The 2011 Mobile Barcode Promotion was so successful because it utilized emerging technologies and the prevalence of smartphones to integrate direct mail with modern devices. Customers and businesses alike benefited from the ease of use and the postal savings affiliated with this promotion.

The following information describes the proposed 2012 incarnation of the promotion:

The 2012 Mobile Commerce and Personalization Promotion provides mailers with an upfront postage discount on qualifying Standard Mail® and First-Class Mail® letters, flats, and cards that contain a mobile barcode or similar print technology that can be read or scanned by a mobile device.  The technology must lead the recipient to either:

1. A webpage that allows the recipient to purchase a product or service on a mobile device.
or
2. A personalized URL, which leads to a web page that is unique to an individual recipient.

Program Parameters

Registration Begins: May 1, 2012

Program Period: July 1 through August 31, 2012

Discount Amount: 2% of eligible postage. The mobile barcode discount is calculated in PostalOne!® and applied to the mailing statement at the time of mailing. Normal postage prices as listed in the published price schedule apply to the mailing, and the discount is applied to those prices.

Eligible Mail Classes: Standard Mail® letters and flats, Nonprofit Standard Mail letters and flats, First-Class Mail^® presort and automation letters, cards and flats

Registration Requirements

Program Registration: Participants and/or mail service providers must register on the Business Customer Gateway.  Mailers agree to participate in a survey about the promotion. Registration opens May 1, 2012 and will continue throughout the promotion period.

Mailing Submission Requirements

Documentation/Postage Statement:  Mailings must be submitted electronically via mail.dat, mail.xml or Postal Wizard.

Participating mailers will be required to affirmatively claim this promotion on electronic postage statement submissions.  All mailpieces in a mailing statement must be eligible for the promotion. Note, the discount must be claimed at the time of mailing and cannot be rebated at a later date.

Mailing Date:  Mail must be tendered for acceptance during the promotion period, July 1, 2012, through August 31, 2012.  Qualified PVDS mailings that are verified and paid for by August 31, 2012, will be accepted at destination entry postal facilities through September 15, 2012.

IMB Requirements:  Automation mailpieces must contain an Intelligent Mail barcode.

Postage Payment Method: Postage must be paid using a Permit Imprint, or Precancelled Stamp permit.  Some Meter Permit mailings may qualify.  OMAS and “Official Government Mail” mailings are not eligible for the promotion.

Mailpiece/Mailing Content Requirements

The two-dimensional barcode or similar print technology which takes a consumer to a mobile optimized site that either enables mobile commerce or is personalized for the recipient. All qualifying mail must contain a mobile barcode or equivalent technology that can read or scanned by a mobile device (this includes two-dimensional barcodes, tags, and watermarks).  The mailpiece must also contain text near the barcode or image providing guidance to the consumer to scan the barcode or image. Additional requirements are listed below.

Mobile Commerce

If the barcode is used to facilitate mobile commerce:

• The destination web page(s) must contain information relevant to content of the mailpiece, and some or all of the service(s) and/or product(s) advertised in the mailpiece must be available for purchase on a mobile device.
• The destination web pages must reside on a web site platform that contains (or is deeply integrated with) a checkout functionality so that consumers can complete the purchase of the good or service referenced in the mailpiece through a complete mobile optimized experience.
• Websites used for e-bill payment of prior purchases, or regularly scheduled payments (weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, etc.) for goods and services are not eligible.

Mobile Personalization

If the barcode leads to a personalized website:

• For each mailpiece recipient, the web address is unique to the recipient, as is the content of the web page.
• Unique web page content is based on relevant customer data such as prior behavior, life stage, segmentation, and demographics.

Requirements at the time of mail acceptance and post- mailing

At Mail Acceptance:  The mailer must provide a hard copy, unaddressed sample of the mailpiece showing the placement of the mobile barcode to the acceptance clerk. If a mailing contains mobile barcode mail from multiple mailers, a hard copy sample of each mailer’s mailpiece must be presented. If mobile personalization is used, at least two samples must be submitted in order to demonstrate that the web addresses are unique to each recipient.

Post Mailing Requirements:  All mailers who receive the discount must retain an electronic or hard copy sample of the mailpiece until October 31, 2012, and if requested by the Postal Service must forward such sample to the promotion program office.

This post was provided by Rich Cicha who writes for the SourceLink blog. It provides excellent information for the direct mail industry from a company who specializes in “connecting data, design & delivery.” 

On January 20, the U.S. Postal Service released five gorgeous stamps. The artistry of American stamps is nothing new, of course, but this collection reminded me of the potential value of decorative stamps in targeted direct mail campaigns.

In searching for high resolution versions of the five stamps, I happened upon a wonderful website, BeyondthePerf.com.

For those interested in the art and design of U.S. stamps, the site features a video interview with the five USPS art directors who bring illustrative meaning to “decorative stamp.”

Ethel Kessler talks about the talents of the five people who work on the stamps. “Each of us has different passions, different strengths. And we’re relentless, [asking] what can we do at every level to enrich it.”

Phil Jordan, who created the USPS Civil War series, says his effort seeks to honor past acts of courage or accomplishment. Getting there wasn’t easy. “What evolved was a labor of intense scrutiny… I wanted to express what people were thinking and what the common person was doing, particularly the common soldier.” Was all the research worth it? “What we have, we know will stand up to scrutiny,” says Jordan.

Kessler researched the Nobel Prize winners series just as diligently. Rather than detailing each scientific achievement, she was dedicated to capturing the essence of this highly coveted award. “Ethel really did an amazing job says Derry Noyes. “She was working with murky photographs of scientists and complex formulas. This could have been a recipe for disaster, but everything went beautifully.”

Antonio Alcalá’s favorite series spotlights industrial design from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Greg Breeding also is partial to this Pioneers of American Industrialism series, which he says has inspired so many objects we use today, including the iPad, telephones, etc.

What does the stamp series add up to?

“We’re telling a story; we’re telling America’s story,” says Kessler — and that story is complex in more ways that we can imagine. Consider, for example, the Latin Music Legends series. “I worked with Raphael Lopez who is himself a musician and a brilliant illustrator. We decided what we were looking was ‘performance,’ so that we could hear the music.”

Likely, only a designer can discern the many possibilities that comprise a powerful picture. “What is it that grabs you? Is it the title, the color, the graphics? Is it pretty, is it edgy? Designing stamps is more work than you think,” Noyes concludes. “It’s a real collaborative effort. If the collaboration has worked well, then we have a great stamp.”

Kessel adds, “Our biggest success is when it looks easy.”

BeyondthePerf made me remember that this institution upon which direct marketers have built their livelihoods does many things well — and most of it looks much easier than it is.

So, hurray for the American stamp and hurray for one of our greatest institutions: The U.S. Postal Service.

This week, we showcase the Iron Cross with Stitched-in Booklet submitted by Digital Ink in Alexandria, VA created for the American Bankers Association. The piece first opens in gate format to reveal two sides that fold out to create an iron cross format. The innovation doesn’t stop here. The interior boasts of a 12 page stitched booklet. This booklet provides an excellent opportunity to include marketing material into a leave-behind brochure or mailed item. Watch the video for more!

Welcome to the first FOW on The Digital Nirvana in 2012! I’m sure this year will bring plenty of innovative and fun new folds. This week’s Fab Kaleidoscope Cover Invitation comes from Schmitt’s Press in Baltimore and was created back in 2005 for a fundraising event for Maryland Institute College of Art. What makes this fold so interesting is how the die-cut shape on the front cover interacts with the graphic beneath to create a kaleidoscope effect. This is a superb example of creative designing with simpler folding.

As always, think finishing at the beginning. Enjoy!

Here is a special treat for Thanksgiving week… First is the Swing Cover Direct Mailer. This piece combines a swinger fold technique with a tri-fold and was completely done by machine at Bindagraphics in Baltimore, MD. Second, watch the actual footage of this mailer being printed in the production facility. Think of it as your turkey dinner with an extra special desert. Enjoy!

As always, be sure to check out more treats for printers and marketing service providers at www.OceWow.com.

In this week’s fold, Trish highlights another great creation from ITP in Elizabethtown, PA. This unique direct mail piece was created for New Homes Guide in Fairfax Virginia. ITP and New Homes Guide used this piece to not only tell advertisers about their new large-format magazine, but they also showed advertisers what space they can get for the same price. The piece opens into a tri-fold first, but then unexpectedly tri-folds down to show the new advertising capabilities of the magazine. This is an excellent example of using print creatively to highlight the magazine’s strengths. Check out the video below!

If you are looking for more innovative ideas like these, be sure to check out OceWow.com!

We all understand that the digital age plays an important role in marketing communications, but a unique transformation is taking place where the miniaturization of consumer-level technology is driving new types of channels of communications. So I was considering how direct mail will look in the future. The conventional method of messaging with personalization will continue, but will it change the experience for the end user?

The Smartphone is now taking on more uses then being just a phone, and it has caused the technology to become more miniaturized. Individual features are becoming more of a commodity than ever before. Do you remember when it was a big deal to have power windows or a CD player in your car? Technology is driving new innovative channels for direct messaging or even dynamic messaging.

My experience in digital electronics drove me to investigate what science is around the corner that will change Marketing Services. What would it be like if you could distribute your message using video inside a direct Mail piece? Sounds like a cell phone stripped down to play a video message for a limited time with some interactivity. This concept is not new but the packaging and the price is critical for the success.

Still not convinced…

Click here.

I attended a presentation with top talent from MIT, and upcoming advancements in products will include a sensor that will communicate conditions and receive updates. For example, your medical prescription will electronically notify you that you missed a day of taking your medicine. This will not be some large box with an antenna on top of it, but a normal-sized medicine package that you will buy from your drug store.

Going back to the direct mail piece – After some additional investigation I decided to check into product pricing of a media-playing direct mail piece. You can obtain this technology for as little as $15. Now all you need is a small power source and you have the ability to play video for a short period of time. Add in some personalization and you now have a marketing channel.

If products have sensors embedded in them to transmit and receive information, the media messaging can change dynamically depending on the user’s habits or surroundings. Would this be considered intelligent Direct mail? We are just getting started on what is next and working with partners that are creative is going to be more important than ever.

This post was provided by SourceLink. To learn more about strategic solutions and incorporating digital print services, please visit their website.

If you are looking for more resources and ideas for direct mail, visit OceWow.com.

This week, Trish brings us the Neat Single Sheet Seat Belt Promo created by Lawton Printers in Central Florida. It is a single sheet card format featuring a seat belt that opens to reveal detailed information about the airline and its promos. Printed on an 80 to 100 lb cover stock, this fold is an excellent example of simple creativity. Watch Trish as she demonstrates the fold!

I drove past my local post office yesterday morning, one that is not closing, as far as I know, and noticed a FedEx drop box about ten feet from the main entrance door. It was clearly on USPS property. Or rather, on my property, and your property. I never noticed it before, in the way that many things that are a little out of place are invisible until you need them, or your brain has a spare moment and recognizes them. So as I ran my errands, I arranged to pass a couple of other post offices and found the same thing –FedEx drop boxes lined up next to the Express Mail box and regular USPS mailboxes.

This reminded me of our collective reactions at shows like Graph Expo as the major equipment providers, many with competing hardware or software or services offerings, began to populate each other’s booths as part of “solutions”. Often we did not know whose booth we were in. At the time, this blew our minds.

Of course, there are collaborations – or contracts – between the USPS and the private package delivery carriers already in place. The USPS Global Express Guaranteed service is the USPS’s “fastest international shipping service with transportation and delivery by FedEx Express”. And UPS Returns Flexible Access uses the USPS Parcel Return Service combined with UPS’s own delivery network.

These collaborations appear to leverage the strengths of each organization. The USPS, however, with its monopoly, (or responsibility), for First Class Mail and Standard Class Mail, is left with the less profitable deliveries of the carriers’ packages in out-of-the-way locales. FedEx and UPS are clearly dependent on the USPS for final delivery and pickups of packages in remote areas that are, of course, routes covered by the USPS.

The USPS must continue to focus on performance improvement in its core areas of responsibility – First Class and Standard Mail, but it’s time for the USPS to start thinking about “solutions”, and “collaborations” in the true sense of those words, to help promote its own sustainability instead of mere survival through cost-cutting.

Looking for more information? Visit www.OceWow.com and sign up for the free monthly newsletters designed especially for Transactional and Direct Mail providers.

Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA), an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is a reliable name in Hawaiian health care. Established in 1938, it is the largest and most experienced provider of health care coverage in the state. Over half of Hawaii’s population has chosen HMSA for their coverage.

HMSA’s mission is to provide quality, affordable health plans, employee benefit services, and work site wellness programs. HMSA also offers a variety of programs, services, and support to help improve the health and well-being of its members and community.

In the complex and dynamic world of health care, nothing is more important than high-quality, effective communications about subscriber benefits. Assumpta Rapoza, Director of Enterprise Risk Management for HMSA, clearly understands the importance of ensuring clear communications about benefits for subscribers. Rapoza stated, “Quality communications are essential for
customer satisfaction as well as the retention of a loyal customer base.”

Clear Messaging to Drive Loyalty
With health care on everyone’s agenda, HSMA wanted to effectively communicate the true value of the individual’s health insurance policy. The company decided to create an annual cost savings report that raised the subscriber’s awareness of the actual costs for medical procedures and
medications, the amount covered by HSMA, and the resulting financial benefit.

According to Rapoza, “If the subscriber went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, he or she typically didn’t know the actual costs and the HMSA benefit. We wanted an agile solution where we could customize communications based on the specific member profile. We were seeking tools that would enable us to create personalized messaging for each subscriber in the form of an annual summary report.”

Rapoza continued, “We needed to push out the messaging. We knew that we wanted to mail out customized statements. While electronic delivery is a more costefficient way to deliver information, we are cognizant that a high percentage of our membership still prefers paper.”

The Solution
HMSA leveraged Océ’s Technology & Software Support (TSS) Solution Development Manager and Systems Consultant resources, its existing investment in Océ digital print technology, upgrades to its Océ PRISMAproduction® workflow software, as well as the GMC PrintNet Variable Data Composition software to design a solution for its annual benefits summary statement. This combination enabled HMSA to design, compose, produce, present, manage, and automate printed documents with individualized targeted messaging that was HIPPAcompliant. The system design also needed to accommodate production in print and electronic formats, created by PrintNet. Rapoza noted, “The end-result was a customerfriendly communication that clearly articulated the value that HMSA was delivering to its membership.”

To read more articles like this, visit www.OceWow.com and download the September Newsletter.

This week’s 60 Second Super Cool Fold of the Week was designed for The Clarrett Group and printed by Cedar Graphics inRonkonkoma,NY. From the outside, it looks like a briefcase with a handle but when you use that handle to open piece… it reveals a large format poster detailing the Clarett Group’s ambitious plans. The gate into closed-gate fold first revels a quad-fold, then a tri-fold until the poster is fully unraveled. Watch the video below to find out more about the Brooklyner Briefcase Brochure!

Looking for more innovative ideas like this? Look no further! Check out OceWOW for more tips for digital print providers.

This post was generously provided by Sourcelink.

We’re all familiar with the phrase “cutting through the clutter,” particularly as it applies to direct mail marketing. But that same mind-set works with your email marketing campaigns, as well. Think about it, how many promotional emails do you get in a day and how many of those really capture your attention? And more to the point, how many do you actually respond to? So, the next time you plan to communicate with your customers via email, pay strict attention to the principals you use for your direct mail campaigns.

Subject Line: Does the subject line accurately describe your intended message? Does it make a value proposition? Think of it like the teaser copy on your carrier envelope. Chances are, if you don’t capture your audience’s attention with the subject line, your open rate is going to be disappointing.

“From” address: Similar to direct mail, email open rates go up when customers know the sender. Make sure your company’s name is conspicuously displayed (myname@mycompany.com).

Visual Layout: Is the content (copy and graphics) of your email attention grabbing? Is it easy for the recipient to peruse and get the essence of your message? Does your offer stand out and is there a clear call to action? Again, consistent with your approach to direct mail, your email should follow the same principals for effectiveness – attention, interest, desire, action (AIDA)!

Similar to direct mail, use segmentation to vary the copy and graphics in your emails to keep the message relevant and timely based on the needs of your target audience. And keep on testing. In fact, an offer test conducted through email can save you time and money in learning which offer to include in your direct mail communications. Finally, remember email communications are intended to entice a two-way dialogue. Make sure you provide an avenue for response – direct customers to a landing page or website and use links for sharing through social media channels, whenever appropriate.

Lastly, keep in mind that email and direct mail still complement one another. One feeds off the other and results are almost always better when both are employed. SourceLink recently conducted a direct marketing program for a B2B client using both mail and email to drive small business customers to a microsite to capture business intelligence. In a head-to-head test, it was interesting to learn that when using mail with an email follow-up, response was 22% higher than simply using email with an email follow-up. Food for thought – please let me know your thoughts and experiences. Thanks.

This blog was provided by Sourcelink. Check out their blog here for more posts like this!

Check out the latest 60 Second Super Cool Fold of the Week. This fold comes from ITP inElizabethtown,Pennsylvaniaand is a piece they created for Global Business travel Association. It is a self-mailing piece that uses an open gate fold format with an interesting tweak. Watch the video to learn more!

Here is the 112th Super Cool Fold of the Week from Trish at FoldFactory. Watch as she teaches you how to create the fun Assymetrical Gate Fold piece with a perfed postcard. It was originally designed by Cayenne Creative Group for International Paper to promote their Elements line.

While there’s been a lot of bad news surrounding the United States Postal Service lately, a heightened level of innovation exists  both within the postal service and externally in an attempt to transform the organization, as well as the concept of mail delivery itself. This past June, the PostalVision 2020 conference in Washington, D.C. brought together senior USPS personnel, technologists, analysts, and journalists to openly discuss the future strategic direction of the postal service under the premise of what it should look like in the year 2020. Many companies are engaged in laying down the building blocks of what could potentially be the future of mail distribution and delivery for the United States and even abroad: digital mailboxes.

The concept of a digital mailbox or digital mail delivery is certainly not new. In the enterprise, vendors like Esker, Océ, and Pitney Bowes offer digital mail delivery solutions whereby each piece of mail that comes into the company is scanned and delivered electronically to employee recipients. EarthClassMail is an early service for smaller businesses and consumers that also scans and manages mail. With a mix of new entrants and existing players, there is aggressive development of digital mailbox services for consumers, designed to reach every household in the United States, just like the USPS. There are a number of key players to watch in this space:

• Accenture, the worldwide consulting and outsourcing firm, is taking the approach of partnering directly with national postal services to help them develop digital mailbox services. It has clearly stated it is aiming to help global posts design their own services to compete directly against some of the independent digital mailbox services listed below.
• doxo is a technology start-up that takes a broad approach to the digital mailbox, enabling users to not only import electronic bills and statements, but also many other types of documents that can either be uploaded or scanned in via its mobile phone application.
• Manilla, started by Hearst Corporation, provides access to over 1,000 companies to enable users to consolidate and manage bills and loyalty programs, including major wireless carriers, cable & satellite TV providers, utilities, financial companies, airlines, and more. Certified Manilla partners can also present targeted advertisements to Manilla users alongside the sender’s content, which offers an intriguing TransPromo play.
• Pitney Bowes announced its Volly digital mailbox offering at the beginning of 2011, although the offering is still in beta. According to my colleague Matt Swain’s blog post on the service after its announcement, “Think of Volly as an extension of a conventional consumer bill consolidation model, incorporating other types of mail into the same platform.” There is no doubt that PB will be highlighting Volly at Graph Expo this year.
• Zumbox, another technology start-up, has made waves recently with its million-dollar giveaway contest to get people signed up for its service. The company has a unique twist on its service in that it uses your physical mail address as your digital mailbox address, as well. Like others, its concept is to digitally centralize the management of all mail being sent to a household.

There is a great deal of innovation occurring in this space right now, and considering the rapid pace of technology proliferation and adoption these days, it would not be surprising if these companies and their services make a big splash in the near future. InfoTrends is investigating this market right now, currently conducting a research study entitled The Emergence of Digital Mailbox Services: Moving Beyond Online Bill Consolidation in the U.S. This research initiative will identify the opportunity for secure digital mailbox services in the U.S. and will include a growth projection through 2015. I’m excited to see how this space shapes up, as these services could have a major influence on how we delivery, accept, and manage our mail.