Out Of Sorts About Mail

The computer age with e-mail, the internet for shopping and our desire to save trees should all be converging to create a HUGE reduction in the amount of paper and cardboard that goes through the U.S. Postal System.

But alas, that’s not the case.

I don’t know about you, but if anything, I’m getting MORE junk mail, not less of late.
With recent news that the Postal System is projected to lose billions going into the future, it’s enough to make you go….postal (sorry)

Really, though, do we need to have 47 credit cards? Judging by the number of credit card offers our household receives each week, if we responded to half of them (since we’re “already approved!”), I’d need to carry my plastic-laden wallet around in a wheelbarrow.

In was on this date in 1873 that Congress passed the so-called “Comstock Law”, making it illegal to send obscene materials through the mail.

Really. Has the postal inspector checked out a Victoria’s Secret catalogue lately?

About those catalogues. I love L.L. Bean, but we receive a pair of identical catalogues each time they mail out. Thinking about the expense, the cost of mailing that kind of bulk material—as high as it must be—it still must be dwarfed by the cost of photographing each model wearing each sweater and blouse, assembling the items, writing the text and coding for mail-in orders, not to mention the cost of printing the high gloss stock that is then assembled, stapled, addressed and sorted for mailing. The poor carrier trudges through the snow to deliver these gems to our mailboxes---where we promptly flip through he pages (if that!) before tossing into the recycling bin. Hey, that’s somebody’s career you’re dismissing by being so cavalier with the catalogue!

At some level it must work, since sales in Freeport do draw a crowd—and the telephone operators are plenty busy answering the phone. It may only represent 2% of the flyers that shipped, but it still somehow generates enough to repeat the whole process over again NEXT month.

The envelopes stuffed with a zillion coupons from area businesses are another matter. I open one of these high quality pieces and prepare to catch the blizzard of offers before they spray like confetti on the kitchen floor.

“Get 10% off your next sofa reupholstering!”

Be still my heart. I’m not sure my ticker can handle such excitement—or such savings! Five different pizza parlors will be inside, a plumber or two—and the obligatory roofer or siding installer. God bless’em. Here’s hoping they get even ONE response for the dollars they are shelling out to “Advertise” in this manner.

Offers from car dealers, clothing stores, sporting goods and real estate agents, who somehow have to always devote the majority of column inch ad space to their own FACE. Is it a job requirement that to be a real estate agent you have to have an ego the size of Mt. Rushmore?

There is a way to stop—or at least cut down on the amount of junk mail that arrives at your house—watch this short video:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Cf5Fej4sw

My suggestion to all of you print advertisers is to divert that budget—however meager—to radio advertising for just a month or two. Granted, I’m not impartial as this is what pays my bills, but after over 30 years in the business, I see the smart business people getting the most “bang for their buck” from radio. They come back again and again—and when an ad schedule that includes a) a decent offer (which will NEVER be “get 10% off!), b) a compelling or creative way to convey that message (the copy) with c) a schedule with enough frequency to be exposed to the target audience at least 3-5 times, the radio advertiser will see results that will pay for the schedule---and then some.

So, why don’t we all just save a tree or two?
You’ll feel better—and maybe the Postal System will someday break even.

If you’d like my blog in your box daily, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com