Direct Marketing

AS A MAJOR PLAYER IN THE $24-BILLION CANADIAN ADVERTISING BUSINESS, CANADA POST DIRECT MARKETING OFFERS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO CONNECT ADVERTISERS WITH CUSTOMERS. BUT AS GOES THE ECONOMY, SO DOES OUR BUSINESS.

Canada Post is one of the largest players in the Canadian direct marketing business, delivering Addressed Admail™ and ­Unadressed Admail™ across the country. Offerings, such as AdCard™, GeoPost™ Plus and Business Reply Mail™, are complementary services that help customers to better plan their mailings by narrowing down their targeted audiences, and improve their response mechanisms. As well, through Canada Post’s website, customers can manage their own direct mail campaigns directly. Publications Mail™ — the distribution of magazines, newspapers and newsletters — is also part of Canada Post’s Direct Marketing line of business.

The advertising industry has borne the full brunt of the economic downturn, with a greater number of competitors chasing fewer ad dollars, as companies seek to reduce their costs. As a result, Direct Marketing delivered lower-than-expected growth in 2008. Revenue increased by $40 million, or 2.5%, over 2007 levels to $1.4 billion. Volumes increased slightly, by 0.9%. Amid economic weakness, the financial services, retail and manufacturing sectors significantly reduced the level of direct marketing spending, resulting in the weakest revenue and volume gains in the business in years.

Last year saw several successful initiatives that helped to better meet the needs of our customers. We introduced new products and services, including an Oversize Unaddressed Admail product and Scented AdCard, and simplified our processes to make it easier for customers to do business with us. As well, we improved our online delivery route maps for clients who want to target customers by specific letter carrier routes, making them easier to use. Through the “go green” section of our website, we helped raise the awareness of marketers, mail service providers and agencies on mail’s impact on the environment, providing tips and solutions to help reduce waste in the mail stream. In Publications Mail, the creation of an electronic return service for undeliverable items allows senders to revise their mailing lists faster, reducing their waste and costs while improving their service to customers.

Keeping the industry informed about Canada Post’s direct mail best practices is an ongoing endeavour. In 2008 alone, Direct Marketing’s advisory team provided counsel to more than 100 audiences.

The global downturn is affecting all marketing media. While direct marketing has been the fastest growing segment of advertising, traditional media investments have been redirected to building cost-effective online solutions. Meanwhile, customers have responded to the weaker economy by shifting to lower-priced Unaddressed Admail at the expense of premium Addressed Admail. In addition, Canada Post continues to face intense competition from domestic firms.

Canada Post is ensuring it remains a viable option to marketers by continuing to improve delivery performance of its Admail products to make the delivery more predictable, building on operational improvements introduced in 2008.