Press Release
Joanne Veto
joanne.m.veto@usps.gov
ph: 202-268-3118
Deliver® Magazine Announces Winners of ‘Top Picks’ Contest
Personalization and Direct Response Earns Marketers Top Honors
Washington, D.C. – Marketers who demanded and achieved increased audience response rates through direct mail marketing were the winners in the first annual Deliver Top Picks contest, a competition created by Deliver magazine, the custom publication from the U.S. Postal Service.
The contest, announced in September 2006, garnered entries from marketers across the country and across industry spectrums whose projects demonstrated the success and benefits of strategic direct marketing campaigns. The winner and two runners-up were announced in this month's issue of Deliver magazine, distributed to more than 350,000 readers, as well on as Deliver's new Web site www.delivermagazine.com.
"We were amazed not only with the number of entries, but the variety and the sophistication with which these marketers produced their campaigns," said Cathrine Moriarty, Deliver’s editor.
The panel of judges included web blogger, Steve Hall of AdRants.com, Larry Kimmel, CEO of G2 Direct, a national direct marketing firm, and Patrick O’Connell, Deliver’s first editor.
Entries were judged on creativity and results of the direct mail campaign against stated objectives and within budget parameters, as well as the suitability of the campaign for future advertising and promotion purposes.
The winning entry came from Montage Graphics, of Ft. Collins, CO. On behalf of one of it's high-profile technology clients, Montage used the direct marketing strategy of personalization and tapped into savvy database programming that promoted the client's imaging and printing group and also allowed a high degree of personalization.
"It's no longer a marketing world where we can send a direct mail piece to 'occupant.' People today are smart about what comes to them in the mail. They are interested in and respond more to individual, relevant messages and offers," said Toby Gadd, president of Montage Graphics.
Charged to explore the purchasing power of administrative office assistants, the team at Montage designed a direct mail piece that featured an image of a frothy latte and included the recipient's name spelled out in chocolate sprinkles. A personal URL was included in the message, driving the responder from mail to web, a key tactic in today's mailing world. To create this level of personalization, Montage used a process called "PhotoTexting."
Top Picks runners-up are SwervePoint LLC, a Middleton, MA, promotional products company that produced a series of three mailers targeting event planners. Blue Ridge HealthCare, based in Morganton, N.C., created a Christmas card campaign to attract new members to its fitness facility to earn third place.
Deliver magazine is developed and directed from Postal Service headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is published by Detroit-based Campbell-Ewald Publishing.
Please note: JPEGs of winning entries are available by contacting Joanne Veto at 202-268-3118 or joanne.m.veto@usps.gov. Additional information on each of the top three winners can be found at www.delivermagazine.com.
# # #
An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits 146 million homes and businesses, six days a week. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $73 billion and delivers almost half of the world’s mail volume.
Joanne Veto
joanne.m.veto@usps.gov
ph: 202-268-3118
Deliver Magazine Launches Companion Website
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The magazine for marketers is now the Website for marketers.
Deliver magazine, the first custom publication from the U.S. Postal Service, has extended its reach with corporate marketing professionals by launching delivermagazine.com. The Website will offer exclusive content and interactive tools as well as archived articles and stories from the print version of the magazine.
Deliver launched in February 2005 to demonstrate the effectiveness of direct marketing and direct mail as critical components of integrated advertising or marketing communications campaigns. The magazine, with big, bold graphics and a distinctive editorial point of view, uses case studies, third-party columns and opinionated commentary to convey the best practices, trends, research, ideas and actionable strategies that constitute the leading-edge of direct marketing theory and practice.
delivermagazine.com will be updated weekly with a mix of Web-exclusive content, online surveys, ways for readers to interact with the Website and community-serving elements. The site will enable real-time, reader engagement by RSS feeds that automatically alert subscribers to new, online content.
“The Postal Service, much like our customers, is capturing the power of a multi-channel approach to marketing and advertising,” said Anita Bizzotto, chief marketing officer and executive vice president. “Deliver magazine and its online presence allow us to reach out to this audience in ways that are important to them.”
In its first two years, Deliver has featured campaigns from multiple U.S. corporations, insight from many leading advertising and direct marketing agencies and the wisdom of gurus and futurists including Seth Godin (best selling author of marketing books, including The Purple Cow) and Steve Cuno (chairman of Response Prospecting and Loyalty Strategies Inc.).
Independent research conducted for the magazine shows that Deliver has secured a deep level of engagement with marketers. On average readers spend around 20 minutes with the publication and report significantly increased intent to use direct mail because of the insight gleaned from it.
Marketers face a media landscape radically different from the one that existed just two years ago when Deliver debuted, said Cathrine Moriarty, Deliver editor.
“The biggest change is how consumers interact and increasingly participate with media. It’s the age of consumer-controlled marketing,” Moriarty said. “The role for Deliver and its companion Website is to help marketers face these new challenges with innovative solutions, and to demonstrate the continuing relevance and effectiveness of direct mail.”
Not to be outdone by its Web presence, the print version of Deliver magazine also will evolve, with a new look and fresh design elements.
Deliver magazine is developed and directed from Postal Service headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is published by Detroit-based Campbell-Ewald Publishing.
For more information, please log on to www.delivermagazine.com.
# # #
An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation, 146 million homes and businesses, six days a week. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $73 billion and delivers more than 46 percent of the world’s mail volume.
