjustment
Unadjusted Rebate - (Oct Adjustment x 0.30) = Final Rebate
Mailers will pay full postage during the summer. After October 31, 2009. The USPS will determine the rebate which each mailer is due. Rebates will be credited to the mailer’s permit account before December 31, 2009.
The Postal Service will be sending eligible mailers letters that will provide the Threshold as determined by USPS data systems. Mailers who believe they are eligible but did not receive a letter or mailers who do not agree with the USPS determined Threshold may appeal to USPS. USPS, shortly will provide DMA with the contact for any appeals. DMA expects mailers to receive these letters by May 4, 2009.
Mailers may enroll in the program on the Web on or before July 1, 2009, after they receive their eligibility letter. NOTE: Enrolling on the Web means that the mailer accepts the Threshold as determined by USPS or as determine via appeal, whichever is applicable.
In determining the Threshold, the USPS will aggregate a mailer’s mail from all its permits, ghost permits and subsidiaries and business names. If a mailer has entered its mail or portion thereof using another’s permit (such as a mail service provider), the burden is upon the mailer to provide documentation indicating its volume of mail entered under that permit.
The Postal Service will submit the plan to the Board of Governors this week. They hope to submit it to the Postal Regulatory Commission in early May and receive the PRC decision in mid June.
Click here to read more about USPS "Summer Sale"
(www.the-dma.org, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| Fashion Forward 2009-04-15
Moving ahead in the current economy will require fashion companies to be as flexible and innovative as they've claimed to be all along. The old financial tricks and merchandising sleights of hand aren't going to work anymore.
Fashion companies were quick enough to cut expenditures, pare store openings, and lean on suppliers to survive the first year of the recession and the start of the credit crisis. But shifting consumer values and brutal economic realities are forcing both the weak and strong to reconsider their reason for being and how they do business.
The paradigm in fashion is shifting. Well-established consumer segments are all changing independently and the industry is scrambling to keep up. The proof is everywhere, from First Lady Michelle Obama's penchant for J. Crew to Jil Sander's transformation into fast-fashion maven and luxury's nosedive.
The global playing field is also in flux, with financial pressures bearing down on economies of all shapes and sizes.
"What's going on is unprecedented, at least in my experience," said Allen Questrom, former chief executive officer of J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Federated, Barneys New York, and Neiman Marcus Inc. "This is the deepest consumer retrenchment I have ever witnessed. It's like someone turned out the lights and the world changed."
The advice from retail's Mr. Fix-it?
"Get rid of nonproductive stores. Cut back expectations—cut back the business empire from 10 to 20 percent depending on type of product—the whole business," Questrom suggested. "It's about cutting operating expenses, the number of physical facilities, sales, profits, the whole world. It could be four years, five years, or it could be we are in for a 10-year decline."
Smaller is just a part of the new world order experts and industry veterans see coming.
The next couple of decades will see the coexistence of several "contradictory" distribution strategies, according to Gildas Minvielle, an economist at the French Fashion Institute. Slow and fast-fashion concepts will operate side-by-side and smaller retail formats will return to repopulate town centers.
Click here to read more about the changing fashion industry.
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| Potentially Reduced Postage Rates 2009-04-14
There has been an important and positive recent development with the U.S. Postal Service that stands to have very positive implications for both standard and letter mailers in 2009. The idea is to reduce postage pricing for standard and letter mailers who increase volumes during the third calendar quarter of 2009 (i.e., July, August and September). The idea came through Mailing Industry CEO Council meetings with Postmaster General Jack Potter. Here's how the program would work.
To qualify for the reduced postage rate, a calculation would be performed to determine the change in a customer's applicable USPS volume in two specific time periods:
•The volume of pieces mailed in the 4th quarter of 2007 and 1st quarter of 2008 of the USPS' fiscal year, which runs from October 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008. (Period A)
•The volume of pieces mailed in the 4th quarter of 2008 and 1st quarter of 2009 of the USPS' fiscal year, which runs from October 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009. (Period B)
•The variance in the number of pieces mailed between Period A and Period B would be the baseline for determining the minimum required mail volume to qualify for the discount.
Again, the program would apply to all standard mailers and letter mailers of any size - even those who may already have increased their volumes.
The USPS is going to recommend a discount ranging somewhere between 20% and 30% for this program, but we will not know the final percentage until the time of the filing. The proposed "test pricing" will be presented to the PRC (Postal Regulatory Commission) within the next three weeks. The PRC then has 45 days to rule on the proposal. If the proposal passes, the reduced rates are anticipated to be in effect July 1 - September 30, 2009. It is possible, however, that these dates will change before implementation.
There have also been discussions about possibly repeating this "mail sale" pricing in other off-peak times in the future, perhaps in early 2010.
Once the USPS files the proposal with the PRC, we will provide all the final details - the percentages, when the discounts will be provided (at time of mailing or rebated after sale period), how the USPS will handle verification and postage payment, etc.
*****This is all the information available as of today. We are anticipating updates within a few days.
Questions? Please contact Don Landis, VP of Postal Affairs or Susan Pinter, Director of Postal Affairs. Both can be reached at 800-558-8724.
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| CPC Says Custom Publishing More Powerful Than Ever 2009-04-07
A new study from Roper Public Affairs and the Custom Publishing Council (CPC) reports that custom magazines and other custom media have increased in popularity and influence since 2005.
According to the study, conducted via telephone with 1000 adult Americans in February-March 2009, 70% of respondents said they liked custom publications, and 59% at least occasionally page through printed custom publications.
In addition, 2/3 of respondents said they were likely to buy from the same company that provided a custom publication, and nearly that number (63%) said they had bought something they saw in a custom publication. Nearly of respondents preferred getting information on companies from “an interesting collection of articles” to getting the same information from advertisements, and 78% believe that companies that send custom publications are interested in building strong relationships with customers.
“It reinforces the point we've been trying to make to marketers throughout the recession, which is that if you really want to stay afloat and want a cost-efficient and cost-effective method to do that, custom publishing is a vehicle that you should use,” said Mike Winkleman, chairman of the CPC. “We found that of people would prefer to learn about companies through a custom magazine than an ad, and since custom publishing is more efficient than an ad, marketers might as well put their money in custom publishing.”
Electronic custom media are also coming into their own, though they still lag behind print. Thirty-six percent of respondents said they look at electronic custom publications occasionally or more often.
There is an age difference in the print v. electronic preferences. While only 45% of the total survey group said that electronic custom publications provide a valuable service, 57% of those 18-34 said so.
In an interesting twist, considering the current rough patch in the print industry, most of the positive numbers on custom publishing have increased since the study was last conducted in 2005.
“Four years later, custom publishing has grown in terms of acceptance, recognition, and from an ROI perspective,” Winkleman pointed out. “All of that increased generally on order of around 6 points, and that was exciting because that's the thing we need to be able to tell marketers: that not only do people like custom publishing and read it, but that they take action.”
(www.dmnews.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| How to Improve Your Catalog Program 2009-04-03
Why do catalogs fail? The answer is deceptively simple, while the remedy is not.
Most catalogs fail because they walk away from the basics; they ignore the elementary economic analyses necessary to properly measure and control the business.
The Other Guy’s Model
In the vast majority of American businesses, fixed costs are high and variable costs are low. For example, in the retail arena, companies can increase sales simply by staying open longer. The variable cost may be merely the salary of a clerk for an extra hour.
By monitoring the top line, you can fairly accurately estimate the impact on the bottom line. To increase profitability, all you need is enough incremental margin to cover low incremental costs.
Our Model
For catalogs, just the opposite is true: Fixed costs are low and variable costs are high. In the most traditional cases, the way to incremental sales is through mailing more catalogs. Mailing includes increased printing and postage costs, the two highest budget lines of a catalog operation.
I normally provide my clients a model P&L that shows fixed costs should run around 7 percent of net sales, while mailing costs should be in the 30 percent range. Very few consumer catalogs can fit into this idealized model.
The result is that many catalogs lose sight of this and end up overmailing. Incremental margin is far outstripped by incremental costs — and this can happen in a hurry. The bottom line goes from black to red, and the catalog is in trouble.
The beauty of direct marketing is that when a catalog is growing, you can monitor the pieces of your growth and add circulation to list segments that are performing above average. Your P&L is in the black, and life is good.
Why, then, is it so difficult to cut circ when times are bad? Why is it so difficult to monitor the impact of incremental costs that are necessary to gain incremental sales? The answer is, It’s not if you stick to the basic economic fundamentals. Go find the marketing analyst sitting in the far corner of your office; he/she has the answer. If you don’t have one of these analysts, you’re probably already in trouble and don’t know it … yet.
When times are bad, the normal response is to cut overhead. This is exactly the wrong response. Constantly monitor results at the micro level, understand when incremental costs exceed incremental margin, then react by re-evaluating your circ. Cut it when you have to. Leave your overhead alone unless you’re going out of business.
It’s All in the Analysis
The first thing I do when taking on a new client is I go back through two to three years of history and look for instances when incremental costs are too high to support the incremental margin. I’m constantly amazed by the number of times this happens. This is a very sensitive analysis; it doesn’t take much to turn the numbers red.
If you understand response curves and know how to accurately forecast your results, you don’t have to wait for a mailing response to be complete before you undertake this analysis. I’m a spreadsheet geek, so I build this measurement into all my analyses and can tell early on when things are headed south — and by how much.
How to Measure, What to Measure
If you’re a catalog owner, do the analysis. Do it every week. Constantly measure your incremental sales, and compare them to your incremental costs. And don’t forget the cost of taking and shipping an order; this can make a big difference in the results. Your bottom line will thank you.
(http://gilbertdirectmarketing.wordpress.com) |
| Too Many Choices Can Tax the Brain 2009-03-30
Starbucks offers consumers up to 87,000 drink combinations. Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, offers up to 1,000 channels. Sirius offers 140 different satellite radio stations for your listening pleasure.
Americans have come to expect a wide array of choices, and most companies, be they car companies, clothiers or coffee shops, have been more than willing to pony up. But more choices do not always equate to happier consumers.
In fact, some studies show that having to make too many decisions can leave people tired, mentally drained and more dissatisfied with their purchases. It also leads people to make poorer choices -- sometimes at a time when the choice really matters.
The notion that choice is always good for people -- the more choices the better -- seemed intuitively wrong to Kathleen Vohs, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota. "Clearly there are costs to having too much choice," she says -- and she set out to find what they were.
Vohs, who has studied the effect of choice on consumers for many years, found in a recent project that even making pleasant choices can deplete one's mental resources, making a person less able to concentrate later.
Students in her study who were asked to make decisions later spent less time preparing for a test, gave up more quickly when trying to complete various tasks and performed worse on math problems than those not asked to make choices.
Vohs' group also studied the "decision fatigue" that can occur at a shopping mall. They asked random shoppers at a Utah mall questions such as how many decisions they had made that day, the importance of those choices and the length of their deliberation. The researchers found that the more choices the shoppers had made, the worse they performed on simple math problems they were then asked to complete on the spot.
Making decisions takes work, says Barry Schwartz, a professor of psychology at Swarthmore College and author of the 2004 book, "The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less."
"The mere act of thinking about whether you prefer A or B tires you out," Schwartz says. "So if I give you something else that takes discipline, you can't do it -- you'll quit faster. If I have lifted weights in a gym, later trying to lift a 30-pound weight is impossible."
Schwartz says that one of three things is likely to occur when people have too many decisions to make -- consumers end up making poor decisions, are more dissatisfied with their choices or become paralyzed and don't choose at all.
And as the complexity of a decision increases, a person is more likely to look for ways -- often erroneous -- to simplify the choosing process. If there are 100 kinds of cereal, instead of looking at all of the characteristics, people will evaluate a product based on something familiar, such as brand name, or easy, such as price.
Even when we choose well, we are often less satisfied because, with so many choices, consumers are certain that somewhere out there was something better. "They think about attractive things they've passed up and missed opportunities," Schwartz says.
Schwartz recently fell victim to this when purchasing a pair of jeans. He went to the Gap and tried on all the available styles. He walked out with jeans that fit well, but he was still not happy with his purchase, he says. With so many different varieties of pants, he was left thinking, "One of them should have been perfect -- and none were."
Most marketers are aware that consumers succumb to the idea that more options means we're more likely to find the perfect product.
And most companies use this fact of human psychology to their advantage. Because creating a new brand of shampoo or laundry detergent is expensive, companies often save money by marketing products that differ only slightly from their competitors' products or other brands of their own. Then they spend time convincing buyers that the products are, in fact, very different, says Sheena Iyengar, a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
To read more, click here.
(www.latimes.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| Cross-Media Campaigns: Are They Worth the Effort? 2009-03-12
These campaigns can be tough, but are worth the effort
Are cross-media campaigns complicated? Sometimes. But they also offer confident managers a great opportunity to boost returns on their marketing investment.
Cross-media campaigns have three attributes: they reach an audience via online and traditional media channels, including direct mail, e-mail, personalized URLs (PURLs), microsites and auto-generated responses; they feature one-to-one, customized marketing messages; and, finally, all responses, or lack thereof, are treated as “triggers” for cause-and-effect relationship marketing.
It's easy to confuse cross-media marketing with multichannel marketing, but their objectives differ.
Multichannel campaigns deliver thematic messages through electronic, print and broadcast media. Multichannel marketing works well for new product exposure, branding or name recognition. Cross-media campaigns also employ various channels but use a response mechanism to deliver measurable results for each media.
A full-blown cross-media campaign's details will fill your flow chart. You'll do a great deal of thinking, imagining and “what-ifing.”
Here are some musts as you move ahead:
Define your goal
Having a clear objective keeps the project on track.
Start small
The old adage that you have to crawl before you walk is sound advice for anyone attempting a cross-media effort. But small doesn't mean unambitious. Make your objective broad enough that all parties understand it, yet narrow enough to prevent things from becoming unwieldy.
Involve your direct marketing production vendor early
The campaign's success depends on your ability to plan every detail. After setting the goal, you'll need to choose the audience, make the message concise and determine the best way to deliver it. Next, work out a budget and timeline. Hopefully you'll also take this opportunity to collect new data about your recipients. And as always, devise ways to measure response.
Consider enlisting the help of a direct marketing production vendor who's walked this road before. Such an individual or organization can help you navigate roadblocks, avoid potholes and find the surest path to success.
To read more, click here.
(www.directmag.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Postal Hike To Favor Direct Mailers, Disadvantage Newspapers 2009-03-09
An upcoming increase in postal rates could severely impact the delivery cost of newspaper Total Market Coverage products. The Newspaper Association of America warns that a May 11 United States Postal Service hike will favor direct mailers over newspapers.
"The rates will place newspapers at a substantial competitive disadvantage to national and local saturation advertising mailers in which newspapers compete for advertising in local markets," said Paul J. Boyle, senior vice president, public policy at the NAA.
Newspapers use the USPS to deliver TMC products to non-subscribers, which contain inserts and coupons. The hike will raise prices by as much as 11% on those pieces. In addition, the USPS is offering an incentive program of deep discounts to national advertising mailers for new volumes.
The newspaper industry spent $800 million with the USPS in 2006, the last time the data was collected by the NAA. Boyle thinks that number is much higher now.
The Los Angeles Times, he said, sent out 3.5 million TMC pieces spending $30 million with the USPS last year. The Las Vegas Review-Journal sent out 583,000 pieces with an annual spend of $10 million.
"The USPS should not be in the business of picking winners and losers over rates," Boyle said.
Many newspapers are looking at private alternate delivery services that could cut costs on TMC delivery by 30%. However, only the USPS can deliver products in the mailboxes of households. The private services distribute the products on driveways, porches, or on doors.
Boyle said the NAA filed comments with postal regulatory commission. The NAA expects the commission to determine if the rates are illegal in a few weeks. If the commission declines to comment, the NAA plans to file a complaint, explained Boyle.
(www.editorandpublisher.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Catalog Doctor : Avoid the ‘Lazy Syndrome’ Epidemic 2009-03-06
Through our long boom, I watched many catalog/multichannel merchants get lazy. They fell away from cataloging fundamentals and adopted the approach, “Put it on paper, they’ll buy.” In a boom period, that may be enough. During a bust, it’s not.
In a bust period, you — and your whole catalog team — must think more and work harder on catalog fundamentals; you’ll be surprised at the gains. This month, let’s look at sales fundamentals.
I say “sales” instead of “marketing” to highlight a fact we tend to forget: Your catalog is a salesperson. In fact, catalogs originally served as replacement salespeople. They had to do all their same work. Today, many books don’t perform the fundamental tasks that can turn a sale. Try these five prescriptions, and call me in the morning.
1. Answer this product question: What will this product do for me, and why should I care?
There’s way too little product analysis from the customer’s standpoint, and you can see the consequences in weak, unconvincing copy. With today’s tight dollars, customers need a lot more convincing to open their wallets. The analysis needed to write effective copy is hard work, but the results are worth the effort.
Prescription: List all the product’s features, then all its benefits. Look at your list and imagine the customer saying, “So what?” It’s your job to answer “so what” and overcome each objection — overcoming objections has always been key for salesfolks.
After this process, you have an entire page of product features and really convincing benefits. Now you need to prioritize it all and condense it into a powerful headline/subhead with maybe 35 words to 100 words of copy. Think it can’t be done? See Vermont Country Store or Levenger. Even fashion has function, and copy needs to address fabric, fit, comfort, care and why your customers will look good.
2. Answer this brand question: Who are you, and why should I care?
Customers may love your products, but they may not love you. Your catalog needs to convince them why they can and should love your brand and buy from you. They may see competitive products for the same price or less, so your catalog needs to convince them to buy from you instead of that other guy.
Prescription: Analyze your company the same way you analyze products. Think about your company’s experience, special knowledge, product quality, service, guarantee and special programs. Make a features/benefits list, and again, imagine customers asking the question, “So what?”
Your result could be an intro letter or short copy blocks about special areas of interest. The right motto can say a lot. So can small, relevant editorials sprinkled throughout the catalog. And don’t forget that you can weave your expertise or other differentiators into product copy, too.
3. Help customers see all your products by using eye flow.
Good eye flow is a catalog fundamental that’s getting lost, and that translates into lost sales.
Prescription: Every time your customers turn a page, the next spread should have a visual “anchor” to grab their attention — big product, bright color, big headline, scenic, etc. Once you grab their attention, the other graphic elements need to guide their eyes around the spread and back so they see every product effortlessly. Avoid wrong guiding — if a model in the upper-right corner of a spread is looking right, customers are likely to look right, too, and lift the corner of the page and turn to the next spread without noticing the products on the left page at all.
To read more, click here.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2009, All Righs Reserved) |
| How to Get Green Goods Flying Off the Shelves 2009-03-05
Major retailers, such as Target, Office Depot and Home Depot, report strong sales in green goods through the recession and studies indicate consumers’ commitment to buying environmentally friendly products has not fallen off.
Yet even as green product sales continue to thrive, industry insiders say, retailers need to tweak their message to emphasize quality and value in addition to the environmental attributes.
“The challenge is promoting the efficacy and innovation of the product, as well as the sustainable elements,” says Neil Stern, senior partner with retail consulting firm McMillan|Doolittle in Chicago and author of “Greentailing and Other Revolutions in Retail.” “The message has got to be about value.”
That consumers are continuing to buy items offering a combination of quality and green characteristics bodes well for retailers who've invested time, money and inventory in private label green brands and other green product lines. The 2008 Good Purpose survey from public relations firm Edelman overwhelmingly shows that buyers plan to remain loyal to products that they perceive to have strong social value.
According to survey results, 68 percent of consumers say that even in a recession they would remain faithful to a brand if it supports a good cause; nearly seven in 10 would be prepared to pay more for eco-friendly products.
The results don’t surprise Ron Jarvis, vice president of environmental innovation for Atlanta-based Home Depot. While sales are down overall at Home Depot, its Eco Options label of energy efficient products are outperforming conventional merchandise sales across the board. “We are seeing continued interest in socially conscious products in our stores,” he says. “American consumers still want choices that have less of an impact on the environment.”
To read more, click here.
(www.greenbiz.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| 8 Design Tips to Spur Catalog Sales 2009-02-27
As a presenter at the Direct Marketing Association's Catalog on the Road Conference held in Cambridge, Mass., earlier this month, I provided the audience with eight creative tips to help grow sales during this most difficult selling environment. Here's a look at my “eight quick fixes”:
1. Focus on salesmanship and ease of shopping. There's a big difference between showing people an item and waiting to see if they want to buy it, to actively explaining the benefits, making claims about its quality, assuring them that they've made the right decision and making it easy for them to pay for it.
2. Your callouts and icons should be benefit-focused and fully explained. Over time, the tyranny of limited space exacts a heavy toll on icons and callouts. Go through your catalog to make sure these are fully explained and help guide customers into making the right purchases. If they're not easy to understand or there are too many of them, it's likely they're just confusing and act as barriers to customer purchases.
3. Use the magic words “Free,” “Save,” “Sale,” “New,” but don’t overdo it. Resist the urge to plaster “SAVE! SAVE! SAVE!” all over the page, but do look for ways to leverage this and other magic words. Tactics to consider include free shipping, shipping upgrades or free returns; save when you buy more; buy online (to save) or tell a friend; as well as to plug a winter sale, a secret sale, a preferred customer sale or inventory clearance sale. You also can call out new products on covers, add icons to all new items and run a “new products” section in the front of the catalog.
4. Call out best-sellers. Customers genuinely value knowing which items others have chosen. It's easy and effective to add “Best-Seller” icons to the top products in each category.
5. Put your best-selling products in the best locations. (Click on the PDF under "Related Content" to the right to view the best selling positions on a page and in a catalog.) Resist the urge to try to help poorly performing products by putting them in the best positions. You can’t save bad products — a 10 percent lift for a product that's in the bottom 20 percent of sales, for instance, won't come close to matching the revenue generated from a 3 percent lift for a product that's in the top 10 percent.
To read more, click here.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Customer Centricity Vital for Success in '09 2009-02-25
If your catalog/multichannel business is to remain relevant in 2009 and beyond, it's going to have to become a customer-centric organization. So says a recent survey from DemandTec, a leading provider of on-demand optimization solutions for retailers and consumer products manufacturers, and Precima, an advanced analytics firm. The survey defined customer centricity as a strategy for which an organization uses shopper data to develop insight as a driver for decision making.
Of the 120 — 55 retailers and 65 consumer products manufacturers — respondents who completed the survey, 75 percent of the retailers and 58 percent of the manufacturers ranked consumer centricity as a top-three success factor for their businesses this year. Here are some more findings of the survey:
• 80 percent of retailers and 67 percent of manufacturers said they expect an increased focus on customer centricity in 2009;
• 43 percent of manufacturers said their ability to leverage consumer insights across the organization is better than satisfactory, while retailers are doing a better job at this, with 64 percent of respondents saying they were better than satisfactory;
• 43 percent of manufacturers and 37 percent of retailers listed the limited availability of team resources as their largest impediment to customer-centric success;
• 75 percent of the retailers who responded said they've appointed a senior customer-centricity role within their organizations, resulting in just 16 percent of them citing a lack of support and executive sponsorship as a barrier to becoming a customer-centric organization;
• 80 percent of “high performer” manufacturers use consumer insights more frequently for demand planning/forecasting compared to the average (49 percent);
• 80 percent of retail “high performers” use consumer insights more frequently in sales/merchandising compared to the average (60 percent); and
• 53 percent of “high performer” retailers are more likely to share data to strengthen trading partner relationships than the average retailer (24 percent).
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Searching for New Customers in 2009? 2009-02-23
It makes sense when you think about it. As tough times force many customers to buy less—and to be pickier about what they do buy—search is becoming ever more important to marketers.
“The recession is driving marketers to concentrate on gaining new business, even more than on customer retention objectives,” says David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Search Marketing Trends: Back to Basics. “Search is the ultimate online acquisition tool, and therefore is positioned to do relatively well in this economy.”
The four basic search options are paid search, contextual advertising, paid inclusion—all three are types of advertising—and search engine optimization (SEO).
All four options will experience increased spending through 2013. By then eMarketer estimates total US search marketing outlays will surpass $23 billion.
To read more, click here.
(www.emarketer.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Marketing Messages Get a Reality Check 2009-02-18
The decision in the court of consumer opinion is loud and clear — get real.
Forget about focusing marketing messages on bling, fantasies or the idea that something is simply new and fabulous, agency executives and trend forecasters said. What’s going to resonate with consumers in 2009 is an embrace of traditional values, a story about a product’s heritage or an empathetic signal that a marketer knows of the trials — and hopes — of the public in a downtrodden economy.
Cartier gets it, and so does Target, Stella McCartney, Wal-Mart and Starbucks, among others marketing, experts said.
“Consumers don’t know who to trust,” said John Gerzema, chief insights officer at Young & Rubicam, citing bank failures, decimated housing values and plummeting personal wealth.
“Marketers will flee to honesty as a safe haven,” he projected, one of many who said simpler, straightforward marketing plays will hit home with skeptical shoppers. “A lot of what’s riding on the new Obama administration — cleaning up hypocrisy and toxic assets and emphasizing integrity — will cross over into the marketing sphere.”
With Americans cutting back, saving more and reassessing what’s important in their lives, they may be unpersuaded by campaigns suggesting they purchase fashions, jewelry and watches simply because they’re newly offered and they’ll look attractive in them.
In a period of uncertainty and prudence, “one message people want to hear is: ‘We know what you’re going through,” said Marian Salzman, chief marketing officer at Porter Novelli. “There is disgust with bling, things that glitter — except with images and messages of romance and enduring values. The notion of what it takes to be part of a community is going to be a lot more modest; not lavish, like a catered dinner party.”
Campaigns marketing executives consider in tune with these pragmatic times include:
• Print ads from Cartier spotlighting its heritage by stating “One hundred years of U.S. passion and free spirit. 1909 to 2009.”
• Target’s signature red, oversize postcard mailer asking, “Looking for a new place to buy electronics and housewares? Target is here for you.” So were photos of hot brands at “unbelievable prices,” like a Sony flat-screen TV and an Apple iPhone, and an offer of $10 off on such things through Jan. 31.
To read more, click here.
(www.wwd.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| Catalog Prospecting Rate? Not This Year 2009-02-17
The U.S. Postal Service was not able to implement a prospecting rate for catalogers this year, according to Stephen M. Kearney, vice president of pricing and classification for the USPS. But during a postal teleconference last week, Kearney said that the possibility for a prospecting rate remains on the table.
The USPS on Feb. 11 announced a 2.3% price increase for Standard Mail Flats, which is below the Consumer Price Index (3.8% for 2008). Still, many mailers have said that any increase during such a tough year (and after the enormous rate hike they suffered in 2007) will cause them to pull back on prospecting.
That’s where a special prospecting rate would have come in handy. The idea was first raised last June at the National Catalog Advocacy & Strategy Forum in Washington, an event sponsored by the American Catalog Mailers Association.
During the call, Kearney recognized that catalog mailers are “so dependent on the mail for the core of their businesses and, within that context, they need to do prospect mailing to be able to grow their businesses and stimulate growth.” He also noted the distinct separation between existing customers who have bought from a particular catalog and mailing lists obtained from outside sources.
When asked about a possible prospecting rate for catalogers, Postal Regulatory Commission Chairman Dan G. Blair said: “Prospecting rates are part of the pricing flexibility that the service has under PAEA (Postal Reform), and the commission is open to consideration of any proposals in this area.”
But may be a while before a catalog prospecting rate happens—if it does happen—as there are a “number of technical issues with this particular incentive that need to be dealt with as any specific proposal is drawn up,” Kearney tells Multichannel Merchant. “We continue to work with customers to determine how to spur growth, which is in everyone's interest.”
(www.multichannelmerchant.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Using a Thesaurus can Improve Catalog Copy 2009-02-12
Do you find the same words cropping up repeatedly in your catalog copy? Words like "great," "perfect," "designed," "style" and "provide"? If so, one of the hazards you face is that your copy soon becomes predictable and can quickly lose consumer interest.
One way to beat predictable and potentially dull copy is by using the everyday thesaurus. That playful, fun-loving, teasing book of synonyms can give your copy a fresh look. If consumers can anticipate how your copy will read, they won't bother to finish it. Spice up a product description and give it an edge by avoiding having it sound like the product your competitor offers.
Take that extra step to replace words seen so often in copy. You might even surprise yourself and find a new approach or benefit to present about your product. For instance, look at the word list below; after each word are several alternatives (in italics) to give reliable standbys new life and deeper clarity.
Great: vast, grand, distinguished, impressive, remarkable, stately, fantastic;
Easy: simple, effortless, uncomplicated, painless, straightforward;
Flair: style, finesse, glamour, panache, vitality, taste;
Inspire: encourage, energize, motivate, vitalize, waken; and
Walk: stroll, stride, march, hike, skip, step, strut.
In the example, "great" loses its generic and often overused meaning when you replace it with words such as "remarkable" or "distinguished." These words convey specific meanings and help define your products for the consumer.
Here are three quick thesaurus options:
The Web offers wonderful online thesauruses through a simple Google search. Wordsmyth, Roget and Merriam-Webster are just a few of the choices.
Microsoft Word provides a comprehensive thesaurus as well. Simply access the thesaurus through “Tools” on the toolbar and then select “Language.”
Finally, there's always the old-fashioned, hardback, print book to keep handy for quick reference at any time.
The thesaurus is an essential tool for every copywriter. It brings a creative, fresh look to product descriptions; helps provide an edge against competitors; and can generate a new arsenal of benefits and uses for your product blurbs.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| ACMA To Mailers: You’re Welcome 2009-02-11
Who do catalogers have to thanks for the relatively slight postal rate hike announced yesterday? The American Catalog Mailers Association—at least according to ACMA executive director Hamilton Davison.
The perception in Washington is that “catalogers fared much better than others,” Davison says. “Our initial assessment is that catalogers got an increase about 1% lower than those levied on other mailers.”
In fact, in a mailing industry meeting when the rates were announced, the ACMA, which formed less than two years ago, received many congratulatory messages from other interests and postal policy makers, Davison says. “One senior policy maker mentioned ‘catalogers would have certainly received the CPI-capped maximum had it not been for [ACMA's] work.’’’
The U.S. Postal Service announced that price increases for Standard Mail Flats—the category affecting most catalogers—would stay below the Consumer Price Index or rate of inflation, which was 3.8% for 2008. Under the Postal Reform bill passed in late 2006, rate hikes starting as of 2008 are now capped to the CPI.
The average increase for the Standard Mail Flats is 2.3%, while the average rate hike for carrier route flats is 4.3%. The increases take effect May 11. The increase for catalogers is higher than last year’s average of 1%, but much less than the major hike of 2007 that boosted some catalog rates by up to 40%.
During a Feb. 11 postal teleconference, Stephen M. Kearney, vice president of pricing and classification for the USPS, addressed the ACMA’s role in the price-setting process. “The ACMA played a good coordinating role in bringing actual owners of catalog businesses to us.”
Also, Kearney said, “we talked to other catalogers outside the ACMA and looked at a lot of data, including the large increase they received in 2007. A big determining factor was catalog mailers are so dependent on the mail for the core of their businesses and, within that context, they need to do prospect mailing to be able to grow their businesses and stimulate growth.”
While Davison applauds the pricing news for catalogers, he says it doesn’t change other mounting concerns. “After the fundamental disruption to catalog mailing economics, a below average increase is welcome, but not curative,” he says.
Because of the economy and cost pressures, catalogers will continue to invest in cost effective alternative media whenever possible, “removing further mail out of the USPS,” Davison says. “ACMA has been very active with USPS officials discussing ways to fix the catalog industry. While this rate change does
nothing to stimulate incremental mail volume, moderating further increases is a good start.”
Given the “unprecedented amount of declining volume,” Kearney admitted the catalog industry is “seriously hurting” in this economy. And the USPS takes into account the state of the economy when it makes these decisions, he said. “For financial reasons, we absolutely need to raise our prices this year.”
(www.multichannelmerchant.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| New Mailing Services Prices 2009-02-10
The following price changes were recently released. If you have any questions regarding this or any other postal issues, please contact Don Landis or Susan Pinter. They can both be reached at 800-558-8724 as well.
New prices for mailing services take effect May 11.
The Governors of the Postal Service approved the price adjustments for mailing services — First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services (including retail Parcel Post) and Extra Services.
There will be a 2-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail stamp to 44 cents. For First-Class Mail, there will be no changes in the current additional ounce price, which remains at 17 cents. The new prices include growth incentives for saturation mailers. While prices, on average, change by the rate of inflation for each class of mail, many of the new prices are below the 3.8 percent Consumer Price Index price cap.
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| Standard Mail Rates to Rise by an Average 3.8% 2009-02-10
Standard Mail and standard nonprofit rates will increase an average of 3.8% in May, in keeping with legal limits established under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006.
The new rates take effect May 11.
Catalog or flat rates will rise by 2.5%. But some Standard increases are going to exceed the 3.8% average.
“It looks like standard rate parcels went up an average of 16%,” said Jerry Cerasale, senior vice president of government affairs for the Direct Marketing Association. “So I guess our initial response is that it’s just going to depress volume more so it’s unfortunate that were raising rates on May 11.”
Standard rate parcels are parcels under one pound and would apply to mailers like music clubs, he said.
“This could have some devastating effects on some catalogers” in terms of fulfillment, Cerasale added, noting that some firms use this rate to fulfill small orders of apparel and other products.
In the nonprofit arena, nonflat machineables and standard parcels are going up in the 15% to18% range.
“The primary reason as I understand it is that they are substantially under cost for the postal service,” said Tony Conway, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers.
The 2.5 flat rate hike appears to be good news for catalogers. In the 2007 rate increase, the last allowed under old law before the passages of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006, catalog or standard mail flat rates rose by as much as 41%.
Similarly, nonprofit standard flat rates will rise in the 2.5% range.
“I think this reflects the postal service’s sensitivity to want to keep catalogs in the system after the drastic rate increase a couple of years ago,” said Conway.
“Generally speaking, nonprofit letters are right about at the average,” says Conway,
“I’m just looking at them, I really haven’t had a chance to look at the nonprofit standard mail rates,” said Conway. “One thing I have seen is that they have taken the periodicals pretty much as far as they can-almost the full 4% which was expected.”
To read more, click here.
(www.directmag.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Customers Rate U.S. Postal Service on Satisfaction 2009-02-05
National on-time performance scores for the delivery of First-Class Mail reached 96 percent and 93 percent of customers gave the U.S. Postal Service highest satisfaction marks as the Postal Service debuted a new, national standards rating process.
For almost 20 years, the Postal Service has contracted with an outside entity to measure First-Class Mail service performance independently and objectively. USPS is the only shipping or mailing company that measures and reports its service and delivery standards.
The fiscal year first quarter, ending Dec. 31, marks the first time the Postal Service is piloting a new ratings system, a system that is tougher on the Postal Service, includes more than 850, three-digit ZIP Codes and, for the first time, includes delivery tests and standards for International mail and the classification of mail that large, commercial mailers routinely use.
“The target is still the same, to measure our successes in on-time mail delivery so we meet the needs of our customers,” said Delores Killette, Postal Service vice president and consumer advocate. “We’ve set some ambitious goals and we will strive to meet those goals as we continue to improve the measurement system.”
The service standards were set in consultation with business and residential customers and the Postal Regulatory Commission, as required by the Postal Act of 2006. The results announced today acknowledge a more competitive business environment and increased customer demands. The results also reflect pressures from costs and the time needed to deliver to 1.2 million new addresses each year.
The benchmarks that will be set will reflect progress that’s been made by the Postal Service in mail preparation, processing and transportation. The fact that more mail is being delivered by ground transportation, and not being transported by air, also will mean longer delivery times in some geographic areas, Killette said.
While some time might be lost in ground transportation, it is more economically and environmentally friendlier than air transport.
“We are committed to providing our customers with the level of service they have come to expect. Our scores remain strong and we’ll continue striving to make them even better,” said Killette.
The first set of service standard scores measured during the pilot test period are:
Customer Satisfaction is 93 percent
Overnight delivery is 96 percent
Two-day delivery service is 92 percent
Three-day delivery service is 86 percent
International (single piece) First Class Mail is 86 percent.
To read more, click here.
(usps.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| Letter to the Industry: “Don’t Print” isn’t “Going Green” 2009-02-04
An Open Letter to the Industry, from Charlie Corr, Chief Strategist, Mimeo.com
It is increasingly popular to bash the use of paper. The industry is an easy target as everyone uses paper and the presentation of the industry is laughable (think Dunder Mifflin on The Office).
Despite the many environmentally friendly actions taken by the paper, printing and publishing industries, little is known of these efforts due to a self-inflicted inability to publicize them. Unlike the auto or fuel industries, we don’t spend any money as an industry on effective green promotion.
Think about it, paper primarily comes from trees. Trees are a renewable resource. They come from farms. You don’t see people bashing farmers, why paper? Trees improve the environment by moderating climate, improving air quality, conserving water, and harboring wildlife. According to the Department of Agriculture, one acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen. This is enough to meet the annual needs of 18 people.
Most of us are concerned about the environment but we don’t want to change our behavior. We certainly don’t seem willing to give up our computers, PDA’s, bottled water, appliances or gas-guzzling vehicles. There isn’t a much easier way to assuage our guilt than to slap a tag line at the bottom of our e-mail urging others to do something. Here are two of the more popular ones:
Think before you print.
Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing any documents.
I have received the first most recently from a sales representative for printing equipment. I have seen a version of it used by Mimeo staff. The second comes from our travel agency. It might as well have been, “we no longer want to incur the cost of printing so we will cover it with an environmental message.” The same can be said of many financial institutions who say they want you to “go green” but really want to cut mail costs and shift the cost of printing from them, to you. (Back to the top of the page.)
Paper Facts
Paper is made from cellulose fiber, the source of which can be pulped wood, or a variety of other materials such as rags, cotton, grasses, sugar cane, rice, or waste paper. The first piece of paper was produced from rags in AD 105 by Ts’ai Luin in China. Today, wood pulp is the most common source material for the manufacture of virgin paper, i.e. paper which has no recycled content.
Due to reforestation, forests in the US have actually grown over the past century. About one-third of the United States — 747 million acres — is covered with trees. An estimated 4 million trees are planted each day. On the nation’s commercial forests, net annual growth exceeds harvests and losses to insects and disease by 47 percent each year.
Paper is Biodegradable
Unlike plastic water bottles, computers, PDA’s and most electronic devices and appliances, paper decomposes in a landfill. Disposed paper is not dangerous. Compare this to cell phones, PC’s and paperless reading devices like the Kindle. They contain lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, and polyvinyl chlorides.
There are materials that have known toxicological effects that range from brain damage to kidney disease to mutations, and cancers. E-waste is the fastest-growing component of the municipal waste stream worldwide. It is estimated that we dispose of 130,000 computers every day in the United States and 100 million cell phones annually.
Plastic is not generally biodegradable. Of the 30 billion plastic water bottles sold in the United States in 2005, only 12 percent were recycled leaving 25 billion bottles landfilled, littered or incinerated. Plastic water bottles produced for U.S. consumption require the use of 1.5 million barrels of oil per year.
That much energy could power 250,000 homes or fuel 100,000 cars in that same time period. Of course, giving up our bottled water, electronic devices or gas guzzlers would require us to actually change our behavior; it is easier to suggest that others do so by slapping a tagline bashing paper and printing on our e-mail. (Back to the top of the page.)
Paper is Recyclable
Thirty-seven percent of U.S. pulp is produced from recovered paper. The use of recycled content varies widely among grades of paper, from an average of 45 percent recycled content in tissue products to a low of 6 percent in printing and writing papers. A shift toward higher recycled contents in printing and writing grades would significantly lessen the environmental impacts of the paper industry as this segment accounts for 27 percent of U.S. paper production.
In 2007, total paper recovery averaged nearly 360 pounds for each man, woman, and child in America. By 2012, the paper industry plans to recover 60 percent of the paper Americans consume. Most recovered paper is recycled back into paper and paperboard products.
For example, old corrugated boxes are used to make new recycled corrugated boxes, recovered printing and writing paper is used to make new recycled copy paper and recovered paper can be used in a variety of other products as well such egg cartons, fruit trays, wall insulation, roofing, and animal bedding.
Paper is Critical to the Economy
The forest products industry accounts for approximately 6 percent of the total U.S. manufacturing output, employs more than one million people, and ranks among the top 10 manufacturing employers in 42 states with an estimated payroll exceeding $50 billion.
Paper is the carrier of most of what is printed and published. The estimated value of shipped printed products in the US was $393 billion in 2007. There are almost 175,000 establishments in this segment and they employ 2.9 million. To put this in perspective, employment in auto manufacturing is around 1.2 million. (Back to the top of the page.)
Paper, Printing & Publishing Environmental Achievements
Paper manufacturers have become much more environmentally friendly. From water to air pollution, reducing the use of dangerous chemicals and improving energy efficiency, paper manufacturers’ have improved dramatically.
The industry has undertaken a number of sustainable forestry initiatives. Associations such as SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) work on insuring sustainable, environmentally sound forestry practices. The estimated value of FSC labeled paper is over 20 billion USD. Paper manufacturers have also introduced a range of recycled and certified sheets.
Fortune Magazine recently rated International Paper at the top of its Social Responsibility list with Weyerhaeuser also in the top 10. Printing equipment providers have undertaken a number of initiatives to improve our environment from recycling toner cartridges to reusing components to deploying more energy efficient devices.
Many print providers have attained chain of custody certifications and offer a wide range of recycled papers. Most recycle all paperwaste and many offer related recycled products such as 3-Ring binders made from recycled material. The Print On Demand business model eliminates waste due to obsolescence and the digital printing process is environmentally friendly.
Paper is Efficient
Not only is paper an environmentally friendly carrier of information but it has an intimacy of interaction. Paper lasts with limited backward compatibility issues. Reading from paper is 20% to 30% faster than reading from a screen. Viewing on a screen, results in lower accuracy for tasks such as proofreading and causes more eye fatigue.
Evidence suggests that comprehension is higher and that ability to read and annotate, to navigate quickly and to facilitate spatial layout favors paper over viewing. Reading results in a deeper understanding of text, a better sense of structure, and making it easier to interleave reading and writing as it combines tactile and visual learning.
There is an end-user preference for print that is related to flexibility, culture, and ease of use. This preference increases with high quality typography and print and is not age specific. (Back to the top of the page.)
A Call to Action
All of us can do more to help the environment. As citizens of planet earth we should all recycle and reuse whatever we can. We should do whatever we can to improve our personal environmental footprint. That doesn’t mean we should stop printing.
The paper, printing and publishing industry needs to more effectively convey the fact that we embrace the green movement and that not printing isn’t going green. While the industry is fragmented, we must find ways to work together to get this message effectively conveyed or we will all suffer.
Print providers must demand that our vendors and associations accomplish more in this area and we must be willing to support these initiatives with our time and money.
Specific Action Items:
The paper industry should be more proactive about its actions and it should work at reducing the cost of recycled papers. They should spend money to effectively market the value of paper and the environmental actions that they have taken. Let’s see trees, farmers and a credible spokesperson on mass media.
As an industry we need to effectively educate any vendor or employee who thoughtlessly adds an anti-printing message to its messaging. We have stopped it at Mimeo, and after we objected to the messaging the printing salesperson and the travel agency changed policy. Be proactive!
As an industry we should all “eat our own dog food.” If we believe paper based communications are viable and add value, we should use them. If we think they are not necessary, or too expensive, that is what our clients will also think.
If we are giving a presentation it should be printed and distributed. We should use print to promote our products and services. If you attend any event given by, or for, the industry and this doesn’t happen voice your complaint.
I am committed to providing hardcopy of any presentation I do this year (specifying FSC, recycled paper and duplexed, 2-up print). I think it is worth the investment. If vendors, partners, associations and industry trade events don’t do this, raise your voice in protest and if they don’t change, work with those who do.
(WhatTheyThink.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| PRC Chairman Blair Addresses Five-Day Delivery Prospect 2009-02-03
Postmaster General John E. Potter’s appeal to Congress last week to allow the U.S. Postal Service to cut back to five-day delivery has a lot of mailers—and consumers—up in arms. It has sparked considerable debate, and as a result, Dan G. Blair, chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, agreed to take some questions on the topic from Multichannel Merchant Senior Writer Jim Tierney.
MCM: What is your take on the proposal, and why do you think it would be advantageous or disadvantageous to implement?
DGB: This would be a major step that could have substantial impact on how we use and view mail. I first must point out that the Postmaster General doesn’t want to reduce service, and only holds out this option if all of the current programs for reducing costs prove to be insufficient.
If delivery is reduced from six days a week to five days a week, carriers will only have to traverse their routes five-sixths as much, which will save money. Savings should arise in fuel, vehicle wear and tear and wages paid to city and rural carriers.
Our estimates are very rough in projecting how much savings might be achieved. IBM did a study for the Postal Service that assumes no volume will leave the Postal Service as a result of this reduction in service, and estimates savings could be as much as $3.5 billion per year. But this is a very optimistic assumption.
In the commission’s Universal Service study we released in December, we ran the numbers assuming hypothetical cost and volume impacts and estimated savings of $1.9 billion per year. But we really have no way of knowing how much volume might be lost if service is reduced.
We need to know more about the precise proposal. Is it a year-round change or only targeting lower volume summer months?
I would note that the savings projections are based on year-round reduction in service. The commission has strongly suggested that the Postal Service should provide more details on this proposal along with better savings estimates before moving forward with any reduction in days of delivery.
MCM: If implemented, what are the risks involved?
DGB: The primary risk is that mailers of time-sensitive items such as bills or bill payments may be concerned that the reduction in delivery will delay the receipt of their mail. Senders of time sensitive packages, such as pharmaceuticals, and periodicals could also see customer reaction to delayed delivery affect demand for their product. Advertisers could view mail as less valuable if more pieces are being delivered on any given day.
These considerations could encourage mailers to begin to use alternatives such as electronic transmission. Recipients for their part could view mail as less valuable if it doesn’t come every day, and stop looking at their mail every day, further reducing its value to senders. On the operations side, mail would sit awaiting delivery and could be misplaced.
MCM: A decline in mail volume is already a major problem. How do you think this proposal might impact mail volume?
DGB: I feel certain it will have a negative impact, but it will vary by mailing industry and I have no estimate of what the volume reduction will be.
MCM: Five-day mail delivery proposals have surfaced before in the past eight or nine years. What have been the major factors preventing their implementation?
DGB: One important factor is that Congress annually has passed legislation containing a requirement that delivery be maintained at 1983 levels. [Federal law has mandated a six-day mail delivery schedule since 1983.]
To read more, clickhere.
(www.multichannelmerchant.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved)
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| Postmaster General Potter Suggests Dropping Six Days a Week Delivery Requirement as means to offerset $2.8 Billion in Losses 2009-01-29
In his testimony yesterday before the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security, Postmaster General John E. Potter recommended that the US Postal Service drop one day of mail delivery per week during June, July and August of 2009 and perhaps 2010. “Last year, in his testimony before the House Oversight and Government Operations Committee, Deputy PMG Patrick Donahoe stipulated that the US Postal Service would have to put everything on the table when examining its costs and yesterday’s remarks by Postmaster General Potter are consistent with that,” said Jerry Cerasale, DMA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. “A reduction in services is not something that our membership supports, but at the same time, we have to be realistic about the current economic situation and encourage the Postal Service to look at all of their options so they can remain viable. The US Postal Service is not only an important part of our members’ business, but also the American economic system as a whole, and for those reasons, we cannot let it collapse.”
To read more, click here.
(www.the-dma.org, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| U.S. Postal Service Uses Leading Technologies to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle 2009-01-26
From server consolidation to ink cartridge recycling, the U.S. Postal Service is using leading-edge technologies to support energy conservation, recycling and waste reduction.
These initiatives also resulted in more than $2.25 million in cost avoidance last fiscal year.
“Going green isn’t just good for the environment — it’s good business,” said George Wright, vice president, Information Technology Operations. “Using technology in creative ways has helped the Postal Service reduce energy consumption levels in facilities, use less paper, lower the time that computers stay turned on, and reduce travel costs.”
Over the past three years, USPS Information Technology (IT) has implemented a program to reduce power consumption at data centers using a technology that allows multiple applications to run on a single server. This ongoing process, called “virtualization,” maximizes the available resources of each server and has enabled the Postal Service to eliminate more than 1,600 servers and reduce hardware maintenance costs by $2 million. The Postal Service also has converted 40 percent of workstations to power-saving monitors and replaced outmoded equipment with energy-efficient units, earning rebates of more than $250,000 from power companies.
In addition to energy reduction, USPS IT is using fewer printers and less paper as part of the “PRIME” (PRint and IMaging Environment) initiative. IT has reduced the number of stand-alone printers through networking and decreased the number of pages printed by switching the default printer setting to back-and-front printing. Printer paper used is at least 30 percent recyclable and the Postal Service has established a recycling program for ink and toner cartridges. Organization-wide, recycled wastepaper, cardboard, cans, plastics and other materials generated $12 million dollars, an increase of more than 40 percent from the previous year.
To read more, click here.
(www.usps.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Five Green Ways to Grow your Marketing in 2009 2009-01-23
When it comes to direct marketing, green is the new black. Or something like that.
Even in a belt-tightening market like this one, being green matters. And if you think price alone will bring your profit margin back into the black, think again. It’s time to take a closer look at the other green on everyone’s mind.
Being eco friendly means more than paying lip service to recycling. It means taking tangible steps to minimize your environmental impact in the mail. The truth is that although customers are still buying, they’re shopping smarter than ever. They know who’s green and who isn’t. Guess who’s getting the business?
It may not be easy, but being green isn’t as hard as it seems. Here are five ways you can go green while staying in the black:
1. Choose certified paper. Third-party certifications such as the Forest Stewardship Council, Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Pan European Forest Council let customers know your mailing was made with wood pulp from healthy, well-managed forests.
2. Use “green” ink. Ask your printer if they use renewable resource-based inks such as those made from a blend of various vegetable oils. You’d be surprised how many new inks are available that look great too. There’s even a printer who will plant a tree on your behalf for every job printed bearing the Green ink logo.
3. Update your mailing lists. About 41 million people changed addresses last year, yet 33% of those people never reported their new address to the U.S. Postal Service. Talk about letting sales get away! Find a list service that can eliminate wasted mailings and the associated energy, paper, ink and fuel costs. If you are a member of the Direct Marketing Association, there are several good white papers available on this subject. Not exactly poolside reading, but a must-see for anyone who’s serious about DM.
4. Co-mail. Lower fuel consumption and emissions—and your postage bill—by co-mailing. This cost-saving strategy combines two or more magazine or catalog titles into a single mail stream. Quad Graphics, one of the largest privately held printers in the world, has a lot of good information on co-mailing.
5. Reduce, reuse and recycle. Reduce the high cost of unwanted mailings by subscribing to the DMA’s Mail Preference service, which suppresses the names of consumers who have specifically asked that they not receive direct mail. And by all means, use the “Recycle Please” logo on everything you send. This logo reminds consumers to recycle valuable (and reusable) paper products, thereby reducing both landfill waste and greenhouse gasses.
The bottom line? Flaunt shamelessly. Tell your customers when you use green ink, certified paper, even recyclable packing materials. Tell them about your efforts to reduce waste and recycle valuable resources. Reinforce these messages on all customer touch points, especially on the Web. The greener your customers know you are, the more you can hope to win over hard-earned dollars in 2009.
(www.marketingwatchwithkimberly.com, All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2009)
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| Branding : The Multichannel Shopper 2009-01-15
Have you ever walked into a store and felt like you’d stepped into that company’s catalog? Or visited a familiar company’s Web site and intuitively known where to find what you need because the site’s organized just like its store across town? Regardless of channel, your experience is the same: You experience that brand.
Can browsing a catalog or clicking an e-mail compare to getting a free sample in the store? To find out, in the first of a three-part series we’ll present in Catalog Success throughout this year, we scrutinized the multichannel efforts of specialty food merchants Dean & DeLuca, Penzeys Spices and Godiva (none of which we’ve ever done business with professionally).
Dean & DeLuca
The Dean & DeLuca brand began in 1977, when Joel Dean and Giorgio DeLuca opened their first store in Manhattan. This legendary pair set out to capture the feeling of a turn-of-the-century food department. They’ve since expanded to more than 25 retail locations, including stores, cafs and wine rooms in the United States, Japan and even Dubai. We recently visited Dean & DeLuca’s store in Leawood, Kan.
The Store: The high ceiling, specialty service counters, gourmet sandwich deli, laden shelves and food displays create an old-world feel that encourages you to explore and shop. The store bustles with energy and activity, and strongly reinforces the company’s brand identity.
The Catalog: Dean & DeLuca’s October 2008 catalog features its signature white cover bleed with silhouette images of products. This white background intentionally reflects the design of D&D’s branded product labels. Cutout images dominate the catalog spreads and allow for minimal styling with a consistent look and feel. The propped images that reflect an old-world store display reinforce the brand well. A few propped images look like a stylized home table setting and seem strangely out of place. They don’t reinforce the brand.
To read more, click here.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| ACCM helps in a "A Brave New World" 2009-01-14
(To register for ACCM 2009, click here.)
The journey of today’s customer from shopping to sale is more complicated and circuitous than ever. A customer can peruse a catalog, research products on the web, view the product at a retail store and then make the purchase online. The constant shift between the catalog-web-retail-online worlds is not controlled by the marketer, but rather by the consumer.
How can you connect with your ever-changing and evolving buyers? You must gain a 360 view of the customer: learn their preferences, anticipate their behaviors and develop a contact strategy that fits their needs…all while letting the customer lead the conversation with your brand.
ACCM 2009 is tackling this brave new world with educational content for the 360 marketer. ACCM will equip you with strategies and tools to help you rebuild around the changing customer.
From creative design techniques that will yield immediate results, to the tools that will help you drive online traffic, conversions and sales, ACCM will share proven methods that will bring stability to your unstable environment and growth for the times ahead.
To read more or to register for ACCM, click here.
(www.accmshow.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Retailers Must be Creative, More Involved 2009-01-14
Retailers need to offer customers more services to make themselves indispensable and work with the government to help solve economic and social woes even as they deal with seismic changes in consumer behavior, industry leaders said Monday.
Departing Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott told retailers they need to get involved in broader issues such as health care, immigration, energy independence and environmental sustainability, and said that doing so would resonate with shoppers and improve the bottom line.
"We need to tackle the hard issues," Scott said at the annual National Retail Federation convention, noting that retailers in particular are close to what consumers are thinking. "As businesses we have a responsibility to society. We also have an extraordinary opportunity."
Retailers have just come off the worst holiday season in four decades, as people watch their spending because of worries about job security, their retirement funds and the value of their home. That's already meant falling sales and profit warnings at many retailers and could mean more bankruptcies to come.
Over the past year, the retail industry has been in the midst of a "great transformation" as consumer spending dropped and credit tightened, said Carl Steidtmann, the chief economist of consumer business at Deloitte Research.
Following an "orgy of debt" in the early part of the decade, "the consumer is no longer in a position to spend," he said. "Retailers are in a 'no-growth' environment."
To read more, click here. |
| The Best Print Circ Strategy for 2009 2009-01-12
I’m optimistic that 2009 will be a better year for multichannel merchants, even though the experts say our recovery will be gradual. There are bright spots within given merchandise categories, such as religious goods, pet supplies and hobbies — all of which are doing well — just to name a few.
There are other reasons for my optimism, as well. Selling expense-to-sales ratios should stabilize, perhaps even decline, due to three main factors: postage, paper prices and response rates.
Postal rates will remain stable in 2009 with no large increase on the horizon.
Paper prices are expected to decline, because demand is soft and the dollar is more favorable with respect to foreign markets.
We’re no longer seeing frequent paper price increases, and it’s quite possible that they’ll start to decline early this year.
Paper and postage costs combined represent 60 percent to 80 percent of total selling expenses. We should see an increase in response as consumer confidence improves. This will have a favorable impact on selling expense-to-sales ratios.
With all that in mind, here are my suggestions when planning catalog circulation for this year:
1. Absolutely continue prospecting. Don’t stop. Stay focused on growing your 12-month buyer file. If the count declines, it’ll be difficult and costly to reverse that trend.
Catalogers who’ve been cautious while sticking to a plan of growing, or at least maintaining, their 12-month buyer files have been impacted less by the downturn. If your 12-month buyer count declines, sales also will decline by approximately the same percentage.
2. Prospect vs. housefile circ. Control the ratio of prospecting to total circ, being careful not to cut too much. Mailings to prospects should represent approximately 60 percent of your total circ depending on the season. Don’t get overly aggressive by increasing the ratio of prospecting to housefile mailings. At the same time, avoid cutting the amount of prospecting you do and relying too heavily on your housefile.
3. Spread prospect mailings. Don’t put all of your prospect circ in one drop. Instead, spread your prospect lists over multiple drops. This way, you’re covered if an unexpected event — e.g., natural disaster, the stock market tumbles, more consumer bad news — impacts sales. The economy is fragile and subject to daily news reports, so mailing all of your prospect lists, or even just your best performing lists, at the same time is like putting all of your chips on one roll of the dice. Spread your risk.
To read more, click here.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Dos and Don’ts in Today's Canadian List Market 2009-01-07
Marketing into Canada can mean adding an ideal test market to your direct mail efforts. With a population of over 30 million people – the majority of whom are located close to the U.S. border and who spend over $12 billion annually on direct response – Canada can be a great market opportunity for US marketers.
But as always, the truism carries a range of caveats. So whether it be the differences in list availability or the disparate regulatory and cultural environments, it makes sense to get smart about Canada before trying this potentially lucrative, California-sized market on for size.
DO Anticipate a Less Saturated Marketplace – and Better Response Rates
The facts about the American direct mail market are well known. As the most intensive, developed and sizeable consumer market in the world, marketers in the U.S. also deal with the most extreme competition as product and service offers crowd American mailboxes.
So what's happening north of the border? Well, it's quite a different scenario.
One would expect Canada to have a proportionately similar ratio of offers and mailings to households as in the US – in the order of a dozen or so mail offers per day.
In actual fact, Canada Post delivers an average of just two items of addressed mail and one item of unaddressed mail daily to each Canadian household. Cornerstone's experience tells the same story – Canada is an under-exploited market. Canadian list rental numbers invariably show list usage rates are lower here than in the US. And anecdotally, managers and list brokers confirm that this comparative offer-scarcity in Canada can and often does translate into better results.
To read more, click here.
(www.directmag.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Finally a Break on Paper Prices 2009-01-06
After A Tumultuous Year in the paper industry — marked by quarterly price increases, rising energy and manufacturing costs, as well as several mill closures and scheduled downtime — 2009 looks like it will begin with a reprieve. The cost of paper will actually drop — at least $2 to $3 per hundredweight (cwt), or $40 to $60 per ton — for most grades.
“Prices started declining in October and November,” says Dave Goldschmidt, vice president of marketing, catalog division for paper brokerage Strategic Paper Group.
FreesheetFreesheet has held better, Goldschmidt says, but the October freesheet increase of $3 was not implemented in most cases. Unlike?quarters with an increase, mills don't issue press releases when paper prices decline. That's why learning how much prices declined depends on who you ask and who those people buy paper from.
John Maine, vice president of forest industry research group RISI, says the top-three producers of uncoated freesheet — International Paper, Domtar and Boise — opted to shut more than 500,000 tons of capacity to balance the uncoated freesheet market in 2009 and prevent a price collapse.
Coated papersMill and printer inventories of coated papers were still high in October, Maine explains, “but they will likely drop significantly in both November and December as end-users cancel orders at the end of the year in hopes of re-ordering at lower prices in January, while mills take extended holiday shuts to remove excess mill inventory.”
What's more, the demand side of the market remains abysmal. “U.S. shipments plummeted 15% for coated freesheet and 19% for coated mechanical in October, with similarly severe declines expected for November and December,” Maine says. “The only silver lining [for the mills] is that some of this decline is now attributable to inventory reductions.”
Demand to stay downBlake Hutchison, director of purchasing for catalog printer Arandell Corp., says even though mills will try to take downtime to reduce supply to keep the price levels high, pricing will still go down. “As volumes drop, the need to keep so much inventory on the floor will decrease,” he says.
“Supply is not in line yet with demand, as demand has dropped much faster than the mills can reduce the supply,” Hutchisons says. “As a result, pricing is all over the map.”
Dan Walsh, vice president of catalog/publication papers at distributor Bradner Smith & Co., predicts prices will go even lower in 2009. Fuel surcharges might be reduced at first and then eliminated by the end of the first quarter, he adds. And lead times have decreased.
Still, the mills are not making money, Walsh says, so they have no reason to keep dropping pricing. “The other big question is, will all of the mills be able to survive? If not, the market could tighten up quickly if one of the larger ones falls.”
(www.multimerchantchannel.com, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved) |
| Early Admission to 2009 National Postal Forum Opens 2008-12-30
From historic accomplishments to delivering the future, the 2009 National Postal Forum offers the tools businesses need to succeed using the mail. Early bird registration is now open to the mailing industry’s premier trade show and event in Washington, DC, this May.
More than 6,000 industry professionals are expected to attend this year’s Forum and discover how new technologies are leading the way into the future and delivering better ways to serve customers.
The Forum offers:
More than 140 workshops on the hottest issues facing the mailing industry.
Three symposiums on Intelligent Mail, shipping solutions and global marketplace opportunities for small businesses.
Sixteen business tracks on topics from mail center management to sustainability.
Fifteen professional certificates.
This year’s theme is “A Long History of Innovation Meets a Future of Great Promises.” The program is packed with leading experts and cutting-edge strategies to help businesses – large and small – get the most out of the mail.
“This year’s National Postal Forum is an opportunity for businesses to connect with tomorrow’s solutions today,” said Susan Plonkey, vice president, Business Customer Relations. “Join us in the nation’s capital at the crossroads of history and progress and discover how embracing new technologies can grow your organization’s bottom line.”
To read more, click here.
(www.graphicsrtsonline.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| Onlineshoes.com Steps Into Print Catalog Channel 2008-12-29
Onlineshoes.com president/CEO Dan Gerler is no stranger to using direct mail pieces to help stimulate business. He’s mailed flyers and postcards to customers throughout his company’s 13 years.
But the 6” x 9” catalog Onlineshoes.com sent to 350,000 house file names in November is the first for the shoes Website. And based on early success, Gerler says he plans on moving forward with a quarterly frequency for the 16-page book.
The Onlineshoes.com catalog generated a 1% response rate in the first few weeks since the launch. And Gerler anticipates the response rate surpassing 2% by mid-December. So far the catalog’s top-selling shoe brands include Uggs, New Balance, and Merrill.
“The catalog gives us the opportunity to showcase more of our product than our other mailings do,” Gerler says. And especially during this time of year, he notes, “we know people love to browse through catalogs.”
The e-tailer is sending the Onlineshoes.com catalog specifically to customers who have made a purchase, but have opted out of receiving e-mail promotions. So in a sense, it’s using the catalog to prospect within its own house file of more than 2-million names.
And the initiative is working from an e-mail reactivation standpoint. “I don’t have exact numbers yet, but we’ve seen a significant amount of customers who initially have opted out of receiving e-mails from us opt back in,” Gerler says.
While this is the first catalog for Onlineshoes.com, the company has done catalogs previously for its two bricks-and-mortar shoe stores in the Seattle area. It’s also done cobranded catalogs as a Red Wing Shoes franchisee.
(www.multimerchantchannel.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| Proposed Slim-Jim Catalog Revisions Are In 2008-12-23
Some of the proposed changes to the requirements for slim-jim catalogs could result in reduced response rates from customers, several mailers say.
The U.S. Postal Service on Dec. 19 released a proposed rule that further revises requirements for letter-size catalogs, aka “slim-jims.” After several months of testing, the proposed rule includes revisions to tab size, tab location, paper weight and dimensions for folded self-mailers and booklets mailed at automation or machinable letter prices.
The new mailing service prices for 2009 will be announced in February and implemented in May, says David Partenheimer, spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service. The Dec. 19 release was to provide mailers advance notice of the proposed changes, he notes. “The comment period will be dependent on when the Federal Register is published.”
Partenheimer says the proposed changes will make these mailpieces “more compatible with our mail sorter equipment, but we will continue to monitor the processing to make sure the changes have the desired effect” of not jamming postal machines.
So what are the key proposed revisions for slim-jim books?The use of tabs with no perforations, for one. And tab size is dictated by the design of the mailpiece, so booklets need three 1.5” tabs and folded self-mailers need two 1” tabs. For larger and heavier booklets, the USPS recommends 2” paper tabs.
Glue spots or a continuous glue line may be used to seal some folded self-mailer and booklet designs. The USPS says it will continue the current maximum weight of 3 oz, but it notes that 3-oz booklets are processed with the least amount of damage when the final trim size is reduced to 9” in length.
The maximum size for booklets would be 6” high by 10-1/2” long by 0.25” thick. There would also be minimum basis weight for cover stock–40 lb. for some designs; and a 60-lb. or 70-lb. minimum for pieces longer than 9”.
Because lighter paper is more easily damaged in processing, the USPS strongly recommends the 70-lb paper as cover stock on mailpiece designs that approach maximum letter-size dimensions.
For many catalogers, the new tab requirements are the most significant difference in the proposed revisions for slim-jims. Discount general merchandise cataloger Sierra Trading Post, which has transitioned many of its titles to the slim-jim format in the past 18 months, will immediately begin testing the new standards against its current standards, says director of catalog operations David Giacomini.
To read more, click here.
As always, you can count on Arandell to bring you the most up-to-date postal information. If you have any questions regarding this article or any other postal issues, please contact Don Landis or Susan Pinter. They can also be reached at 800.558.8724. |
| Average Is Not Good Enough 2008-12-18
Do you profile your customers and project values like age, income, household size and gender onto the prospect universe? You might be better off finding small segments that have slightly different characteristics.
For example, I once saw a telephone pole near a college campus that had held hundreds of concert and lost-pet posters. There were few staples near the ground. But they grew in density as you went up the poll, peaking at about 5 feet 10 inches. They thinned after 6 feet and ended entirely at 7 feet.
The staples approximated a normal distribution of the height of the average person’s eyes—and that of the local population. A clothing retailer in the area could use this information to set the sizing for its merchandise.
avoiding very small and very tall sizes as being limited proportions of the size range.
I drew the same conclusion after a dinner party I attended. My hosts belonged to a “beanstalk” club that requires members to be well above average height. That night, the average height in the room was 6 feet six inches. (I was below average.) Yet a sample of 1,000 men that included all the male club members I met would still average 5 feet 10 inches in height.
The tall segment would be unnoticed. A marketer relying on the average would miss an opportunity to find a great segment for hard-to-find sizes of clothing.
Ask your customers about their club memberships or the magazines they read. A single question might lead you to discover a marketing niche that would otherwise be lost in the height of the statistics.
(www.multichannelmerchant.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| How to Survive 2009 2008-12-18
Someone asked me last week, "What are the best ways to survive a recession?" Without thinking much, I responded, “Love the customers you got!" As I began to reflect on my knee-jerk answer, I realized just how important it is for B-to-B catalogers to do just that.
B-to-B marketers, unlike their B-to-C counterparts, have many customers who provide them large sums of revenue each year. The range in average order values, average annual spend values and lifetime values by site is usually great.
When you think about it, it stands to reason since B-to-B marketers sell to various sized customers (businesses). If you sell office supplies, for example, a buying site with 2,000 employees generally buys much more than a site with 20 employees. In fact, with most B-to-B catalog companies you generally find that 20 percent to 30 percent of the customer sites account for 80 percent of the sales. So in tough times, it's much easier to get a few more dollars in sales from 20 percent of your customers than the other 80 percent.
Love the customers you already have. Arm your outbound telesales staff now with new products, offers, services and other reasons to call your best customers.
Do the Right Things
Another conversation I had last week was with representatives of a company that wanted my counsel on their catalog's creative. They asked how they could improve it to get more sales. They thought the creative issues through and had a good plan to improve performance. After an initial conversation about the makeover, however, I began to understand that the company had many other larger, more immediate opportunities before it.
After all, changing your catalog's creative is a minor piece of your overall success that's hard to measure. And, has a longer-term payback. You need immediate return and easy measurements. Generally, you look for significant and definitive positive impacts, not “minor adjustments."
Developing new outbound sales programs is a good example of a project that could have significant and immediate benefits. The point is, don’t just do things right; make sure you do the right things. List all of the possible things you could or should do to improve your business, factoring in the cost, time to implement, risk and other key variables associated with each. Then prioritize to make sure you do the right things first.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyrigth 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| Six Tips to Increase Your Productivity in 2009 2008-12-17
As many catalog/multichannel B-to-B and B-to-C marketers do their annual planning and budgeting for 2009 right about now, I suspect many are having a difficult time given the events of the past six months. Who really knows what 2009 will bring?
One thing to focus on during your planning process is how you'll increase productivity, no matter what your function or position is. As a B-to-B catalog marketer, consider the "outputs" (e.g., sales, new customers, retained customers, account penetration, others) of your area of responsibility and know your "inputs" (ad spend, payroll costs, etc.). Plan to increase your productivity 5 percent or more each year.
Easy to say, harder to do, but maybe these six tips will help you reach that goal of 5 percent:
Find ways to apply technology to eliminate man-hours. There's a great deal of new software out there for the Web, catalog production, call centers and CRM that can impact your work processes. Look for technology specifically designed for direct marketers with embedded operating intelligence.
Search for ways to maintain or increase customer contacts by phone or mail. Develop a less costly mail piece for your online buyers, for example, or use e-mail or auto voice mail technology to extend the reach of a telephone account rep.
Meet with your vendors to solicit their ideas. Better still, give them the mandate of increasing their productivity 5 percent each year. It works best when it's a continuous process, not just a year-end event.
Develop a detailed list of things you spend your time on, and eliminate the bottom 20 percent of activities that have little or no return.
Meet with your staffers, and enroll them in the process. Be ready for blunt feedback on how your business needs to change to realize higher productivity.
Cut back on e-mails and meetings. I recently heard of one company placing limits on the number of e-mails any one user could send each week. Another company holds meetings standing up to make sure they're short and to the point.
Given what we've experienced in the last three months, I'd also advise that in this upcoming year you pay particular attention to the tolerances and flexibility of your annual plan. Given the uncertainties ahead, you'll probably need a set of contingency plans for 2009.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| More Shoppers Bought Online Monday but Spent Less 2008-12-10
Online spending at U.S. retailers on Monday jumped 15 percent over with the comparable day a year ago to $846 million, comScore said Thursday, as consumers sought out bargains in a tough economy.
The Monday after Thanksgiving was nicknamed "Cyber Monday" by the National Retail Federation to describe the surge in online spending when customers return to work after Thanksgiving and shop from their desks.
Online shopping is popular among consumers who want to compare prices for the best deal, so usage can increase in a tough economy when shoppers are paying more attention to costs.
ComScore said a 22 percent rise in the number of buyers drove the increase, even though the average amount shoppers spent declined 5 percent. ComScore attributed the drop in dollars per buyer to each buyer completing fewer transactions.
ComScore representative Gian Fulgoni said nearly two million more consumers bought items online this year because of "extremely attractive" prices offered by retailers.
"But because of their reduced spending power, it's also evident that those who did buy were unable or unwilling to spend as much per person as we saw last year," Fulgoni said in a statement.
The most visited retail site was eBay Inc., which recorded nearly 13 million visitors, up 45 percent from last year, followed by Amazon.com Inc. with 9.2 million visitors.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recorded 6.8 million visitors, and Target Corp. had 4.8 million visitors, up 54 percent from a year ago.
(washingtonpost.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| The Economic Challenge: Direct Mail Success in a Tough Economy 2008-12-10
While many companies consider e-mail or digital marketing as a cheaper way to reach consumers, experts say they shouldn't eschew traditional direct marketing at its expense, because smart companies who continue a dialogue with their customers through a recession – using the tactile, personal direct mail channel -- usually come out the better for it.
That's because smart companies continue a dialogue with their customers through a recession, and usually come out the better for it, some experts say.
The following are four ways experts suggest you tackle the tough economy using direct mail:
Keep communicating
Businesses in all sectors should communicate with customers through direct mail during these uncertain economic times, says Katie Yeakle, co-founder and executive director of American Writers & Artists Inc. “The biggest piece of advice I can give any business is to keep sending direct mail,” she says. “A lot of people [have the] instinct is to pull back, but I truly believe that the companies that are succeeding are the ones that have more and better copy out there.” She adds that many consumers are looking to be reassured and businesses -- such as financial services companies, for example -- should continue to communicate with them.
Invest in creative
Marketing copy is the one thing you should never cut back on, Yeakle says. “The need for good creative in direct mail pieces is more important now than ever,” she says. “You really need to stand out.” Yeakle says smart companies will always be looking to recruit talented copywriters, as investing in quality creative will yield positive results. Good copywriters are “the one thing you should never cut back on,” he advises.
Make sure to integrate
Direct mail provides a means of a measurable, quantifiable marketing during this slow economy, says Steven Gray, COO of Money Mailer. But they work best when integrated with other channels. “There is a need to integrate online and offline channels and improve how we target with the channels available to us,” Gray says. “Direct mail works best when combined with other channels.”
Don't forget to self-edit
April Williams of North Star Marketing believes that concise and straightforward direct mail pieces will be the most successful with consumers. “We owe it to the people we're marketing to that we will understand and respect their time,” she says. “We don't have a lot of time in this world, we're a multitasking society. If I can get a minute of their time, that's great.” For example, Williams says she is “not a fan of large newsletters” from companies, preferring pieces that can be read in a timely fashion. “It's a time starved world, and marketers should be able to cut through the clutter,” she explains.
Most importantly, according to Williams, companies should not cut back on their overall marketing messages. “Don't stop communicating with your customers,” she says. “Companies that come through recessions, studies show, are the ones that market through a recession.”
(dmnews.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| Retail Shares Get 3.1 Percent Boost 2008-12-09
Retail shares rallied Monday for the fifth consecutive trading session, gaining 3.1 percent as investors seemed, at least for now, to have priced dire holiday and economic predictions into stocks.
The Standard & Poor’s Retail Index increased 8.59 points to 287.09.
Retail issues modestly lagged the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which increased 3.5 percent, or 298.76 points, to 8,934.18. Investors were buoyed by the prospects of additional fiscal stimulus from Washington and a bailout of the Big Three automakers and briefly pushed the Dow above 9,000, a threshold the index hadn’t passed since Nov. 10.
The top retail gainers included Retail Ventures Inc., ahead 36.4 percent to $1.35; Coldwater Creek Inc., 21 percent to $2.65; The Men’s Wearhouse Inc., 15.4 percent to $14.73; J. Crew Group, 11 percent to $13.81; Dillard’s Inc., 10.1 percent to $4.47; Target Corp., 9.6 percent to $38.32; Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., 9.5 percent to $2.07; Coach Inc., 6.2 percent to $20.90; Abercrombie & Fitch Co., 6.1 percent to $20.44; J.C. Penney Co. Inc., 6 percent to $21.82; Kohl’s Corp., 5.6 percent to $37.62, and The TJX Cos. Inc., 5.3 percent to $21.14.
Among the vendors gaining were Kenneth Cole Productions Inc., 20.2 percent to $10; Fossil Inc., 9.4 percent to $15.46, and True Religion Apparel Inc., 7.8 percent to $14.14.
(wwd.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| Go Green Or Else! 2008-12-03
Environmental legislation and climate changes could eat up as much as 47 percent of packaged goods companies' profits by 2018 if they don't adopt long-term sustainability measures, according to a new report released by A.T. Kearney.
The report, Rattling Supply Chains: The Effect of Environmental Trends on Input Costs to the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry, addresses long-term profitability of the packaged goods industry. The findings are based on "future analysis" of how much certain commodities will go up, including oil, cereal, soy and palm oil, and how they will fare under certain environmental, governmental policy and climate situations. The term used to describe these hypothetical scenarios is "ecoflation."
Companies that can reduce their reliance on materials like plastic or paper, through sustainability initiatives, can cut costs when economic pressures cause price increases, said Daniel Mahler, partner and global leader for sustainability practice at A.T. Kearney's New York office. In a down economy, cost cutting is particularly top of mind for many household and food and beverage manufacturers. "Companies are desperate to save because they can’t grow. The commodity price pressures have eased, but now the pressure is to save costs," Mahler said.
The report also outlines economic impacts on the packaged goods industry: Companies can expect a reduction of anywhere from 13 to 31 percent in earnings by 2013, and from 19 to 47 percent in 2018, if adequate sustainability measures are not taken. Assuming commodity costs hit an all-time high, "half of current profits will be erased" if companies continue standing by a "business-as-usual" approach, Mahler said.
Companies like Procter & Gamble and Nestle have already implemented sustainability strategies. Nestle is placing more emphasis on sourcing materials locally to cut down on transportation. Meanwhile, P&G is cross-leveraging research and design teams across different brand categories. For instance, a brand manager on Pantene might consult with a fellow colleague on Tide for best practices, such as using packaging that requires less plastic.
These are just a few examples of the extent to which many companies have considered going green. Oftentimes, retooling a supply chain to be more sustainable involves "rethinking the product itself," said Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com, a site dedicated to all things green. "It has as much to do with improving business practices as it does with improving environmental practices. In fact, the two go hand-in-hand."
(www.brandweek.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| 4 Last-Minute Tactics to Increase Your Catalog’s Holiday Revenue 2008-12-03
Want to add some revenue before we say goodbye to 2008? Try the following:
1. Add an extra mailing before the end of the year. Try it this way: After your last mailing is complete, mail one more catalog just to your hotline buyers, those who just responded to your last mailings of the year. If it’s too late to get your printer involved, grab some of your bounceback and office copy catalogs, and mail them. Even if you mail them First Class, you should still get great response. I’ve done this before, and it works.
2. Speaking of bouncebacks, add a special offer to your outgoing packages beyond the traditional bounceback book. This gives your customers a compelling reason to make another purchase before the holidays. It’s especially persuasive if you can target your offer to people who are on the receiving end of gifts.
3. Extend the life of an existing catalog by sending a special offer via postcard to your best buyers with a last-minute incentive. Try something like this: “Last-minute shoppers save (a percentage)” or “Last-minute offer! Get a specially priced (product here).” Postcards are quick, inexpensive, and can drive both catalog and Web traffic.
4. Don’t forget e-mail. Deliver offers right up to the last possible date you can ship product for Christmas.
To read more, click here. |
| Move Update Goes into Effect 2008-12-02
The US Postal Service's long-awaited Move Update requirements officially took effect last week; however, mailers will have about six months to become compliant with the new requirements before facing any fines.
The new requirements, which became effective November 23, require businesses to update their bulk-mailing lists every 95 days. This applies for both First-Class Mail and Standard Mail.
For example, a mailing entered into the Postal Service network on December 1 must bear addresses that were updated no earlier than August 28.
Previously, only First-Class Mail was subject to Move Update standards, and those lists had to be updated every 185 days.
“First-Class Mail was always held to a higher standard of address quality,” said Tom Day, SVP of Intelligent Mail and Address Quality at the USPS. “Standard mail is now being included.”
The new requirements are intended to reduce costs and waste from undeliverable bulk mail by about half by 2010, the USPS said.
An estimated 9.7 billion pieces of undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail are received every year, costing around $2 billion to process, according to the USPS.
Mailers can comply with Move Update by using a USPS-approved solution that matches address records with official USPS change-of-address orders.
The USPS has established a transition period until May 11 for mailers while they finalize their compliance plans, Day said. The USPS also has modified its postage statement so that mailers can check off which Move Update method was used.
If standard mailers say that they have not used a USPS-approved Move Update method or are not familiar with them, the USPS will use the transition period to ensure that they do comply, he said.
After the transition period, mailers who have mailings that are not compliant with Move Update will be fined 7 cents per piece for the entire mailing.
The USPS has not yet determined how many UAA pieces a mailing would have to contain in order to be considered noncompliant, and will use the transition period to determine what that threshold will be.
“We will be reviewing lots of live data to determine the appropriate tolerance level,” Day said.
He also added that he wanted to dispel the notion that the USPS instituted a 7 cents per piece assessment in order to serve as a revenue stream.
“Our intent is to improve quality, not to raise revenue,” he explained. “Mailers will have a more than ample opportunity to make any corrections that are needed. The USPS and the mailing industry believe that the revised standard is crucial to the business interests of both.”
To read more, click here.
(www.dmnews.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| Retail Shares Soar on Government Moves 2008-11-26
Retail shares posted their second-largest jump, rising 10.6 percent Monday and outpacing the market overall, which was buoyed by a bailout plan for Citigroup Inc. and the formal unveiling of President-elect Barack Obama’s economic team.
The Standard & Poor’s Retail Index surged 23.59 points to close at 246.93.
Just last week, the index was testing new bottoms as investors sold off shares tied to consumer spending. On Thursday, the index marked its lowest close since its recalibration in June 2002, and on Friday it established a new record low of 207.49 in intraday trading.
“It’s probably a bear market rally, which are very abrupt and generally short-lived,” Laurence C. Leeds Jr., chairman of Buckingham Capital Management, said.
Even with Monday’s rise, retail shares are still down 37.9 percent over the last three months.
Even with Monday’s rise, retail shares are still down 37.9 percent over the last three months.
“From all I can gather, business in retail America still seems extraordinarily difficult,” Leeds said. “I don’t meet many retailers who seem very optimistic, and unemployment continues to rise, household income continues to head south.”
Dramatic swings have become relatively common in recent months as markets ride a monetary and emotional roller coaster powered by the global economic slowdown and continued uncertainty over the health of the financial system.
The federal government’s plan to provide Citigroup, a cornerstone of the banking world, with $20 billion in fresh capital and to guarantee $306 billion in questionable assets removed a huge question mark that had been weighing down markets.
Apparel vendors joined in the rise, as well, with Jones Apparel Group Inc. and Liz Claiborne Inc. each making up large chunks of ground lost last week. Shares of Jones rose 30 percent to $3.81, and Claiborne’s stock ascended 29.6 percent to $2.32.
Both stocks had been beat up particularly hard as investors fretted over consumer spending, weak department store sales and financing agreements that expire next year and have yet to be renewed.
Among the other vendors, The Warnaco Group Inc.’s stock jumped 16.8 percent to $15.79, and Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. was up 13.3 percent to $40.83.
The retail rally was second in magnitude only to the index’s Oct. 28 jump of 13.6 percent, a perplexing day when investors plowed into retail despite news that consumer confidence had hit an all-time low.
Among the companies starting the week with strong stock increases were Charming Shoppes Inc., up 39.5 percent to $1.20; Hot Topic Inc., 27.4 percent to $7.48; Nordstrom Inc., 25 percent to $9.76; Abercrombie & Fitch Co., 19.2 percent to $17.45; The Men’s Wearhouse Inc., 17.1 percent to $10.27; J.C. Penney Co. Inc., 16.4 percent to $17.62; Macy’s Inc., 16.2 percent to $6.66, and Coach Inc., 13.2 percent to $16.68.
Dillard’s Inc. stock rose 7.9 percent to $3 after cutting about 500 positions from its staff in a bid to reduce operating expenses.
The stock market rush wasn’t enough, though, to push all retail issues up.
AnnTaylor Stores Corp.’s stock fell 7.7 percent to $4.46. Debt-rating agency Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed the retailer’s credit rating at “BB-minus,” but changed its outlook on the grade to negative from stable.
“The outlook revision is due to [Ann Taylor’s] very weak third-quarter performance, including net sales that declined 12 percent from the third quarter of 2007,” Jackie Oberoi, credit analyst, said.
Standard & Poor’s expects the company’s soft performance to continue through the fourth quarter.
Fashion stocks, however, generally outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which leapt 4.9 percent, or 396.97 points, to 8,433.39. Obama officially named Timothy Geithner as his pick to head the Treasury Department and Lawrence Summers to lead the White House Economic Council.
Today, investors will get a new reading on consumer confidence, as well as a look at third-quarter results from American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Charming Shoppes Inc., Chico’s FAS Inc., The Talbots Inc. and others.
The market developments came as Obama named five key architects of his economic recovery plan at a news conference in Chicago. On Saturday, the president-elect said he was developing an initiative to save and create 2.5 million jobs in the next two years.
Leading the economic team will be Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, who was nominated as treasury secretary to steer Obama’s initiatives. With the economic team and Obama’s jobs plan expected to focus on consumer spending and middle-class jobs, retailers could get a boost, if not in the first half, then possibly in the second half of next year.
Obama also named Summers, Geithner’s mentor, treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, as director of the National Economic Council. Christina Romer, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, was selected to be director of the Council of Economic Advisers. Melody Barnes, a senior economic policy campaign adviser and former chief counsel to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.), will be director of the Domestic Policy Council, and Heather Higginbottom, a policy director for the Obama campaign and former legislative director for Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.), is the new deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council.
Richard Yamarone, chief economist and director of economic research at Argus Research Corp., said the team and Obama’s emerging economic stimulus plan are positives for retailers.
“What we do know is that a big number is being floated around, and that is a very positive sign that they are not going to do this piecemeal,” he said. “Obviously, we have the greatest credit crisis of our lifetime, so it is good to know that you will have one of the biggest stimulus packages ever to try to rectify the situation.”
He acknowledged that none of the moves being made by the president-elect will help retailers for holiday or the first part of next year.
“The holiday season is pretty much written off.…Retailers are looking forward to getting this economy righted in the first and second quarters, depending on how fast they can implement the ideas,” Yamarone said.
Obama is already working with Democratic leaders in Congress to craft the stimulus plan, which is expected to be far larger than the $175 billion package he proposed on the campaign trail. Obama is urging Democratic leaders, who will enjoy wider majorities in Congress when they reconvene on Jan. 6, to pass a package before his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Some analysts and lawmakers have suggested the package could cost between $500 billion and $700 billion. Obama declined on Monday to put a price tag on the proposal.
The plan will include billions of dollars for public works projects to repair the country’s aging bridges and highways and other infrastructure, tax cuts for low- and middle-income taxpayers and new funds to promote green technology and alternative-energy resources.
The economic appointees “all bring brainpower to the table and a real deep understanding of how the economy works and what we need to do to fix it,” said Gus Faucher, director of Macroeconomics for Moody’s Economy.com.
(www.wwd.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| Old Catalogs' Lessons Still Apply 2008-11-24
Old catalogs can have useful ideas for today's catalogers. Leo Burnett once said of good advertising, “Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.” Catalogs that do this can still define and transform brands, engage and reassure customers and create buzz.
Richard Sears declared his catalog “The Cheapest Supply House on Earth,” and his rural customers looked to him for everything from groceries to tombstones. Sears was a brilliant copywriter who wrote all 600 pages of his early catalogs. Early Sears catalogs with their curlicue and filigree festooned typefaces were so appealing that some homemakers used them to decorate their walls.
Of his newly invented hunting boot, LL Bean declared “We guarantee them to give perfect satisfaction in every way.” He had to refund the money for 90 of the first 100 shoes sold because the soles separated from the tops, and he did so without flinching. Bean set the standard for service by placing the customer first, a commitment that continues to define his company to this day.
When Frederick Mellinger suggested that his boss at the lingerie store sell black lingerie in addition to white, he was fired. So he started a little company called Frederick's of Hollywood. The early Frederick's catalogs memorably introduced women (and men) to torpedo bras, thongs and pre-Baywatch Pamela Anderson.
Bloomingdales didn't put out its first catalog until 1976, but its lingerie promotion, “Sighs and whispers,” with sexy photographs by French Vogue photographer Guy Bourdin, was a dazzling first step. An original fetches up to $1,000 at auction.
Bourdin's heir was Bruce Weber, known for his racy and homoerotic images, who shot the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog from 1999 to 2003. Weber's photos helping to transform Abercrombie & Fitch from a stodgy outlet for outdoorsmen to the epitome of young cool.
(www.dmnews.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| A Case for Call-Center Outsourcing to Cut Costs 2008-11-21
I’ve always been a proponent of in-house call centers, especially as a former manager of one. But with times so tough these days, the pressure on businesses to dramatically reduce costs intensifies. And more companies are looking to domestic or offshore outsourcing of some or all call-center and data-entry functions as a way to improve the bottom line. By outsourcing these functions, you avoid using capital for new order management and telephone systems.
One of our clients recently outsourced 300,000 phone calls offshore, resulting in a substantial reduction in costs. The client’s fully loaded internal cost per minute was 72 cents, while a fully loaded offshore cost per minute is 42 cents — and most of the customer service remains in-house.
Additionally, the client’s 90,000 mail/fax orders cost just 15 cents per order: scanned, transmitted to Asia, keyed overnight, and available online for picking and customer service the next morning.
Add it up and it’s well worth your while to look at the potential savings of offshore outsourcing. Here are some points to consider when doing this type of study.
1. Know your internal costs. To compare your internal costs to outsourcing, identify your fully loaded internal costs. “Fully loaded” includes direct and indirect labor, occupancy, and telecommunication costs. Then, convert this to a cost-per-minute basis, which is how outsourcing generally is proposed and invoiced.
You may say you can’t control occupancy costs, but there may be other uses for that space if the call center is outsourced.
2. Competitively bid out to multiple vendors. It goes without saying that you need to competitively bid the potential project to a short list of qualified bidders. This is the only way to get the lowest costs.
3. Formalize a request for proposal. This should include the following:
* a pro forma for your business (meaning the types and volumes of transactions — actual and multiyear-forward projections);
* required services;
* service level standards for total call length, abandonment rate and average call;
* a request for references and a boilerplate contract; and
* details about order management systems needed and systems integration, including your e-commerce site.
4. Decide what to keep in-house. Keep your customer service internal. This gives you a way to monitor the service levels of the outsource company.
5. Ask other critical questions. Among the things you’ll want to know:
* how training regarding your product(s) and company policies will be conducted;
* whether the provider is PCI credit compliant and certified;
* how you’ll monitor your customers’ calls; and
* who the company’s references are (come up with standardized questions to ask each of the references so you can compare their responses).
To read more, click here.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| Postal Changes to Pay Attention To 2008-11-21
The following article was posted in the November 24 Wisconsin Web Offset e-letter.
The USPS is changing the game again and if you're a direct mail player, you need to pay attention to what's in the works.
These are some important dates to put on your calendar.
Nov. 23 2008 - Move Update, new requirements.
Feb. 2009 - New pricing structure to be announced.
March 2009 - New addressing standards for flats discounts
May 2009 - Intelligent Mail Barcode goes into effect.
In this issue, let's address first things first. We'll go into more detail as the dates get closer.
First:The "Move Update" requirements.
The new regulation "effective November 23rd" requires you to update an address for someone who has moved within 95 days of an additional mailing. Typically, you receive a green card from the Post Office for the undelivered item for first class mail. If you mail again to the same "undeliverable as addressed" (UAA) after the 95 days you were first notified of the undeliverable, you may face fines or loss of discounts from the post office (i.e. automation-rate and presort-rate First-Class Mail). This also applies to all standard class mail-letters, flats, parcels and Not Flat-Machinables.
If you are saturation mailing "to current resident" the Move Update requirements do not apply.
UAA costs the Post Office 1.8 billion dollars a year, so there is a big incentive for the USPS to improve the delivery process.
Here are the Stats:
•44 million changes of address are filed annually.
•2 million businesses change addresses annually.
•9.72 billion pieces are UAA.
•5 out every 100 pieces are UAA.
•75% of all UAA is move related.
For Standard Mail mailers, most publishers and direct marketers, the new Move Update standard does not mean that you begin an updating process on Nov. 23, but rather, starting Nov. 23, you must begin using addresses that were updated within the previous 95 days. For example, a mailing entered on Dec. 1 must bear addresses that were updated no earlier than Aug. 28.
There are several authorized methods for Standard Mail to qualify for the Move Update requirements. They include:
•NCOALink processing.
•FASTforward MLOCR processing (letter mail only).
•OneCode ACS (Address Change Service) in conjunction with an Intelligent Mail barcode and a mailer ID.
•Address Change Service used with an ACS participant code and an appropriate on-piece ancillary service endorsement.
•Use of an appropriate on-piece ancillary service endorsement without ACS.
There are two easy ways to meet the new requirements;
A) If you buy a new list, make sure it has been run through the NCOA (National Change of Address). You will need to submit a NCOA Processing Acknowledgment Form PRIOR to processing your list. You will also have to fill-in the required information in the "List Owner" section of the document. You will need to print, sign, and fax back to our offices at 262-395-2008.
B) You can send us your list and we will process it through the NCOA at an additional cost. It will also add another 24 hours to the mailing process, so make sure you submit your list when you send us your files to print. We will only need to do this once every 95 days as long as you do not make changes to your list. The cost for processing is $2.50 per thousand ($65 minimum).
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| USPS Helps the Environment and Aims to Cut Costs with Green Routes 2008-11-19
In an ever increasing effort to save money the U.S. Postal Service is encouraging green routes. Neither the elements nor a bad economy can stop U.S. mail carriers. But to save a little green the USPS is doing a little adjusting.
"Right now we are in the process of doing minor route adjustments. They'll help us eliminate using a car which will help cut costs. They call them green routes," said Mason City Postmaster Scott Pardoe.
Pardoe says it will take about a month to shift around his routes. By adding a block or two to each route the post office hopes to eliminate at least on mail truck on the road.
"They probably drive 6-8 miles a day but that's a lot if you remember the mail come 302 days a year."
Pardoe says that none of the carriers should be worried about their jobs. Customers may see some changes but Pardoe says nothing will get lost in delivery.
"They might have a different mail carrier and the times, when we adjust routes, we try to make them as close as possible to what they're receiving now."
Cities all across the country are adopting green routes. Smaller communities will be the last affected. Of course there is also the added benefits for the environment with hundreds of fewer mail trucks on the road.
(www.kimt.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| New Slim-jim Standards Nearly in Sight 2008-11-18
New standards for letter-size catalogs, aka “slim-jims,” could be released by the end of the year, says U.S. Postal Service spokesperson David Partenheimer. “We plan on publishing new standards for slim-jims in the Federal Register soon, based on the results of this year's testing,” he says.
Particularly after the huge postal rate hike of May 2007, slim-jims have helped many mailers survive cost increases by reducing postage and paper costs. The tall skinny trim size (roughly 6-1/8" 11-1/2" and typically up to 1/4" thick) is cheaper to mail than a full-size book, and uses less paper.
But a proposed rule adjustment to slim-jim requirements by the USPS could eliminate significant savings. The Postal Service says that slim-jims are too fat under the current requirements, and the tabs required to seal the pages aren't strong enough. These factors are causing to jam the USPS's automated processing equipment.
The Postal Service wants to change the size standards for slim-jims, cutting down thickness — and therefore page count — by nearly half. It also wants to beef up tabbing requirements, which could affect catalog open rates. For more on the proposed standards, see Slim-jims get squeezed.
Partenheimer says the first round of Federal Register notices will announce the changes the USPS hopes to implement. “Customers will have about 45 days to comment on our proposal and then we will retool our standards as much as operationally feasible to accommodate the concerns they express, he says.
“If that can be accomplished in time for a May implementation,” he adds “then that is what will happen.”
(www.multichannelmerchant.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| Co-Mailing: The Biggest Controllable Variable in Your Catalog's Printing and Postage Costs, Part 2 2008-11-13
This week in the final part of our two-part series on co-mailing economics, I’ll inform you of the various price estimates you need to research from printers to accurately compare savings between co-mail pools. I’ll also pose a list of questions that catalogers should ask printers when negotiating co-mail contracts.
Cost Estimates
It can be difficult to compare savings between different printers’ co-mail pools. To do this effectively, get the following estimates from printers:
* gross postage without any savings;
* net postage after the printer’s mail pool and co-mail savings; and
* the printer’s cost for its portion of the savings, its freight cost (including the dreaded fuel surcharge) and administration cost.
You end up with the printer’s estimate of your net postage and its total cost to capture those savings for you. The postage savings and the printer’s costs can be difficult to calculate. Even if you calculate the savings yourself, ask your printer to also provide an estimate of net postage and all costs it’ll charge you.
Keep it simple: What will be my postal bill and my cost from the printer to capture those savings? (Click on the chart at the bottom of the page for an example of how to calculate these numbers.)
Beyond costs, in addition to the differences between in-line and off-line pools, educate yourself on the size of the typical mail pool from the different printers. (The bigger the pool, the bigger the potential savings.) Then find out the frequency of the pools: Are they once or twice a week or spread further apart? Know the trim size constraints and whether your trim size gives you the best flexibility. The generic trim sizes have become 8 inches x 10 1/2 inches and 7 3/8 inches x 10 1/2 inches, but some printers have machinery that handles a variety of trim sizes. Also know whether the pool is through the printer or a consolidator.
If you wonder whether printers offer different levels of service or all printers’ co-mail capabilities essentially the same, actually, there’s a wide variety of capabilities and potential cost savings. The big three printers — RR Donnelley, Quebecor World and Quad/Graphics — have big, established co-mail programs that work with catalogs with circulations of all sizes.
Other printers, like Arandell, Catalogs America, Brown Printing and The Dingley Press, are getting into co-mail in a big way. They’re using in-house co-mail pools or consolidators, or a combination of the two.
The smaller, third-tier printers are the ones really suffering, because if they don’t have mail pools, they tend to lose out based on price.
Bargaining Power
As for the deal points to make when negotiating a contract with printers, ask the following:
* Do they offer a guaranteed savings? Some printers offer guaranteed postage savings.
* Do they guarantee freight prices? Freight guarantees are common and are typically based on a cost per cwt.
* What are the administrative costs for each mail drop? Is there a fixed cost for each mail drop?
* How are the savings split between printer and cataloger? A 5050 savings split is common, but greater savings are possible from some printers.
As catalog costs spiral upward and break-even costs threaten profitability, catalogers must understand the potential savings from co-mail programs. Co-mailing should save between $.02 and $.04 per catalog mailed, which translates into a savings of $200,000 to $400,000 over a circulation base of 10,000,000 catalogs. That savings can represent the difference between a profit and a loss in 2009. So take a deep dive into your co-mail costs and savings to maximize your bottom line.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| Study Finds Growing Green Market 2008-11-11
The drive to sustainability is having a broad effect on consumers, with three in four defining themselves as "green," according to a new study.
According to the survey, the green market has grown far beyond its roots as a niche, with 77 percent of consumers identifying themselves as "green." Over half (57 percent) said they made a green purchase decision in the past six months.
Yahoo commissioned the survey, which polled 1,500 people age 18-54 in person in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Ore. Respondents were recruited online.
While it found broad support for green, consumers unsurprisingly varied in their commitment to the cause. Yahoo pegs about 23 percent of consumers as "deeply committed." A larger segment, about 24 percent, finds green "trendy," Yahoo concludes, particularly young consumers 18-34.
It found that currently green consumers are most likely to take sustainability into account when buying cleaning and personal care products. Larger purchase decisions, such as a car, will soon be highly influenced by green concerns, the Yahoo study found: 71 percent said they are interested in buying an environmentally sound auto in the future.
In making decisions, green consumers find information in both traditional and online media. Respondents nearly evenly split between the two, with 72 percent saying they get information in traditional media and 68 percent citing online. When it comes to the Web, the Yahoo! study found portals have continued staying power as an information provider, with 51 percent citing it as a green information source. Search came in second at 44 percent.
Two sources that fared much worse: company Web sites, which only 20 percent turned to, and blogs at 21 percent.
(www.adweek.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| Toy Regulations Affect Direct Retailers 2008-11-10
Toy catalog and Internet retailers are scrambling to meet deadlines for new regulations from the Consumer Product Safety Commission regarding the banning of lead and phthalates in toys, as well as how they inform consumers about toy safety warnings.
A number of highly publicized product recalls in 2007 many of them for toys left consumers, toy retailers and the nation's product safety watchdogs rattled. While many in the direct marketing industry agree that the new law is an important step toward ensuring the safety of children, there are some concerns over how it is being implemented.
“My biggest concern is what we are required to do and what we aren't,” said Michael Wagner, CEO of The Parent Company, which operates eToys and My Twinn Doll. “The legislature has put the law in place, but all the details aren't there.”
Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. While many of the regulations will take effect December 12 for Internet retailers and February 10 for catalogers, the CPSC was still taking comments from the catalog industry until October 15, and into November from the Internet side. The final rule regarding exactly what catalogers will be expected to do is supposed to be released on November 12. The possibility of a 180-day grace period has been raised by the CPSC.
“Many catalogers have their catalogs planned well in advance, so these restrictions could be very problematic,” said Hamilton Davison, executive director of the American Catalog Mailers Association.
The law contains a section that deals specifically with toys sold via catalogs and the Internet. It states that when a toy carries a cautionary statement regarding choking, any advertising providing a direct means of purchase also must contain an appropriate cautionary statement.
“This is an area where you want to protect children,” said Jerry Cerasale, SVP of government affairs at the Direct Marketing Association. Still, the association raised several concerns in its comments to the CPSC, including suggesting that symbols be used in catalogs instead of a full warning statement.
“The real estate is very important in a catalog,” said Cerasale. “If you have lots of warnings, it uses up space that could be used to sell other products.”
The DMA also is asking that catalogers be given an 18-month grace period to comply with the new regulations and that business-to-business catalogs be exempt from the regulations.
The labeling requirement isn't as big a concern for The Parent Company as the phthalates issue, said Wagner. Phthalates are ingredients found in some plastics.
“If there is a warning on a manufacturer's package, we put it on our Web site this is something we've done for some time,” he said. Some Internet retailers aren't currently doing this, however.
(www.dmnews.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| Co-Mailing: The Biggest Controllable Variable in Your Catalog's Printing and Postage Costs 2008-11-07
Co-mailing has become such a hot topic in the dialog between catalogers and their printers because it represents the potential for significant savings in postage costs. The variation in savings between printers is such — based on the size of co-mail pools, in-line co-mail and off-line co-mail — that choosing the right co-mail partner can be the most significant factor in selecting your printer.
The majority of a catalog’s publishing costs are contained in the three P’s: printing, paper and postage, none of which catalogers have much control over. Postage isn’t negotiable, paper costs are increasingly mandated by the paper companies and printing margins are razor thin. Most printers can’t cut their manufacturing costs, which leads to very similar prices, because competition between printers dictates virtual price parity.
But, printers can offer significant cost savings to catalogers via co-mailing, where your carrier route or tier qualification postal discounts can be combined with other catalogs mailed at the same time. The USPS offers significant discounts for breaking the mail into tiers, rewarding mailers who prepare their mail so it’s efficient for the post office to handle.
More Efficient = Higher Tier
The most efficient mail gets discounted at the highest tier, and the less efficient mail is classified in lower tiers with higher postage. The postal tiers range from carrier route (with a postage rate of $0.249) down to mixed sacks (with a postage rate of $0.515).
The May 2007 postal increase not only sharply increased catalog postage, but it also widened the spread in postage costs between efficient mail, like carrier route bundles, and the least efficient mail, such as the residual bundles. With a $0.25 difference in postage for mailing the same catalog based on whether it qualifies for carrier route or the least efficient tier, printers have developed programs to combine mail and capture enough savings to make it profitable for printers to co-mail catalogs.
There are two kinds of co-mail pools: in-line and off-line. In-line pools are when a printer combines two, three or four catalogs and binds the catalogs in-line. Off-line pools are where the printer binds the catalogs first, then ink-jets the addresses in a second stage. The off-line technology allows for larger pool sizes (i.e., a greater number of participants). In-line pools are limited by the number of catalogs that can flow through the pockets on a bindery line.
Rule of Thumb
* Catalogers with circulation of less than 300,000 capture greater savings with off-line pools.
* Catalogers with circulation greater than 300,000 have the potential for larger savings with in-line pools.
* The larger the circulation, the greater the potential savings with in-line pools.
Check back next week for the final part of my two-part series on co-mailing economics, where I’ll fill you in on the estimates you need to get from printers to accurately compare savings between co-mail pools, as well as provide you a list of questions to ask printers when negotiating a co-mail deal.
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| Using Post-Consumer Waste to Make High-Quality Paper Often Bad for the Environment 2008-11-07
I used to think that using post-consumer recycled content to make paper was good, that cutting trees to make paper was bad, and that online editions were greener than “dead-tree” editions. Silly me.
It's taken me years to realize that using post-consumer waste (PCW) in North America to make magazine-quality paper not only does not “save trees”, it’s often actually bad for the environment. The problem is “up-cycling”, the use of low-quality recycled material (such as post-consumer newsprint) to make higher-quality products, such as coated and supercalendered papers.
“Up-cycling of fibers wastes an additional 400 pounds of fiber per ton to make high-quality recycled paper,” states the Association of American Publishers Handbook on Book Paper and the Environment, which does a nice job explaining up-cycling and down-cycling. PCW usually has to be deinked and bleached to make higher-quality papers. There is no such fiber loss when the PCW instead goes into products like cardboard. So insisting that North American mills include PCW in the paper we buy merely bids up the price of that fiber and diverts it from more ecologically appropriate uses. For that reason, at least one publisher has asked its North American paper suppliers not to put post-consumer waste into its paper.
The situation is different in some European countries, where waste streams for office paper (mostly uncoated freesheet) and magazine/catalog paper are kept separate from lower-grade products like newsprint. To get such high-quality recycled fiber in North America generally means using pre-consumer fiber, such as printer waste and unsold newsstand copies.
An argument often made for recycled fiber is that it has a lower carbon footprint than virgin fiber. That is a gross over-generalization that often is simply not true. Pulp and paper mills relying on virgin fiber tend to get their energy from biomass (such as bark) and hydroelectricity. Making pulp from PCW may require less energy, but that energy typically comes from natural gas and coal-fired electricity.
As an environmentalist, it pains me that so much of the guidance the environmental movement has offered regarding paper purchasing, however well intentioned, has been misleading. Take the idea that cutting trees is bad.
Deforestation is definitely harmful to the environment, but there is little correlation in North America between forestry and deforestation. Agriculture and urban development are much larger despoilers of forests.
“To address climate change, we must use more wood, not less,” says Dr. Patrick Moore, a founder of Greenpeace and more recently of Greenspirit. “Using wood sends a signal to the marketplace to grow more trees and to produce more wood. That means we can then use less concrete, steel and plastic -- heavy carbon emitters through their production. Trees are the only abundant, biodegradable and renewable global resource.”
And how about the idea that it’s greener to publish a digital or Web edition than to put ink on paper? There is nothing green about all the electricity it takes to power Web servers and keep them cool. You can buy carbon-neutral paper, but I haven’t heard of any carbon-neutral PCs.
Global climate change is the key environmental issue of our generation, so our green efforts should focus on minimizing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. For me, when I buy paper, that means selecting mills that use earth-friendly fiber (whether from sustainable forestry or from appropriate recycled content) and emit few greenhouse gases, then having the paper transported in the most energy-efficient manner (e.g. rail instead of truck).
Disagree? Then speak up. I am willing to publish other viewpoints as long as they are well-reasoned and well written; you can email them to dead.tree.edition@gmail.com. Or just click the “Comment” button at the end of this post to share your immediate, unedited response. If we’re going to preserve the Earth as we know it, we need to have more intelligent discussions and debates and fewer knee-jerk reactions and oversimplifications.
(www.deadtreeedition.blogspot.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| Arandell's Don Landis in the article 'Confusion Reigns Over Intelligent Mail Barcodes' 2008-11-06
The U.S. Postal Service has long been touting the Intelligent Mail barcode (IMB) as a revolutionary change--one that will expand mailers' ability to track individual pieces of mail and provide greater visibility into the mail stream. But many catalogers and industry experts have more questions than answers on the IMB.
Designed to upgrade the current four-state customer barcode, Intelligent Mail uses a 65-bar USPS barcode to sort and track letters and flats. The IMB provides mailers with more digits to use, allowing for unique identification of up to a billion mail pieces per mailing.
When Intelligent Mail is implemented in May 2009, mailers will be able to choose from two options: basic and full service. The basic option requires the essential elements of an IMB—service code, mailer ID and the delivery point code.
Full service has all the elements of basic, plus a unique identity on each mail piece. What's more, full service combines this individual mail identity with aggregate information for primary containers such as trays, tubs and sacks. The data from the primary containers is attributed to secondary containers such as pallets.
So what’s the problem with Intelligent Mail? “There are big issues with lots of confusion,” says Don Landis, vice president of postal affairs for catalog printer Arandell Corp. “Our customers have heard many different versions of what is an IMB and the effective date,” he notes. “Most do not understand the internal data structure they will need.”
And the dates for compliance are creeping up. The USPS will require all automation flats to bear barcodes (IMBs or Postnet barcodes) that include delivery point routing codes--as currently required for automation letters--starting May 11, 2009.
Catalogers will have until May 11, 2011 to abide by the IMB regulations, though the USPS will begin offering discounts for using the “full service” IMB next fall. And as of May 11, 2011, there will be penalties for not complying.
As a printer, Arandell is still concerned with being able to print the IMB, Landis says. “We printers have invested a lot of capital in the IMB and are concerned there will be no way of realizing any ROI.
And mailers want to know what discounts will be offered before they decide if full service is worth the investment, he adds. “All but one of our customers have stated that with the information available today, they will not use full service.”
Early in 2009, the USPS will announce an Intelligent Mail full service discount at the same time it announces the CPI (Consumer Price Index) increase for postal rates in May. “There will be no discount for basic service,” Landis says. “Rumor has it that it will be a very small discount considering the financial status of the USPS. It might be just another presort rate.”
There does not seem to be “a whole lot of benefit (to using Intelligent Mail) for catalogers,” says Anita Pursley, vice president of postal affairs for Montreal-based printer Quebecor World. She says IMB is makes more sense for periodicals, which receive ACS (Address Correction Service).
ACS involves receiving a notice from the USPS if a mail piece cannot be delivered and why; right now there is a cost for the service. Receiving free ACS with full service Intelligent Mail could mean a big savings for periodical mailers, Landis notes. “But [catalogers] only receive ACS when they request it--and that is not very frequent--so there really is not much of a savings” for them.
Intelligent Mail marks the first mandated barcode change since the USPS invented Postnet in 1980. In addition to new data and processing requirements, the graphics, fonts, coding and print specifications for the IMB are different from any existing barcode used today. Companies must create the new barcode, plus eliminate any current barcodes such as Postnet or Planet codes.
Pursley calls Intelligent Mail the “most aggressive and challenging initiative the industry has ever seen.” While the implementation date has been set, the requirements surrounding the use of the IMB are still evolving, she says. “The industry needs to constantly monitor the requirements and determine if the anticipated benefits are worth the substantial time and investments necessary to comply.”
As always, you can count on Arandell to bring you the most up-to-date postal information. For additional information, please contact Don Landis, VP of Postal Affairs or Susan Pinter, Director of Postal Affairs. They can also be reached at 800.558.8724.
(www.multichannelmerchant.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| Customer-Centric Approach Focuses on the Data 2008-11-05
With the holiday shopping season upon us, many multichannel retailers are scrambling to find a new marketing approach to salvage something positive out of this troublesome year. Enter customer-centric retailing, the enterprise-wide use of customer data to establish a comprehensive understanding of customer behavior as a foundation for maximizing the relevance of cross-functional retail strategies.
In a webinar presented by the Direct Marketing Association last week, Customer Centric Retailing — Making the Shift to a New Paradigm, presenters Miguel Pereira, director of consulting and analytical services at the customer retail strategies firm Precima, and Nicolle Scavuzzo, director of client services at Precima, outlined how customer-centric retailing can optimize the profitability of your business. Here’s a rundown of what they had to say.
To build customer centricity, follow this three-step process: analysis, strategy and execution. This represents a departure from most marketing plans, Scavuzzo said, because typically the strategy of a marketing campaign is discussed prior to analysis. But conducting the analysis first can save time and money. “It’s a shortcut,” she noted, “and you can find hit and miss strategies by doing the analysis first.”
Your analysis should consist of identifying segments based on current and potential value, categories/products, and profitability drivers. At the strategy level, prioritize your customer segments, develop functional customer plans/tactics and align the organization so it’s presenting one consistent view across all channels. When it comes to execution, it’s about determining the right price points, promotions and assortment of products, among other factors.
Customer Identification
A simple way to identify your best customers is by how much they spend. They’re typically grouped into four categories: nonshopper, low, middle, high. But this doesn’t take into account potential value. “Understand not only your customers’ current value, but also their potential value to quantify share of wallet,” Pereira said. This includes understanding customer dynamics to be able to predict where that customer will be in the future. A combination of transactional and demographic data provides the clearest picture of customers.
Pereira cited the example of a young couple, both of whom are loyal customers to a supermarket. While they might not represent a tremendous value to the supermarket as far as spend is concerned, their potential spend stands to increase if they have children. By knowing this and basing marketing plans around this data, the retailer can optimize the spend of that couple.
He also advised marketers to identify and segment customers based on loyalty, again grouping them into four categories: nonshopper, occasional, secondary, loyal. Here, loyalty cards are a good way to capture transaction history, helping to better segment your customers.
Sometimes it’s necessary to go outside of your existing product assortment and pricing to obtain new segments, Pereira advised. He cited the example of a catalog company whose secondary and loyal customers were established, but aging. In order to grow the brand, the cataloger needed to capture a new customer segment. By developing a new product line and adjusting prices, the cataloger was able to attract a younger customer segment, and thus grow the business.
5 Strategic Pricing Areas
Pereira listed five key areas to align your strategies in a customer-centric marketing approach regarding pricing:
1. customer segmentation: identify, quantify and understand your customers;
2. customer strategy: priority segments, top opportunities, segment goals;
3. customer plans and tactics: pricing strategy aligned to key segments (product categories, key value indicators, price position);
4. optimize and execute: reset prices in key product categories, optimize for customer segments; and
5. measure and refine: measure the impact of customer-centric pricing on product categories and customers, and refine them over time; constantly update your pricing model for life events — move, birth of a child, wedding, etc. — and how they affect purchasing behavior.
“Optimize profitability,” Pereira said, “by strategically setting prices that are aligned to priority customers in key categories.”
(www.catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| InfoUSA Offers New Neighborhood-Based Local Selection Tool 2008-11-05
List management company infoUSA has developed what it is calling the industry’s first neighborhood-based selection list, to microtarget campaigns on the local level toward some 50,000 specially defined neighborhoods.
The new service, the result of a partnership with Maponics Neighborhood Boundaries, identifies “simulated” neighborhoods, which locals refer to informally by name. Following a tagging process, marketers can choose from a list of neighborhood names and exact addresses. InfoUSA’s partner on the service, Maponics, specializes in mapping services and map data for businesses. It is based in Norwich, Vt.
(www.btbonine.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| Mailers Moving Toward Environment Best Practices: WEC Roundtable 2008-11-03
Many companies in the mailing industry are integrating sound environmental practices, but the industry, as a whole, needs to get greener, speakers at the World Environment Center roundtable on sustainability in the mailing industry said.
They also agreed the industry needs to do a better job of telling its story.
The conference, held Thursday in Washington, DC, and sponsored by WEC member Pitney Bowes, drew more than 60 leaders from the mailing industry, government and non-governmental organizations. The goal was to explore ways to promote and integrate sustainable development throughout the mailing industry, from supply to delivery to disposal.
Incorporating sound environmental practices in business plans and operations make both economic and stewardship sense, participants agreed. There is a convergence between what is good for the environment and what reduces costs, said Michael Critelli, executive chairman of Pitney Bowes.
Sustainability is generally defined as meeting today's needs without compromising the future, and is generally recognized to have three components, which boil down to: “people, planet, products.” The mailing industry has stepped up its green efforts in the past few years as the green movement has grown nationwide and as the industry has come under attack from proponents of do-not-mail legislation.
But, the mailing industry suffers from a perception problem, said Paul Robbertz., Pitney Bowes' vice president of environment, health and safety.
When consumers, in a 2007 survey by DMNews and Pitney Bowes, were asked how much of the country's municipal waste in landfills is composed of advertising mail, almost half said 50%, said Robbertz, noting the correct answer is just over 2%.
Robbertz also pointed out that a Pitney Bowes' whitepaper on mail and the environment concluded that mail is a small component of most consumers' carbon footprint. Running a single refrigerator for a year, for example, is roughly equivalent to the creation and delivery of 5,000 letters, he said.
The message isn't necessarily that mail is better for the environment than other things, he said, but the bottom line is companies need to act responsibly.
“If we act responsibly, consumers' perceptions will change,” Robbertz said.
John Greco, president and CEO of the Direct Marketing Association, outlined some of the efforts DMA has put into place to promote responsibility and greener practices among its 3,400 members.
Along with its Green 15 initiative, which outlines 15 baseline environmental practices for companies, DMA has its “Recycle please” campaign and recently unveiled a retooled consumer mail preference service, DMA Choice.
All of these practices are essential to build consumer trust and to bust the myths around environmental issues, Greco said.
“When you can turn to the facts, you can move people quickly,” he said.
Another major effort cited was the US Postal Service's release of its much-anticipated Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), the first-ever comprehensive inventory for the industry.
The robust report provides a baseline for the USPS to set goals and mark progress. While the report indicates that the mailing industry is not a major contributor to the nation's overall carbon dioxide emissions, Sam Pulcrano, USPS VP of sustainability, said, “We will work from the LCI baseline to continue to improve.”
(www.dmnews.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| Macy's Tells Consumers, 'Believe' 2008-10-31
Jessica Simpson and others appear in retailer's holiday campaign
NEW YORK Citing a “challenging” holiday shopping environment, Macy’s is launching a campaign themed “Believe.” The push emphasizes the spirit of Christmas over value messaging.
The campaign, via JWT, New York, draws inspiration from the famous “Yes, Virginia” letter that ran in the New York Sun in 1897 in which a little girl wrote the newspaper asking if Santa Claus was real. “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” responded journalist Francis Church, who made the case for believing in things like love, beauty and joy, which are invisible yet exist nonetheless.
The retail chain, which spent $640 million on U.S. measured media last year (excluding online), per Nielsen Monitor-Plus, will begin its holiday blitz on Nov. 9 with newspaper ads reprinting the original letter and a star-studded TV effort with Jessica Simpson, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart and Carlos Santana, among others. Spending on the new campaign was not disclosed.
As part of the effort, Macy’s stores also will host “Believe Stations,” which will include a “Believe Meter” to measure holiday spirit. The stations also will be receptacles for letters to Santa. Macy’s has pledged to give a dollar for every such letter -- up to $1 million -- to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to chronically ill children.
Peter Sachse, Macy’s CMO, said the chain had considered the "Believe" idea before economic turmoil began to surface in September. “We think we have a very powerful platform with our Believe campaign,” he said. “Macy’s has a a heritage in its DNA to bring this to the fore. We truly -- no pun intended -- believe in what we are doing.”
The effort comes amid some mystery regarding Macy’s financial health. The company stopped issuing same-store results in February, asserting they were not a clear measure of the chain’s performance. Macy’s plans to resume monthly reports on Nov. 6, when it will report October sales. Macy’s stock price has also dropped about 70 percent in the last year, a figure on par with others in the department store segment.
Meanwhile, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services predicted “the most difficult holiday season in memory” for retailers this year as consumers keep a tighter hold on spending. In a separate survey by consultant BDO Seidman, CMOs from leading U.S. retailers forecast an average drop of 2.7 percent.
Nevertheless, Candace Corlett, president of WSL Strategic Retail, a New York-based consulting firm, called Macy’s marketing plan “brilliant” because it plays to the brand’s strengths. “Shoppers are planning to scale way back, so the only ace they have left is service and the emotional connection to the shopper,” Corlett said.
(adweek.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| The 50 Best Tips of 2008 2008-10-31
An annual compilation of the year’s best tactics and tips in the catalog/multichannel business
Tired of reading about what a tough year it’s been for so many businesses across the board? Frustrated with your own results? Scared about the economy? Whether or not you’re struggling as much as others, here’s a little tonic: our annual best-of feature, in which we’ve pulled what we believe to be the 50 best and most implementable tips of the year from Catalog Success magazine as well as our weekly e-newsletter, Tactics & Tips.
There’s nothing fancy here. Each paragraph is taken from a particular story that’s referenced, so you can turn or click back to reread the full story or act on it right now without further adieu. They’re categorized and listed by number, but No. 50 is just as worthwhile as No. 1. None of these tips have become outdated in the weeks or months since we first ran them. So I urge you to read through all of them, and hopefully, you’ll come up with some new winning formulas.
— Paul Miller, Editor-in-Chief
CATALOG/MULTICHANNEL MARKETING
1. Execute ‘mail/holdout’ tests.
One group receives the catalog, one does not. After 12 weeks, tabulate sales results from the mail, phone and online channels. By subtracting the holdout group from the mailed group, you can identify the “incremental” difference.
Kevin Hillstrom, MineThatData
“A CEO’s Guide To Catalog Circulation ’08,”
Jan. 9, Catalog Success: Tactics & Tips
2. Attention to analytics.
Listen to customers closely. Watch your key coding and analytics carefully. And while you may love the look and feel of a certain item, if you’ve tested it and the numbers don’t pan out, move on.
Greg Berglund, Mrs. Fields Gifts
“Back in the Dough,”
January, Catalog Success
3. Beyond your core audience.
Focus harder on selling to your marginal audience, not just your core. Make it easier for fence-sitters to buy from you. You’ll get higher response rates, higher growth and higher profits using a Simplified Audience Pyramid consisting of super core (wild enthusiasts), core (moderate enthusiasts), maybe (interested
but lazy) and forget-its (not at all interested).
Susan McIntyre, McIntyre Direct
Catalog Doctor column, “Vitamin Maybe: A prescription for stronger response rates,”
March, Catalog Success
4. Keep channel choice wide open.
“Don’t think one channel will solve everything. Win [customers] over in all channels. Be clear about the role each channel plays in your brand portfolio, and balance them to the needs of your customers.”
Linda LoRe, Frederick’s of Hollywood
“Stayin’ Hollywood,”
May, Catalog Success
5. Mall traffic may be down, but increase catalog circulation deliberately.
“We’d like to see [consumers going to stores less due to rising gas prices], but we’re not going to increase catalog circ in anticipation of that. As results improve and more customers order, then we’ll increase circ.”
Joan Abrams, Specialty Catalog Corp.
“Riding the Paper Tiger” by Joe Keenan,
August, Catalog Success
6. Break down channel silos.
Too many companies set up reporting and control structures that artificially divide their operations into different divisions or silos. Such a structure is often tied to management assessments or bonus programs. This never works and leads to bad marketing decisions.
Bill Nicolai, LENSER
“10 Principles of Catalog Shopping for Retailers (part1),”
To read more, click here.
(catalogsuccess.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved)
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| In Defense of Unsolicited Mail 2008-10-27
Various groups are trying to reduce the flow of unsolicited mail into American homes, arguing that it is an environmental problem. Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Leonardo DiCaprio have lent their support, and do-not-mail legislation, patterned on do-not-call laws against unsolicited telephone calls, has been introduced in about 16 states.
But Michael J. Critelli, 59, executive chairman of the mailing company Pitney Bowes, says unsolicited mail is not nearly as damaging to the environment as these opponents are arguing. Among its other products, Pitney Bowes provides goods and technology like postage meters to company mailrooms. Even though the company’s research indicates that 75 percent of Americans say they believe unsolicited mail is a major environmental problem, Mr. Critelli says the alternatives — like expanded use of e-mail solicitations — have environmental consequences as well. He estimates that less than 10 percent of his company’s sales are linked to unsolicited mail. Here are excerpts from a recent interview:
Q. Does this do-not-mail campaign shape up as a major battle, or is it largely a nuisance issue?
A. No, I think the people who are against unsolicited mail are exceptionally well funded, exceptionally zealous and, in many instances, exceptionally resistant to the facts.
Q. What is the argument that Oprah Winfrey and Leonardo DiCaprio are making?
A. It starts with the view that it’s really bad for the environment to cut down trees. The most popular argument is that trees help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But the flaw in that argument is that the people who cut the trees are doing it as part of a harvesting process. The result is that you actually end up with more trees. We do not have a tree population problem in the United States. We have more trees than we used to have. The idea that we’re cutting trees and not replacing them is just dead wrong.
Q. Isn’t a lot of this mail ending up in landfills?
A. What we discovered in a survey that we jointly sponsored is that mail in the landfills accounts for about 2 percent of municipal waste, whereas the public believes that it accounts for over a third of municipal waste. There is just a wild misperception.
Q. Isn’t there something inherently wasteful about people receiving mail they don’t want and simply throwing it away?
A. I think there is a legitimate issue — giving people the ability to decide what they receive or don’t receive in the mail. But it’s not an environmental issue, and it’s not an identity theft issue. It’s the right of people to decide what they get. When you compare mail to other media, we get a lot of spam on the Internet, which has a cost associated with it because people have to buy spam filters. There is so much advertising on television that people buy TiVos. Now you have “do not call,” which still allows nonprofits and politicians to solicit people against their will.
Our view on the mail is that we support informed consumer choice. The Direct Marketing Association has a mail preference registry that has been around for 36 years and is going to continue to be improved. It gives people the ability to elect not to receive a lot of the mail they don’t want to receive.
Q. What is the environmental impact of junk e-mail messages?
A. It has to do with the power consumed at the data centers, where servers generate and transmit those e-mails and manage those Web pages and portals. There is a huge amount of energy consumption in these data centers. Switching from physical mail to electronic mail doesn’t eliminate all environmental impact. It merely displaces it from paper mill activity to data centers.
Q. Do you think some Americans like to get unsolicited mail?
A. Absolutely. Americans have been buying from catalogs for over a century. The original unsolicited catalogs that people got, particularly in rural areas, were from Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward and J. C. Penney. They started the direct mail industry over a century ago.
Q. How can a law distinguish between unsolicited mail that people want versus mail they don’t want?
A. There’s 2007 household diary study where the U.S. Postal Service did a lot of data collection. It asked consumers about how they feel about the mail they receive. It found that there are three types of unsolicited mail. First, there is mail that comes from current vendors to you. Secondly, there is mail that comes from organizations or companies that you may not be doing business with at the moment but you are familiar with them and you have a high regard for them. And then thirdly, there is mail from unknown sources. A majority of people are willing to receive mail from vendors that they currently do business with or those they recognize as trusted brands. Where the irritation factor comes in is the nonlocal business that you’ve never heard of that sends you something that is irrelevant or insensitive or repetitive.
Q. Is the direct mail industry doing anything to mitigate the environmental concerns?
A. Very much so. There’s lots of activity with organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council. Players like Time Warner, which are big purchasers of paper, will only acquire paper from forests that are certified to be using the best practices from an environmental impact. The U.S. Postal Service also has a program in New York City that it hopes to roll out more broadly. If you have a P.O. box, the post office is providing a recycle bin so that you can dispose of mail before you leave. About 35.8 percent of mail gets recycled. There’s no reason why it shouldn’t be as high as newspaper recycling, which is around 77 percent.
(www.nytimes.coim, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| How Best to Utilize Compiled Lists 2008-10-24
Many an experienced direct marketer would say a response list of buyers or subscribers to a specific offer will outperform a compiled list any day of the week. However, it is imperative to not become short-sighted and completely disregard using compiled lists. They can serve an important purpose for almost all marketers.
Compiled Lists Defined
Compiled lists are generated by list compilers and data aggregators who collect data from a variety of sources, including but not limited to newspapers, telephone and business directories, public records, warranty cards, and trade show rosters. An array of self-reported data from lifestyle questionnaires, online surveys/registrations, and even transactional databases may be brought into the file to identify specific interests or behavioral attributes. List hygiene, NCOA, SAG, DNC, and DMA suppression are performed on a cyclical basis, while updates that add new records and remove old names also occur at specified frequencies (monthly or quarterly in most cases).
Why Use Compiled Lists
Larger universes: Such volume is ideally suited to direct marketers with a limited geography or demographic target. Many fundraisers and regional publishers fall into this category as they are often unable to meet minimum quantities on response files and find that compiled lists fulfill their needs quite nicely.
Depth of selects: Many compiled lists offer up to 80% more selection options than a typical response file. The abundant options allow for selecting prospects with many similar attributes to your customer file. Although each select will add to your CPM, ask your list provider for a special test rate. Most will honor such requests.
Supplemental names: Lower cost and quick order turnaround (usually same day) make compiled files an attractive option when another list declines your offer as "too competitive" or you discover that you are short on records going into merge/purge.
Competitive usage not an issue: Mail pieces/scripts are held to ethical standards and DMA guidelines, but compiled lists are much easier to approve.
Accommodating to models: Prospect, zip and other models require volume that will yield a statistically measurable quantity upon testing and favorable roll-out potential which will justify the expense of developing the model in the first place. Compiled list owners are more likely to approve names for usage in these situations, as well as negotiate net name arrangements that afford the mailer with a CPM closer to breakeven.
Alternative source of names: When list fatigue hits your top-tier lists and others require "dead heading" from the mail plan, compiled lists offer an alternative that can sustain life in your campaign.
Keep a few simple things in mind. First, know your customer profile and be sure to mail records from this segment first. It is tempting to deviate, especially if you have a "gut" feel, but save such assumptions for an A/B split or re-test. Next, don't forget to request list usage. Tests and continuations from the last six to 12 months can identify marketers with synergies and offers similar to yours indicating a good reason to test the list. Moreover, be sure to use MOB, donor, and magazine subscriber selects for relevant offers. Inclusion of these selects will assist in further qualifying the leads. Finally, remember this direct mail mantra, "Don't be afraid to test, test, and retest." Sometimes we discover that what would not work in the past now performs beautifully.
(www.directmag.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| Intelligent Mail Services Readied for May Launch 2008-10-24
When Intelligent Mail barcode options are offered in May 2009, the Postal Service and mailers will enter the next generation of mail processing: end-to-end visibility of mail. Intelligent Mail barcodes have been developed for letters and flats, handling units (trays and sacks) and containers. That means, under the right conditions, it will be possible to know where a mailpiece is in the system at all times. The Intelligent Mail barcode for letters and flats can be used on First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals and Bound Printed Matter. In May, mailers will have two options for Intelligent Mail services: Basic or Full-Service. With the Basic option, mailers will use the Intelligent Mail barcode on letters and flats in place of the POSTNET barcode to provide routing information. The Full-Service option takes advantage of everything the Intelligent Mail barcode has to offer. Mailers will receive automated address correction notices and start-the-clock data, which correspond to when the mail is inducted into postal processing, at no additional charge. “The Intelligent Mail barcode will not only allow mailers to know where their mailpieces are in the postal system, but also where they are anyplace in the supply chain, such as at the printer or on the road,” said Tom Day, senior VP of Intelligent Mail and Address Quality. “This will allow them to coordinate their direct mail campaigns more precisely with other forms of advertising for the greatest return on investment.”
As always, you can count on Arandell to bring you the most up-to-date postal information. If you have any questions regarding this article or any other postal issues, please contact Don Landis or Susan Pinter. They can also be reached at 800.558.8724. |
| ARE YOU MOBILE? 2010-04-26
This past week I was in New York. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and I was sitting on a bench at Noon eating a hotdog and watching everyone rush by on 6th Avenue. What I noticed more than ever is that most people were not enjoying the great weather or for that matter, the people walking around them; they were too busy with their heads down looking at their phones. I did a quick test. For one minute I counted the number of individuals who were not using their phone either to (believe it or not) talk or to look at their emails, websites and yes, mobile apps. There were only 33 people who fell into that category…33 people out of hundreds that rushed by! That is incredible but not unusual. We have become obsessed with our phones and their ability to do just about everything for us. Here is an interesting fact; people sleep more nights with their phones than with a human person. These phones must be something special.
Today there are over 240 million mobile phones in use in the U.S. and of those, 160 million have the ability to text. Get this, even though there are “only” less than 50 million iPhones and Blackberrys in use, the Apple store has downloaded over 2 billion apps so far. You do the math.
So you have two choices; embrace this new technology or think it’s a passing fad that will be gone as soon as the next major communications invention arrives. Let’s take the side of embracing it.
When we look at the different marketing channels we think of the basics; brick and mortar, direct mail and the youngest member, the Internet. Now there’s a new kid in town – mobile, and he’s growing bigger each month, more than the other three combined.
So how do you get on the mobile wagon? There are a few steps to take to see if it’s right for you now. Keep in mind it’s not a question of IF its right, but rather a question of WHEN it’s right for you. Sooner or later you will be riding the Mobile Wagon.
1. Look at your customer base. How much of your sales are generated through the Internet? (Don’t be confused with “through the Internet” as opposed to by the Internet.) Most likely you see that number growing, meaning your customers are savvy, technological capable, and want to control the buying decision when they want to. If you answer, “yes” to this – you are ready for mobile.
2. In analyzing your web results, what percentage of hits is from mobile phones? If you see any at all – you are ready for mobile.
3. Do you want the ability to “talk” to your customers at any time or any place they are, maybe even as they just walk into your store? If yes – you are ready for mobile.
4. Do you want to give your customers the option to experience a rich, visual, and inviting view of your store that is always open for business? If you say yes to this – say mobile.
5. Can your customers walk and talk at the same time? Are they over the age of six? If yes – you are ready for mobile.
Keep in mind, mobile will not, repeat, NOT replace any of your existing marketing channels. What it will do is give your customers another alternative to see your products, understand your company and most importantly buy from you in a very different environment. Used strategically with your other channels, mobile is a great new addition to your weaponry.
There are several ways to break into the mobile market. The beauty of this technology is that you can take it very slowly and build over time or go hog wild from the get go. Either way, you will be adding a whole new dimension for your customers and prospects to interact with you. And since this technology is relatively new, most marketers have only begun to unleash the ability of this channel so you can get very creative and give your customers a highly unique experience before others copy your great idea.
So do not fear, mobile is here and is not going away. But it is a great marketing partner for you and it’s possibilities are only limited by your creative abilities. Give me a call to learn how Arandell is embracing this technology and how we’re working with our customers to incorporate mobile with the Mother of all marketing channels – The Catalog.
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| It’s Christmas in July……Maybe 2009-05-15
Well, as you all know, the USPS is strongly considering offering a discount this summer if you increase your circulation over the same period of time last year. While this is a great step for the Postal Service in starting to finally recognize the needs and issues of catalogers, it should by no means be the key factor in deciding whether or not to increase prospecting. Right now, regardless of an incentive, this is the best time to build your brand. Consider the following reasons:
•People are still spending. Go to any mall, restaurant, concert or spa and you will see people spending money. They may be spending less and being a little more careful, but they are spending – it is our nature to buy things to make us feel good. It is your job to make your customers and prospects feel good about buying from you. My personal example is the Jimmy Buffet concert that I attend every year. Last month 40,000 tickets were sold in less than five minutes – “If they want it, they will buy it.” There was also the time when I waited two hours for a $25 hamburger and I scanned the crowd, observing that the average age demographic was 24-45. Again, there is money to be made.
•There are fewer catalogs in the mail right now so yours will likely get more attention and have less competition than at any time since after September 11, 2001. Making it smaller and cheaper does not necessarily mean it is better. Will making your retail store smaller and “cheaper” bring in more customers?
•If you believe many of the economists, there are signs and reports beginning to show that consumer confidence and perhaps spending are coming back. Again, this is a great time to position your brand, show the consumer that you are still out there and demonstrate that you are in a position to offer value. You need to be ready when the consumer is ready! If you wait, you will lose more market share than you may have already and you may never catch up.
•We all heard about the consumer’s lack of loyalty. Many of our analyses, however, show that if you communicate with your customers by telling your story and creating value and positive feelings on a regular basis using all channels, they will be there for you and will be less sensitive to discounts. Offers are certainly a big driver to response right now, but again, when things begin to pick up, the brands that were there for their customers during this period will have a huge advantage over the competition.
•Your house files are shrinking, or at best, remaining stagnant. As we all know, this cannot be the case for much longer. You have two choices; increase prospecting effectively or lose market share and see your business decline. We have seen many catalogers go out of business in part to this short-sighted approach. Don’t forget; prospecting also means contacting inactive customers in your file who have done business with you in the past. Consumer tastes, interests, lifestyles, etc. constantly change, and in the past year, many have changed multiple times. Yesterday’s non-responder prospect could very well be your customer in this new economy.
•The tools and approaches that are available to help you accomplish this are more effective than ever. They are also more complex, mainly due to the fact that we now have to consider multiple channels, contact frequency, lifestyle changes, etc. These are all part of a complex equation that can be solved with assistance from your direct marketing partners.
•Use all channels to communicate with customers. The king is not dead. Catalogs still continue to be THE driver for sales in almost all analysis we do. More than ever, however, customers are receiving, expecting and wanting to be contacted from various channels, so you need to make sure you’re hearing what they are saying and responding accordingly.
Now is the time to get back into the game regardless of a postal incentive. We can help you to do it right by taking a systematic approach; analyzing what has worked or hasn’t worked in the past and developing a strategy to gain market share. It is not a race, but if you don’t get to the starting line soon, you will be left behind. And by the way, if any of you have tickets for the August 29 Buffett concert I’m interested.
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| 2nd Quarter Update 2009-05-11
I hope this update finds you well. Thank you for your support of Arandell.
In looking back at what I was thinking might happen in the first part of 2009, I have found that I was right about decreased demand, decreased pricing and increased downtime and capacity reductions. But I was not envisioning these types of numbers:
Decreased demand:
Through a variety of different end-user actions, such as reductions in page counts, changes in trim sizes, pared-down mailing lists and cancelled print projects, consumption of coated paper in North America has fallen over 25% since the third quarter of 2008. So far in 2009, shipments of paper have fallen by over 20% on a monthly basis as compared to shipments in 2008. This trend is expected to continue until at least the second half of 2009.
Because of these actions, the paper mills have attempted to match this drop in demand with supply. The easiest way to do this for them is to simply shut down their machines.
Paper prices:
After a year and a half of almost constant, quarterly price increases, paper prices are retreating and retreating quickly. No more is this evident than in the coated groundwood stocks. Coated freesheet prices have fallen to levels last seen in June and July of 2008, and they continue to fall. Coated groundwood prices, however, continue to fall and they are a moving target on a daily basis. Part of the reason for this is the greater number of groundwood manufacturers than freesheet producers. You are only as strong as your weakest competitor, and the mills are falling over themselves trying to keep up-to-date as to where their competitors are quoting prices.
Mill and machine downtime:
Since the beginning of 2007, over 2.1 million tons of coated paper have been shuttered in the form of machine and mill closures. (This represents about 20% of the North American coated paper market.) These are tons that are not likely to return unless private or public investment takes them over, which in this economy, is not very likely. But it is not impossible. (For example, the former Tembec mill in St. Francisville, LA was recently purchased by a private equity firm who has plans to reopen the mill and begin to make paper again in the near future.)
In addition, since the second quarter of 2008, another 462,000 tons have been removed from the system in the form of machine or mill downtime. This is another 5% of annual production removed from the North American market. Most, if not all of the machines/mills that have taken downtime, have come back online, but those tons that were removed from the market during their downtime are not able to be replaced.
All of this capacity reduction is an attempt by the paper mills to try and balance demand with supply as well as save costs. Unfortunately for the paper mills, printer, end-user and mill inventories were at high levels when the downturn started, leaving all three with higher than normal levels of inventories. All three entities have been working to reduce their inventories, which have been coming down in recent months. But this is at the expense of ordering new, manufactured tons, further compounding the issue and driving operating rates below the 80% level.
The Wild West
Second quarter is usually the slowest quarter of the year for paper mills. This year, it has been brutal, and it is only one month old!
The quadruple threat of reduced page counts, reduced trim sizes, reduced distribution lists and the reduction in the number of annual productions have taken a large toll on the mills in the form of significantly reduced demand. There is a small bit of panic and nervousness in the marketplace, and when that happens, things that were in balance before quickly become unbalanced and decisions that would not be made under normal conditions are now being made, and often. The marketplace is quickly becoming the Wild West in terms of paper prices and other offers being quoted.
With prices changing so often, many times mills and merchants are shooting from the hip when quoting paper prices. They shoot a price out first and then ask questions later, like “how am I going to find a way to make that price a reality?” There is often a stampede of mills racing to match whatever their nearest competitor is doing on a new piece of business while at the same time trying to corral and contain their current business.
What is important now, when it comes to your paper price, is that the whole picture of everything involved with paper be considered. A great price that is very attractive might be quoted for you today, but you may not print for another few months. How firm is that price? Is that price still going to be good when you actually need it? How does the paper you are being quoted look when compared to what you currently print on? How would a change affect the look of my printed piece? Is the grade I am being quoted a foreign or domestic grade of paper? What does my printer think of this grade? Does it run well through their presses? Would they recommend it?
There are many factors that come into play when considering the best value for your paper dollar. Obviously price is a very large thing to consider, but there is also paper quality, grade accuracy, lead time and availability, and terms of pricing to consider. Be careful, as the price on the grade you are being quoted might only be good for a month, be coated groundwood (when you only use coated freesheet), come from Europe (and have a six to eight week delivery period) and not perform very well, leading to problems on press.
The Good News:
In discussions with some of our mill partners this week, they have begun to show signs of optimism. They are reporting that their order books are beginning to come back to life, that all of the price quoting they have been doing the past few months is beginning to pay off in the form of new orders. There is a belief out there in the market that while it has been bad, things are starting to look up. They agree that the constant rise in paper prices over the past 18 months did a lot of harm to their business and they have been paying the price the last few months. And while there are some crazy things being done in the marketplace, they seem to believe that come the second half of this year, those things will cease and those parties who are responsible and have built good reputations and relationships and stuck to them during these difficult times will come out on top.
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| 2009 Prognostications 2009-01-07
Happy New Year to all of you!
Recently, I was asked a series of questions about the paper market and where it is heading in the near and long term. I thought I would share some of my answers with you.
Q: What do you see as far as paper prices for the first quarter?
A: I see paper prices as a whole going back down to the levels we saw during the 2nd quarter last year. That would mean a drop of about $40-$60 ton overall. Coated groundwood will drop faster and perhaps farther than coated freesheet will. But how much depends on where supply and demand are.
Q: How would you describe the current conditions in the market as they relate to paper prices, supply and demand?
A: Right now, demand has dropped MUCH faster than the coated mills can cut their production and inventory levels. This has led to shorter than normal lead times, excess inventories, and reduced prices across the board. Since most, if not all mills are still not turning a profit (despite such dramatic price increases over the last six quarters), I believe they will try and hold the line on price. In order to do this, they will attempt to reduce capacity to a point more in line with demand. This could be very tricky, as demand continues to decrease at a rapid pace with no apparent bottom in sight.
Q: Are there any issues affecting paper production (labor issues, unexpected demand, seasonal changes) that has occurred or might occur in the near future?
A: The economy has slowed so quickly that there has been a huge decrease in demand as compared to last year. Advertising pages are down, circulation is down, page counts are down, and in some cases, entire print projects have been cancelled. These results have caused the mills to rapidly react. Their reactions have been the shutting down of machines, pulp facilities, and even whole mill production facilities. In addition, there have been numerous sawmills that have been shuttered and more continue to close, decreasing the amount of pulp in the system. The most surprising thing to me is that even through all of it, demand is still lower than supply. This is the main issue affecting production today, and the one that drives the mills actions for the near term.
One main thing that could happen that would reverse supply and demand issues would be if a major or even mid-major mill were to fold or merge with another. Many mills have not been doing well at all and might either be an attractive buy or be on their way out. The synergies that would result from the closed mill would be a rapid reduction of production that could put the market into equilibrium quicker than anticipated. (I think it will be until mid 2009 before that point would be reached.)
Q: What do you envision for the new year?
A: For the mills, I see the reductions in pricing and capacity continuing at least through the first half of 2009. I think customers will continue to look for ways to reduce costs, and this will have a direct effect on the numbers of tons mills produce. I envision at least one major merger and perhaps even one mill going out of business in the first half of 2009.
Perhaps I am a bit optimistic, but I predict that the second half of the year will be better than the second half of 2008. I don’t think prices will go up at all this year, but the reductions can’t go on forever and I think they will find a floor, and will stay there for at least the rest of the year, if not longer.
Without a doubt, 2009 will be a challenge, but with our help and expertise, Arandell can be a very valuable resource for you in the new year. I urge you to discuss your paper needs with your salesperson. Options are going to be readily available and we will continue to scour the market to bring you the best value available. If there is anything that I can do to help in your planning, please don’t hesitate to ask. I am here to help any way that I can. You can contact me at bjhutchison@arandell.com or via telephone at 262-253-3160.
Best wishes for 2009!
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| Spring Is Here and Happy New Year Too 2008-11-13
Well its not quite Spring yet but as marketers we are now focusing on the new year, new season, and hopefully new opportunities. As we prepare for next year, we feel it will be the most challenging year yet for direct marketers. Staying profitable, maintaining margins and more importantly staying in business will become much more difficult. Yet despite the many challenges we will face as an industry, there is hope. We believe that those marketers who succeed in the future are the ones who explore different options in how they currently conduct business.
Spring is also a time to do a little cleaning and reviewing of your current practices. Now more than ever, it is critical to your survival. Here are some of the areas we see as critical to you.
Next Year's Challenges
1. Availability of good (profitable) prospect names. The market is pretty saturated and finding pockets or segments of new prospects will be more of a challenge next year than ever before. Direct marketers must use all available avenues for obtaining prospects including response lists, cooperative databases, and compiled lists. Until recently, compiled lists have not performed near the level of the other sources, but with modeling techniques and overlays of data, the response rates are moving up, enough so that marketers should at least test them.
Response lists have always been the "bread and butter" for direct marketers. However, the number of 0-12 month buyers on many of these lists is shrinking, and other methods, such as the ones mentioned previously, should be used. At the very least, zip-level modeling should be used for all but your very best response lists.
Cooperative databases continue to offer intriguing options, but like response lists, they are becoming over-used. The models developed by these companies do help, but it really comes down to the availability of transaction data similar to your product that determines much of the success.
2. Privacy. Privacy does not always receive the attention that rising postage rates and paper costs do, but privacy issues and laws will ultimately have a greater impact on direct marketers' bottom line than either of those. The amount of available data is diminishing. It is imperative for marketers to solicit information directly from their customers, provide them with an incentive to do so, and use that information to offer more relevant marketing campaigns. As importantly, let their customers know why they want the data. You will be surprised as to how this type of approach works in building customer loyalty.
3. Efficient Mailings. Mailing efficient means that marketers have to make more of a concentrated effort to insure their lists, both house and prospect, are as deliverable as possible. They also must start to make decisions regarding the cleanliness of names. If the names are not as clean as possible, they should not be mailed. Up until now, most marketers knew a portion of their names fell into that category, but were either not knowledgeable about the options available, did not want to put the effort into fixing the problem, or did not want to look bad to their boss for having poor quality names on the file. Many times we have run tests on files and uncovered 10, 15, or even 25 percent of the names were undeliverable, duplicated, etc. only to be told by the marketing person that he or she was afraid to bring this up because it will make them look bad. Next year, the impact of significantly higher postage and possible penalties for poor quality and undeliverable will bring this to light. Marketers will no longer be able to afford to put junk in the mail.
Oportunities For 2009
1. Maximizing all Available Marketing Channels. Even though we are a printer, we are first a marketing solutions organization. Gone are the days where a pure cataloger can rely only on a mailed piece for their success. That being said however, the mailed piece (catalog) is still the significant driver of your brand. Websites and emails, when done effectively and with significance, enhance the customer relationship and increases loyalty. We have found that building around the catalog and using that as the centerpiece establishes identity, credibility, and image. I think we will see emails becoming more sophisticated in the future. We see email marketing where direct marketing was 20 years ago. Costs were cheap and marketers could afford to mail to everyone and still make a nickel. Email is in that stage of evolution now, but evolving much more quickly out of necessity. People do not want their email boxes cluttered with irrelevant emails.
If a marketer has a retail presence, this is an even greater enhancement to building the brand and loyalty because of the ability to have face to face contact with their customers. Again, the integration of all channels into an effective marketing strategy will be critical for future success.
2. Establishing Loyalty. We all try to do this with our respective businesses but direct marketers truly have a great venue to make that happen. The use of loyalty programs or some sort of recognition of their customers works wonders. It's not right for all marketers, but it should be explored by all. Direct marketers have the ability to talk with their customers through their channels and at the same time measure/track the response. The magic bullet with direct marketing is that feedback is immediate and can be measured.
We find that one of the biggest areas of opportunity, and one of the biggest areas marketers neglect, is to contact your customer shortly after a purchase is made. It is important to let them know you appreciate their business and to offer products and incentives to compliment their purchase. To quickly and accurately acknowledge a customer’s past purchase very often expands into significantly higher future response rates and helps builds loyalty.
3. Maximizing the Customer File. As mentioned earlier, uncovering good prospect names is getting tougher and tougher. Although as painful as it is, that still must be an on-going effort. However, we see that marketers are turning to their own housefile as a solution as well. Again, the 0-12 month buyers on many houseflies are not growing. It is the 13-36 month buyers that are increasing at a high rate. Marketers are using analytical tools and methods to get those older buyers segments to purchase again. Many marketers believe that these segments are still customers of theirs when in reality, they are prospects, good prospects because they have purchased from you in the past, but not in the recent past. They are trying to reactivate these older buyers to become current buyers. Again, pure prospecting is necessary and vital to growth, but honing your current and former customers will also pay significant dividends for marketers as well.
4. Becoming More Analytical. Again, direct marketing is all about being able to read the results of previous campaigns. We see marketers using more of the analytical tools than ever before, either for customer acquisition or retention. Marketing using the traditional RFM (recency, frequency, and monetary) scoring will get you 80 percent of the way, but in today's environment, a deeper use of the available data is necessary to achieve profitability.
Staying Alive
1. Obtain and Maintain All Customer Information. Information about your customers is gold. The more you know about them, on all fronts, the better you will be able to market to them and make money in the process. Gone are the days of a simple database. If you don't have a relational database with all channels tied into it, you will not succeed. They are costly, but the ROI is short. The good news is that the tools to access this data, create meaningful reports, and target campaigns are easier than ever. You no longer have to be a programmer to access the information. Every time you touch a customer or a customer touches you, maintain that information. Storage is cheap. As I mentioned earlier, privacy issues are hurting the industry, but we have the ability to talk to our customers, ask them questions and use that information accordingly. Always maintain all information on your customers.
2. Use All Available Products. Work with vendors who bring solutions to you. With address integrity, in the past most marketers have relied only on the USPS products such as NCOA to get the results needed. But those products, for various reasons, will only get you so far. Vendors, at least the good ones, have developed additional products and services to be used in conjunction with postal products to deliver even better results. Do not rely on what you have done in the past as the answer. The industry has been forced to be creative and provide solutions as a result of the restrictions being placed on them so take advantage of their inventions and use them.
3. Test, Test, Test. This old saying is still the mainstay of the industry. You have to constantly test; whether that is names, products, tools strategies, etc, but always test. Every marketing effort should include at least one test of some sort.
4. Share Your Names. We still see many marketers unwilling to rent or exchange their names because they either want to protect their customers or to not offend them. As noble as that sounds, the reality is that a marketer has very, very few, if any at all, unique names. The available market in the US, regardless of the product, is a defined number. Take advantage of the business your in and rent and exchange your names. In return you will receive better prospects as well. Remember, if you treat your customers well, the attrition rate or the number of them leaving you for a competitor is very small, and most likely your competitor will find them with or without you.
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| Yes – It is still about the catalog! 2008-11-03
I am a big fan of Johnston & Murphy. Their merchandise quality, product design and customer service are exceptional. They set the bar high in clothing, leather goods, footwear and accessories.
A couple of weeks ago, I received the Johnston & Murphy fall catalog. It was a beautiful piece (printed by Arandell by the way), as always, and featured a newly-designed piece of luggage. The layout, color and style of the products really invited me to check further into the offer. I was not particularly interested in that specific design. It did, however, get me to think about a new briefcase. I went to Johnston & Murphy’s Web site to check out a few other pieces that I had my eye on and then went to a local Johnston & Murphy store to purchase the exact item that I wanted. So, what marketing channel drove me to the sale and which channel will get the “credit” for my sale? Well, if a well managed matchback was done, it would have led back to the catalog; even though I did not purchase a product from that particular catalog, it drove my sale. A savvy marketer will realize this and make the most of that knowledge. I used all three channels to help make my decision, but again it all started with the printed piece.
Today, catalogs more than ever bring your store and story into the hands of customers and prospects without distraction, and in a format and quality that cannot be replicated on a Web site. This is not to diminish the importance and the necessity of your Web site or retail stores, but the driver, in more cases than not, continues to be the printed piece.
It is critical that matchbacks are done on a regular basis to properly determine which channel drove the purchase, but it is not an exact science. With that, business rules need to be established and agreed upon by all internal parties and channels. Establishment and enforcement of these rules will allow the results to be reviewed without questions about how the numbers were developed, and the focus can instead be placed on the numbers themselves.
If you are not currently performing matchbacks, you need to get started immediately. If you have not reviewed the methodology in how the matchbacks are performed, you need to revisit that as well.
Indeed, the catalog is as vital as ever and delivers results unmatched by the other channels. The catalog, however, should also work in conjunction with the other channels to maximize the impact of sales efforts.
Think about it for a moment, in today’s crazy environment, how better to talk to your customer, to distinguish yourself from your competitors, and bring your store to them in a way that is appealing, easy for them, and allows them to view it at their leisure where they want and when they want than the catalog.
Yes – It is still about the catalog!
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| The Importance of Timeliness 2008-10-27
Everyday at Arandell we encounter files from multiple sources that will not reproduce well on press. The cause may be a mismatch between the color separation and printing process, the amount of black generated when converting RGB to CMYK, or a disparity between the ink values in the file and the press and paper requirements.
Often times a printer does not know far enough in advance which press a job will print on; therefore it is not possible to provide press profiles for the CMYK separation process.
CMYK Optimizer allows a prepress provider to automatically check and correct, and dynamically balance the colors and ink weight characteristics of incoming files. Files are adapted to suit the printer’s actual press conditions to ensure accurate rendering of the approved proofs.
The advantages to preparing files/images to specifically fit a printer’s specifications include:
Preflight and CMYK file standardization
Output files compliant with the printing requirements
Improved color balance
Reproducibility of proofs by the printer
Standardization of files in accordance with ISO standards and ICC profiles
Generation of files that are compliant with PDF/X1a and PDF/X3 formats
It is important to begin having these discussions with your printer prior to your photo shoot. With proper preparation and communication among the photographer, separator and printer, the final printed results will exceed everyone’s expectations.
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| Crystal Ball 2008-10-20
Now is the time of year when budgets are being created and numbers being thrown around in anticipation of the New Year. Lately, I have been seeing some wild guesses as to what is going to be occurring next year in regards to paper prices. And while the consensus seems to be that prices will continue to rise, by how much and how often are up in the air.
Eighteen months ago, if someone would have said that there would have been this many consecutive price increase announcements and so many mill closures and capacity reductions, I think there would have been a panic. But, while it is true that we have seen a string of consecutive quarterly price increases and capacity reductions that are unprecedented, this doesn't mean that they will go on forever. They simply can’t. Eventually, supply and demand will come back into a working equilibrium, and the increases will stop. But I doubt it will be within the next six months.
Right now, the coated freesheet market, which had an increase on October 1st, is still strong. But, there are opportunities for some good pricing out there. With an overall demand drop predicted to be around 12% for 2008, and equal or lesser demand predicted for 2009, the mills are still going to be looking to reduce capacity to keep prices high enough to cover their costs. Expect to see some consolidations, some downtime, and some price increases to keep this in place. How much those increases will hold is not clear, but do plan on them.
One thing that I am watching is Sappi and their purchase of M-Real in Europe and the restructuring of UPM. With both of these events going on, I would expect to see even less paper coming from Europe in 2009. This will also help to reduce the capacity (supply) in the market, which will help prices stabilize in line with demand. Perhaps, with Sappi solidifying its place in the European market, they now have 30% market share; they will want to spin their North American operations as StoraEnso did. If that were to happen, then there could be another major merger in North America.
Coated groundwood is a different story. Right now, coated #5 prices are dropping and there are some terrific buying opportunities. Coated #4 remains mostly strong and with negotiating some price concessions and protection can be achieved.
The most important thing for 2009 is to understand that price increases will not be as shocking as this past year. I would expect the mills to announce an increase for January 1st, and retain about half of their original announced increase by the end of the first quarter. As usual, they will try another announcement right around June or July, and that I would expect to hold at the full amount. Another 3rd quarter increase could be announced, but perhaps for only coated freesheet.
I would suggest starting to work on 2009 plans now. Begin to look at your 2009 plans and begin to try and negotiate paper prices. It isn’t as tight as it has been in this past year, and there are some opportunities. If there is anything that I can do to help in your planning, please don’t hesitate to ask. I am here to help any way that I can. You can contact me at bjhutchison@arandell.com or via telephone at 262-253-3160.
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| To Screen or Not to Screen 2008-09-22
As marketers look for ways to reduce costs, some have turned to using data for the purpose of eliminating prospects and inactive customers who do not “fit” the mold. This practice and the available data have been around for a while, but due to recent escalating costs, they have been getting more attention. Let’s take a look at a few of the options.
Zipcode Screens
A zipcode screen is the most basic and broadest type of screening. It assumes that people who reside in the same zipcode have the same basic characteristics, within reason, such as income, presence of children, home values, etc…kind of like the birds of a feather….. Keep in mind that zipcode-level data is just that, aggregated data of the zipcode. Using this method you either include or exclude an entire zipcode.
So as an example, let’s say you are targeting people who have an income of $70,000 or more. Now you have a list of prospects that you are looking to rent. According to the data that you use for screening purposes, zipcodes that do not meet at least that income level would be eliminated from the mailing. Now it could very well be that some prospects within this zipcode have income levels above $70,000, but by using zipcode-level data (again an average of the zip), all households that have that particular zipcode would be eliminated.
So why use this? Cost is a main factor. The method is an inexpensive way to somewhat target your campaigns, although not 100% effective. It is also easy to implement and manage for all parties involved. Additionally, if your product is less of a niche product and has more general appeal, this type of screening can be of value. It has also proven to be successful in saturating an area to drive retail traffic.
Individual Screens
Using the approach of individual screens, data (such as income) is not matched by an entire zipcode, but rather on an individual basis to your prospects or customers.
This method is more costly than zipcode-level screening, however, you are now targeting individuals instead of areas. Keep in mind that not all data is available for each person out there, so if you want to target individuals who, for example, have more than three vehicles, you may only “match” or have that data available for only 60% of your prospects. Nevertheless, from that 60%, you should see better results than if you did not apply the screen.
Census Track Screens
Census track screens are similar to full zipcode screens, except you are breaking it down to essentially the zip+4 areas within a zipcode. Now, the assumption is that people residing within this zip+4 code (which typically covers approximately 20 households) all have the same characteristics. These may or may not be different than the characteristics of the entire zipcode, but it provides you with another option of closing in on your target.
This too is more costly than full zipcode screens but not as costly as individual screens. The biggest obstacle here is that many list owners are not able to select or screen names by a zip+4, so using this may reduce the pool of potential lists for you.
Ultimately, all of these options have benefits in helping you prospect more efficiently. You just have to do your homework and understand all the implications, costs, and expectations in using them. Please feel free to give me a call (800.558.8724) if you would like to discuss these options in greater detail. Or, you can always email me at gasierzchulski@arandell.com.
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| Mail Service Updates 2008-09-09
The weather is always a factor one has to be constantly monitoring in determining the delivery of mail. It seems at any given time there is a weather concern somewhere in our nation affecting the delivery of mail. Here, at Arandell Corporation, we monitor the weather not only on a daily basis but we also look ahead a few days trying to predict what delays we might anticipate. This time of the year we most commonly are tracking and predicting Hurricanes. Tropical storms and hurricanes cause the most devastation and when it comes to delaying the mail and most commonly delay mail for a much longer period of time compared to other weather events.
Presently, Hurricane Ike is churning in the Gulf and we are watching it very closely to determine its course. We converse with trucking companies to see what contingence plans they have in place. We have our list people on alert that they might have to remove certain Zip Codes from a mailing if requested. And of course, keeping our customers informed as best as we can. We not only monitor the USPS RIBBS site for mail service delays but we are in constant communication with people in area of the storm to determine seriousness.
One can review the latest delays at www.usps.com or by contacting Don Landis, VP of Postal Affairs or Susan Pinter, Director of Postal Affairs. They can also be reached at 800.558.8724.
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| Happy Birthday! 2008-09-04
Most people like to be recognized for their achievements, milestones (yes-even birthdays), anniversaries (like the first time your customer purchased from you), etc.; all are special occasions to be remembered and acknowledged.
As you struggle to maintain contact and loyalty with your customers, what better way than to recognize one of these events and reward them for it?
Birthdays are an easy, noninvasive way for you to make contact, recognize the event, and provide your customer with an incentive to buy from you. Capturing this information is easier than you think. You do not need their year of birth or even the date…all you need is the month. You can accomplish this through the order process, simply by asking for it. Another way to obtain the information is by purchasing birthday data from your service bureau. Typically, match rates are in the range of 60 to 75 percent when appending the month. Ask for a free test match.
Once you have this information, contacting your clients via email or direct mail one month prior to their birthday month and acknowledging the event (remember people like that) and providing a gift, reward or incentive is an excellent way to keep the relationship engaged.
Other “points of contact,” such as anniversary of first purchase are also excellent ways to show your customers that you know and value them.
Of course all of these methods are predicated on the fact that you are maintaining this information within your marketing database. If not, give me a call and we can discuss that in greater detail. You can reach me at 800.558.8724 or gasierzchulski@arandell.com.
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| What’s the Big Deal about Move Update? 2008-08-22
The USPS has finally put some teeth into its bark by forcing direct marketers to clean up their lists. After all these years of telling us that at least 15% of all direct mail is undeliverable (that percentage has not changed since they started to keep track of it), which drives up their costs, the USPS is now going to penalize you if your lists are not up-to-date.
Our thoughts are these:
1. It’s about time; and
2. So What?
We as a company have been preaching the clean list mantra for over 20 years. We have run tests on clients’ files to show them the poor condition they were in only to be told to “bury that information” so the person would not get in trouble with their boss for not doing their job. (AMAZING!) We have been told that even though we could clean and correct 20% of a mail file, “the money wasn’t in the budget” for it. So instead of spending $400 to clean things up, they sent over $50,000 in catalogs that were only going to be thrown out by the Post Office. (AMAZING!) So, we strongly agree with the steps that the USPS is taking to eliminate these problems. The thing to realize with this ruling is that “It’s No Big Deal.”
Now, the rule is that your file has to be updated through the use of any one of the following products: NCOA, ACS, Fast Forward (for letter mail) or an Ancillary Service Endorsement within 95 days of it mailing. If your mailing does not comply, the USPS will penalize you $.07 for each piece in the entire mailing. To make things even easier for you, the USPS has given you an out by saying all you have to do is type “or current resident” on your mailpieces and you will eliminate the need to use the above products. Huh? So after creating a very sound ruling to better the industry and reduce its costs, the USPS gives you an option to not do it. (AMAZING!)
Our position has always been to clean up your files before they go into the mail stream. NCOA is the least expensive and most effective way to do that – period. All the other options the USPS has offered you are much more costly, are done after the fact, and are not as thorough and comprehensive as NCOA. Please don’t take huge steps backwards by writing “or current resident” on your mail pieces to avoid this rule. Don’t be like the aforementioned guy who said, “the money wasn’t in our budget.” If you do have budgetary issues in running NCOA, we will make you an offer you cannot refuse. Just contact us .
This new rule should be a non-issue for most marketers as you do clean and update your lists on a regular basis and understand the ROI in doing that. For those who do not, again contact us and we will put you on the proper path to saving money and improving your responses.
If you would like a copy of the details behind this ruling, contact one of the following people and we will be happy to provide them:
Gary Sierzchulski
800.558.8724, ext. 177
or
Don Landis
800.558.8724, ext. 301 |
| Move Update Standards 2008-08-13
REMINDER!
On November 23, 2008, new MOVE UPDATE STANDARDS will take effect. Catalogers must begin using addresses that were updated no earlier than August 20, 2008. Catalogers must use one of these USPS approved methods:
NCOALink
FASTforward
OneCode ACS
Address Change Service
Ancillary Service Endorsement Without ACS
Catalogers using an alternative addressing format such as "Or Current Resident," are not subject to the Move Update Standards.
As always, you can count on Arandell to bring you the most up-to-date postal information. For additional information, please contact Don Landis, VP of Postal Affairs or Susan Pinter, Director of Postal Affairs. They can also be reached at 800.558.8724.
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| Summer Highlights for Paper Industry 2008-07-31
It has been a very newsworthy July in the paper market. Here are some of the “highlights”:
• Mill input costs are up 12% to 14% compared to last year at this time.
- A lot of this has to do with the dramatic increase in the price of oil and oil based products.
• Demand for coated paper in North America has dropped 13.5% compared to last year at this time.
- Mill inventories, from the period between March and May, jumped 85%.
-These inventory levels, even though they increased so dramatically in such a short time, are less than where they were in 2007.
• Sappi is going in allocation for all grades and basis weights.
- All August and September blocks are subject to review and confirmation.
- October blocks will open up the second week in August.
• Verso has announced that they will be taking two weeks of downtime at their Bucksport mill in September.
- This will remove about 13,000 tons of capacity from the coated groundwood (CGW) market.
And the REALLY big news:
• NewPage is closing their Kimberly, WI mill in the first part of August.
- This closure will remove 300,000 tons of coated groundwood and 200,000 tons of coated freesheet capacity from the market.
So what do these all mean? Demand is down from last year, yet the costs continue to go up. One mill announces downtime and another closes a mill, but yet one mill is going on allocation. Very strange.
The coated groundwood market is slower this year compared to last, leading to less than four week lead times. The coated groundwood market, however, is hot right now. Six to eight week lead times, especially for the lighter basis weights (45# through 60#) are not uncommon. I expect this to continue for at least the next month or two, as this is historically a very busy time for coated freesheet producers.
With the announced closure of Kimberly and Sappi being on allocation, there may be some price increases on the horizon. If prices are going to increase, I would expect to see that announcement in late August or early September. We will be sure to keep you apprised of any market changes that are reported to us.
If there is anything I may be of help with, whether it is a simple question or a sourcing issue, I am always happy to assist. Please feel free to contact me at bjhutchison@arandell.com or via telephone at 262-253-3160.
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| USPS Move Update Standards 2008-06-13
Effective November 23, 2008 the Postal Service is increasing its effort to improve the percentage of deliverable mail by revising the Move Update standards. The Move Update standards provide ways for the mailer to reduce the number of mail pieces that require forwarding or return by the periodic matching of a mailer’s address records with customer-filed change-of-address orders. The final rule published September 28, 2007, included the following changes related to Move Update processing: Increase the minimum frequency of Move Update processing from 185 calendar days to 95 days prior to the date of mailing.
Extend the revised Move Update standards to include all Standard Mail (letters, flats, Parcels and Not Flat-Machinables), as well as automation-rate and presort-rate First-Class Mail. Mailing on the effective date, November 23, 2008 will have required one of the approved methods processed after August 20, 2008.
As always, you can count on Arandell to bring you the most up-to-date postal information. If you have any questions regarding this article or any other postal issues, please contact Don Landis or Susan Pinter. They can also be reached at 800.558.8724. |
| To Mail or Not Mail - That is the Question 2008-06-09
Your customers are currently being told many evil things about our industry; we are killing trees, we are invading their privacy, we are stealing their identities, we are, we are....On top of all of this, we as an industry are facing the most challenging times we have ever faced ourselves; challenges like postage increases, paper increases, ink increases, fuel increases, etc. are all squeezing our bottom lines. So can you afford to lose a single customer right now?
Well, if it were up to some of the watchdogs out there, they would wish that upon you. The existing Do Not Mail, Do Not Call, Do Not Email groups are promoting their ability to keep your direct marketing campaigns from reaching your customers. The ironic thing is that many of these organizations are using direct marketing campaigns to stop you from direct marketing your customers. We have found that most of these organizations portray a confusing message when it comes to their rules, procedures, timeframes, opt-in/opt-out requirements, etc. Some states are even getting involved with their own Do Not (fill in the blank) lists that compete directly with these others. So with all of these groups willing, making it easy for people to stop receiving your offers, everyone should be happy – right? Well…not so fast.
We have been monitoring the offerings of some of these organizations very closely and as I mentioned before, they are very confusing to the average person (your customer).
As a result, some of our catalogers have tested the integrity of some of these opt-out lists. They received a list from an opt-out source and matched it against their customer file. Supposedly, a current customer of theirs placed their name on an opt-out list and basically said to the cataloger that they no longer want to hear from the cataloger even though they are a customer – does that make sense? It did not to these catalogers. So…what they did is mail to the customers that were on this Do Not Mail List to see just what type of reaction or response they would get. It turns out that in tests conducted so far this spring, those supposed “opt-out” names performed almost as well as their overall house file did…enough to be considered a success anyway.
While we are not suggesting that you ignore opt-out lists, we are suggesting that when it comes to your customers, you do the checking yourself instead of letting someone else do it for you. These lists are important, but only when used correctly. What you need to do, however, is take a closer look at them to identify your customers on the lists and mail to them to verify the accuracy. You may be surprised to see the results.
Again, can you afford to lose a customer right now?
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| Increasing Paper Prices, Again? 2008-05-30
During the past 24 hours, most all the major mills in North America have announced what amounts to their third price increase in 2008. Whether it is $2.50/cwt (Verso) or $3.00/cwt (NewPage), it means right around $12.00/cwt worth of price increases in coated papers this year alone. (Many uncoated grades from mills such as Domtar and Boise have also seen a price increase.) Combine that with the increases in the latter part of 2007, and prices have risen close to $20.00/cwt in one year! After such a growth in prices, one would question why the mills, despite such a large amount of increases, would continue to feel the need to do so. Aren’t they making money by now? The answer is no. The continuing rising costs of energy and raw materials (i.e. wood, fiber, and petroleum-based materials) is their number one reason for announcing yet again. Mills have spent a lot of time and money to streamline their operations so that they are as efficient as possible. Despite reductions in overall work force, mill closures, and product rationalization, they are still struggling. The mills are doing all they can, but they are still feeling the squeeze of rising prices. I expect that this most recent July 1st price increase will hold. I also believe that the mills should be done for the year, seeing as how much of a strain they are putting on the end users of their products. But, as the cost of oil continues to rise, so do the prices of other goods and materials, and so there is always the potential for another one in the later part of this year. After what has happened in the last fifteen months, I would not be surprised. Crazier things have happened.
Availability for paper is good. Lead times are shorter than usual for coated freesheet (CFS) and right in line with where they should be this time of year for coated groundwood (CGW). (Three to five weeks lead time for CFS and 5 – 7 weeks for CGW.) Six months ago, I would have predicted that lead times would be longer and availability tighter, but the demand for paper has dropped. This is due to the economy being slower. Reduced ad pages, reduction in the number of books, and a reduction in page counts across the industry have lead to this drop. Merchants are reporting that they are even turning back CGW tons, something that was not anticipated. Mill inventories are right at normal levels, perhaps a bit lower, for this time of year, which is a generally slower time of year for them. Mills are pre-making some paper right now for customers printing in the early fall, but they still have open spaces for spot tons in their order books.
The mills are still predicting a busy fall. Operating rates at or above capacity for CGW producers, and right at capacity for the CFS producers is quite common to hear from them. However, if the economy is still slow, and the conditions above are still holding true, then there might be a bit more breathing room than there was last fall. But I still anticipate longer lead times, beginning in July. CGW will push out to at least seven to eight weeks (especially for the lighter basis weights), and CFS out at least five. European suppliers are sending even less paper over to North America now than they were in the beginning of 2008. The dollar continues to remain weak against the Euro, so the paper suppliers would rather sell their tons over there and get a good price for it. Lead times for foreign sheets are even longer, at twelve to fifteen weeks. Again, it will be very important to plan ahead as far as paper needs are concerned. Getting the paper order in and firmed with the mill sooner is much better than scrambling for paper later.
If there is anything I may be of help with, whether it is a simple question or a sourcing issue, I am always happy to assist. Please feel free to contact me at bjhutchison@arandell.com or via telephone at 262-253-3160.
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| Time for a Change 2008-05-12
No…this is not going to be a political article. You are going to be reading plenty of those in the upcoming months. This article will start the focus on changes you need to make, or at least consider, to survive in today’s direct marketing environment.
First, look at the changes affecting you today; postage rates continue to rise, along with the rules, regulations and politics surrounding them. Paper costs are also increasing and certain grades are becoming more difficult to find. Organizations are popping up like trees (a little pun here), starting all kinds of “do not mail,” “do not call” and “do not look at” lists. The costs of your products and services are also increasing, and like paper, some are harder to come across. And let’s not forget the cost to maintain your employees is on the rise, etc. etc. etc.
Yet with all these changes and many more impacting your business, it is surprising that most direct marketers continue to conduct business in the same manner that they have been for the past 20 years. Unfortunately, as a result of doing business the same as always, a number of these companies are either no longer around, or are on the verge of heading toward extinction. The exact same thing is happening on the vendor side of the industry as well.
Going into 2008 we have seen the typical knee-jerk reaction from a lot of companies in response to the enormous postal rate increase of last year – CUT CIRCULATION! We are talking about trained circulation and marketing professionals here and their response to the pressures is to reduce the communication with their customers and potential customers. Now that’s the last thing you want to hear from a marketing person – to reduce marketing.
As we all know, in the short term, like this year, that strategy may look good on paper – costs are reduced and your bottom line MAY look better. But as we also all know, you are a direct marketing company, and if you are not actively marketing, you are not going to survive. Maybe you will this year, but the impact of not reaching out to your customers and finding new ones will ultimately result in the demise of your business.
There is some good news, though. The old saying that if something doesn’t kill us it will make us stronger certainly applies to your vendors. We are developing new tools, products, services, etc., to make your business run as efficiently as possible. We are going through massive innovations in technology for not only your survival, but ours too. So with all these new innovations at your disposal – why conduct business as usual?
The first step (quickly) is to meet with all your key vendors to ask them what they have, what they are investing in, and what they are doing that will make you a more efficient marketer. (Asking them to just cut prices is like reducing circulation – short term gains long term disaster). In fact, many of your vendors should have already come to you with ideas and suggestions, but that’s a different story. This is where a true partnership comes into play. That word, “partnership,” is overused in all industries, but today more then ever we need to work together for all of our survivals.
Next time, I will focus on strategies for prospecting. Yes, you still must prospect, and now more than ever. But here is one final thought to consider. For years, and I mean years, the USPS has told you that the average mailing contains approximately 15% undeliverables, meaning that 15% of your circulation is being thrown out by the Postal Service. In fact, last month the Postmaster General said that one of their highest costs was still dealing with undeliverable mail. Again – business as usual. If I had a dollar for each time a client told me that their list is clean, only to have me run an analysis on it to find, at the very least, another 12% that was undeliverable due to some sort of error, I wouldn’t be in Wisconsin during the winter. So instead of just cutting circulation to save money, let’s look at what and who you’re mailing in order to make money.
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| Maintain Multichannel Contact with Your Customers 2008-05-09
The following is an article from Gary Sierzchulski, VP of Arandell Data Systems, that was recently featured in the DMNews Essential Guide for Multichannel Retail.
E-mail marketing today is what direct mail was fifteen years ago — still relatively inexpensive, and a lot of testing involves few incremental costs. The big difference is that today’s customer does not have the patience to sift through clutter.
All our tests showed that a direct mail piece accompanied by an e-mail — as a way to enforce the message — will almost always out-pull response as opposed to using only direct mail or e-mail. Customers still need to clearly see and have time to view your products and offerings, so the catalog is still king. E-mail is becoming the enforcer of the brand and the offer – but it is still not the “store.” If used in conjunction with the catalog, response rates will reflect the strategy.
For current customers, the e-mail message needs to be tied into a recent purchase or activity. The more — and quicker — you acknowledge your customer’s past transactions, the better chance you have of a response. The key is to maintain all customer purchase and contact information. It is easier to acknowledge past activity in an e-mail than in a direct mail piece, but that direct mail piece is still the backbone of your marketing program and an easy and effective way to present your “store.” Direct mail program consistency reflects a commitment to your customers and prospects.
In a recent case study conducted with a gardening cataloger, catalogs combined with e-mails pulled a $0.07 sale per e-mail versus a $0.03 with an e-mail alone. When tying a recent transaction to the e-mail, the HTML open rate was 8.79% versus 3.27%. When sending another direct mail piece to a buyer within 30 days of purchase, the response rate was, on average, three times the response rate of a mail piece going to that buyer within 60 days of purchase and eight times the response rate of a catalog or direct mail piece reaching them within 180 days. As always, in today’s multichannel environment, properly crediting the order to the original marketing channel is key in measuring the true effectiveness of your channels.
To read more articles from the DMNews Essential Guide for Multichannel Retail, click here.
(media.haymarketmedia.com, Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved) |
| Color Science 2008-04-30
On occasion, we are confronted with why we are unable to match a client’s supplied files and proofs on press or why the color proofs are not what the client expected. Many factors can contribute to these situations, but in most cases they can be traced back to how the files and proofs were prepared. More specifically, the files and proofs were not prepared for the printing process that will be utilized.
Everyday we work with files from multiple sources that will not print well on press. This may be due to a mismatch between the color separation and printing process, the amount of black generation when converting RGB to CMYK, GCR vs. UCR or a disparity between the ink values in the file and the press and paper requirements.
A variety of conditions need to be taken into consideration when preparing your photography, separations and proofs prior to printing.
-Will this job print sheetfed, web offset or possibly gravure?
-Will these materials be repurposed for other media
i.e. newspaper, web, VDP, etc.?
-What paper stock will this project print on?
-What is the most appropriate type of proof for this project?
-How important is it to obtain critical color match on the final printed piece?
-What is my budget?
These are just a few questions that need to be answered prior to beginning your project. Knowing the answers will allow you to begin the project with the appropriate quality expectations in mind from the very beginning. When in doubt, always err to the side of critical quality. You can always repurpose your materials for a lower quality standard more easily than you can repurpose your materials for a higher quality standard.
These are all important items that need to be taken into consideration when planning your next printing project. If you are unsure of how to approach these questions, feel free to involve your printer early in the process as they can assist with providing the appropriate settings and workflows that will result in meeting your final quality expectations.
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| The Effects of PDF 2008-02-25
Since 2001 when we first began accepting PDF files a lot has changed, some good and some bad.
First I would like to address the positive impact PDF has had on the prepress & printing industry. Both the creator of PDF files and the consumer (printer) have benefited by moving from a raster based file format such as TIFF-IT P1 to a vector-based format like PDF-x1a.
The creator of the PDF file has benefited as a result of the low cost and ease for creating a print ready PDF file. No longer is it necessary to have a significant investment in a prepress workflow such as Dalim, Nexus, Brisque, etc. in order to create print ready files. This type of workflow was necessary to create TIFF-IT P1 files, thus only color separators and printers were in a position to make this type of investment and offer this type of service.
Now a designer can create an acceptable PDF-x1a file directly from their desktop with a minimal investment in software. By utilizing Adobe’s Acrobat Professional along with either Quark Xpress or Adobe’s InDesign, the designer can now skip the step of sending their page files to a separator to have them RIP’d, leaving only the final step of proofing the files prior to press.
The printer has also benefited from a move to a PDF workflow because plating workflows process PDF files more efficiently. Workflows such as Kodak’s Prinergy can automate a number of steps in the plating process to speed the pre-flighting of incoming PDF files and plating, thus reducing the amount of time necessary to prepare plates for press.
The down side of moving to a PDF workflow is that not all designers take the time to properly create their PDF files. Because there are hundreds of settings that will alter the final PDF file, it is best to consult with your printer to understand their requirements and receive specific instructions on how to properly create a print ready PDF-x1a file. If the proper settings are not used, this can result in additional cost or press delays from the printer in order to fix problems. It’s best to avoid potential pitfalls by adhering to the printer specifications and test files prior to going live with your print projects.
Overall the positives far out weigh the negatives. The amount of time from desktop to a printed product has been significantly reduced not to mention the cost to prepare files for press. The future of using a PDF workflow holds many more promising developments that both the creator and consumer will benefit from.
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| Product Rationalization 2008-02-24
When NewPage purchased the North American assets of StoraEnso, they said that they were going to take the best parts of the two companies and emerge as the top supplier of paper products in North America. NewPage first decided to permanently shut down four paper machines, a pulp mill and a converting facility. It was determined that, going forward, the assets were not worth keeping open. Even with the major reduction in production, NewPage was, and is still confident that they can produce between 3% and 8% more paper this year over last year. Leading up to last week, I did not know how that was going to be possible. Well, I now know how they are going to do it: through product rationalization.
Briefly, here are the changes they have made:
• #2 grades:
- Keeping both Sterling and Productolith products.
- Eliminating the 10% PCW content that was standard in
Productolith.
- Will still be available, but in 44,000# minimums for an
additional charge.
• #3 grades:
- Discontinuing Focus Plus product line completely. This will
leave Vision and Orion.
- Eliminating the dull finish option for Orion.
- Removing the “Plus” portion for Vision. (Will just be Vision
going forward.)
• #4 grades:
- Discontinuing the NovaPress, PolarisPress, and CapriPress lines
completely.
- Will only be manufacturing Escanaba (gloss, dull & matte) and
Dependoweb (gloss & matte) going forward.
- Both the Escanaba and Dependoweb shades will be
changing to a more blue-white shade.
The last day to place an order for a discontinued grade is March 10. The last shipping date for any discontinued grade is April 30. After that date, no discontinued grades will be available.
What does this mean for the industry and for you? For starters, it means changes like this are happening, and happening fast. In an earlier article, I mentioned that a majority of the paper manufacturers in North America are now owned by private equity firms. These mills, by virtue of their ownership, are in a position to make swift decisions and implement change faster than they were able to before. The NewPage/StoraEnso purchase was finalized at the end of December, and since then they have restructured their leadership, permanently closed several machines and facilities and rationalized their product mix. All in less than 60 days! NewPage still feels confident that they can produce more paper than last year, even though they have removed capacity. They can do it because they will not have to make as many grades and finishes. If they can demonstrate that they can accomplish this, then I would expect other mills to follow suit, although perhaps not to this magnitude.
It also means fewer choices. NewPage recently eliminated four product lines at once. If one of those papers was what you prefer to use, then you have until March 10 to place orders, and then the final shipping date for these discontinued grades is April 30. Your favorite choice will not be available anymore. That does not give a lot of time to make changes. In addition, these quick changes add pressure to keep up with the changes in the industry and industry trends. As if we are not low on available time as is!
Finding enough time to finish day-to-day work is difficult enough. Who has the time to find a new paper to print on or keep up with industry trends? At Arandell, we have partnered with all the major mills and have built solid relationships with them. We are in constant contact with them and are usually one of the first to know of any and all changes. We have the knowledge of the available paper grades and products, and can offer suggestions for your printed piece. We can consult with you to minimize the stress industry changes like these can have because we have our fingers on the pulse of the paper industry. We are here to help.
If I can ever be of any assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask. I am here for you!
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| Delivery Point Validation (DPV) 2008-02-20
If you haven’t heard the acronym DPV yet, don’t worry, you will…and probably more than you care to.
DPV, Delivery Point Validation, is the new USPS standard for measuring the quality of your mail piece. DPV ensures that the address is accurate, deliverable, and that a barcode can be applied to your mail piece for the specified address. On mail pieces that are not DPV’d (another phrase you will hear more than you care to), you will pay a significantly higher postage rate. Also, non-DPV’d records will need additional sorting since the unique barcode cannot be applied, and processing through the Postal System, which will drastically slow delivery times. The good news is that through the normal processing products such as NCOA, Address Standardization, Zip+4 Coding, etc. (any CASS-certified product), most of your pieces will be DPV’d. A good rule of thumb to follow is that at least 97.5% of your overall mailing should be DPV’d. Your service bureau or printer should provide reports to you outlining these numbers, and they should be broken out by house records and rentals. If your overall rate falls below that, you have some serious issues with the quality of your mail files. The mailing should be stopped and the file should be examined to determine the problem.
So, it appears that all you need to do is remove non-DPV’d records from your mailing and you’ll be fine, right? Not necessarily. When it comes to rentals, yes they should be removed and you should r |
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