Recent developments in Washington DC suggest that the increasing financial deficit of the United States Postal Service may be moving toward a resolution. Last November 14, the USPS reported that it had lost another $8.8 billion in fiscal year 2019. This was the thirteenth consecutive year of losses and the Read more…
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is planning to change mail rates as of January 26, 2020. The USPS has stated that the increases “will keep the Postal Service competitive while providing the agency with needed revenue.” In its fourth quarter financial statement, the USPS announced it ran a deficit in Read more…
Major retailers are investing in print catalog marketing for the holiday shopping season again this year. Amazon, for example, has printed and mailed its second-ever toy catalog in time for Black Friday shoppers. The 92-page catalog has some unique content such as a sheet of stickers for kids to label Read more…
Like everything in the print media world, magazine publishing is undergoing a transformation. With readers getting information and news from many sources today, magazines are competing for the time and attention of their audiences and publishers are rethinking their business models. Some magazines, like the 97-year-old Harvard Business Review, reduced Read more…
I recently had a conversation with a marketing customer about campaign strategy. He told me that he always uses direct mail along with digital and social channels as part of any marketing initiative. When I asked him why this was the case, he said, “The answer is simple: print marketing Read more…
With the presidential elections quickly approaching, it is a good time to stop and think about how important paper documents are. It is becoming increasingly clear that printed paper records are, in certain situations, critical for reliability, authenticity and accessibility. For example, the CEO of Election Systems and Software Tom Read more…
Environmentalists have made strides recently on the topic of the damage caused by throwaway items such as plastic drinking straws. Many restaurants across the country are either limiting the use of plastic straws or banning them entirely in favor of the old-fashioned paper kind. The straw campaign has successfully increased Read more…
The recent news that the US Justice Department was blocking the proposed acquisition of LSC Communications by Quad Graphics is a turning point for the print media business. The DOJ Antitrust Division lawsuit says “the transaction would combine the only two significant providers of magazine, catalog, and book printing services” Read more…
Direct mail is widely recognized by marketers as among the most effective ways to build brand loyalty, promote products and services, increase sales and engage with customers. The best direct mail programs always have certain basic elements that ensure their success. Without these fundamentals, the chances of earning a healthy Read more…
I recently had an interesting exchange on social media with a digital marketing expert about the value of print today. I had shared a link to an article about the emotional impact on customers of print marketing. The author of this article pointed out that the tactile qualities of print—especially Read more…