The U.S. Postal Service has reported its second quarter results of its 2014 fiscal year with a net loss of $1.9 billion. “The Postal Service is working diligently to improve its finances by streamlining our network to improve efficiency, reduce operating costs and increase revenue, which was up $379 million over the same period last year—the third straight quarter of revenue increase,” said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick Donahoe.
This week, Structural Graphics shows how LED lights and audio can be used with dimensional mail to maximize the impact of a campaign. The “Soul Celebration” jukebox invitation was produced for ad agency RedRover Sales & Marketing, in Memphis, TN, for its client the MED Foundation.
Postal reform hit yet another snag on Wednesday after a scheduled House committee vote on a new piece of legislation was postponed due to a lack of bipartisan support.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced the delay just hours before a markup of his new bill overhauling the U.S. Postal Service was scheduled to begin. Issa introduced a bill to mirror a proposal put forward by the White House in President Obama’s fiscal 2015 budget proposal.
Becca Watkins, a spokeswoman for Issa, said the chairman’s offering of the White House plan “represents an
The Postal Service’s improving financial situation is fueling a debate between the agency, lawmakers and unions over what kind of legislation is needed to save the struggling agency. The debate centers on which income best represents the Postal Service’s financial health: operating or net.
Measured by operating income—revenue minus expenses—the Postal Service has made more than $1 billion in profit since the beginning of fiscal 2014. However, net income factors in the Postal Service’s obligation to prepay for retiree health benefits and fund its worker compensation fund, and there the service shows a net loss of $1.7 billion.
Heaven knows the USPS needs an overhaul: It’s losing customers and billions of dollars per year, in part because electronic communication has rendered its traditional business model—first-class mail—obsolete.
It was in that depressing context that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House committee that oversees the Postal Service, heard testimony this month on the Obama administration’s ideas for reform.
A USPS executive recently warned that the shift to more non-career carriers is likely to reduce the chances that mail with incomplete or incorrect addresses will be delivered correctly. Comments from both front-line employees and mailers confirm that the trouble has already started.
“Up until about five years ago there was always one carrier on one route meaning that every route was staffed properly,” a 27-year veteran letter carrier commented recently on my article "New Postal Hires Mean More 'Return To Sender' Mail." “Now, every day is nothing short of chaos.”
This week, Structural Graphics shows us how to take two tried and true marketing mediums and combine them to deliver the ultimate one-to-one experience—by embedding a touchscreen into a printed piece.
This week, Structural Graphics features a high-impact direct mail campaign that it produced for Mazda. This campaign was designed in conjunction with in-house agency, Garage Team Mazda. The result of the campaign was an impactful dimensional mail piece.
The USPS Office of Inspector General recently published a White Paper that summarizes focus group research asking the American consumer what they want from the Postal Service now and in the future. And more importantly, they asked consumers what they need.
The results weren’t necessarily surprising as some of the responses confirmed what many of us already knew (i.e.—almost 70 percent think that taxes at least partially fund the USPS). But the research should help both mailers and the USPS in setting future business plans and strategic direction as the consumer is a customer to all.
This week, Structural Graphics is featuring a video piece it produced for client The Hartford dubbed "The Box That Rocks." As part of a multi-wave, multi-tier campaign, this video box was the most successful new campaign launch in the history of The Hartford.
