Mortgage, Home Equity Direct Mail Drop By Half: Study
Mortgage and home equity lenders sent approximately 750 million secured loan offerings between January and June 2008, half the 1.5 billion during the first six months of 2007, according to a new study...
Transcontinental Direct Cuts 50 Jobs: Report
Direct marketing services provider Transcontinental Direct USA is cutting 50 positions from its Orwigsburg, Hamburg and Reading PA locations, according to The Republican and Herald newspaper. ...
USPS Debuts Legal-Sized Envelopes For Quick Delivery
The U.S. Postal Service now offers envelopes for those wishing to send legal-sized documents via overnight or two-day delivery service. ...
Mail Format Report Shows Postcard Still Dominates
The postcard leads among direct mail control formats, according to a new study. But look for online channels to continue take an increasingly important role among mailers....
Mortgage Rates In Mail Solicitations Drop: Study
The Federal Reserve System’s rate cuts are having an effect – on direct mail solicitations for mortgages. According to a new study, the average rate offered for fixed-rate mortgages during the first quarter of 2008 was 6.22%, a drop from the 7.14% average seen during fourth-quarter 2008....
Financial Services Mailings Drop in First Quarter
Financial services firms sent out 4.19 billion pieces of mail during first-quarter 2008, a healthy drop from the 4.79 billion pieces mailed in first-quarter 2007, according to industrial research firm Mintel Comperemedia....
E-Mail Gains In Usage But Traditional DM Media Decline: Survey
E-mail has become the top medium for direct marketers, judging by Direct’s annual forecast survey. Of the firms polled, 72% send e-mail to customers, a 10% increase over 2007, and 50% to prospects, a 9% hike. ...
Short Cuts
Valassis extends its president and CEO's contract; Canada Post launches green program....
Testing the Waters
The Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation's first direct mail campaign is aimed at persuading former fishing-license holders to renew. In March...
Mail Services Firm Impact Acquires ZipSort
Impact, a direct mail services provider based in Minneapolis, has acquired the statement processing, laser operation and lettershop capabilities of ZipSort Inc. ...
CSG Systems to Acquire DataProse
CSG Systems International Inc., a direct marketing services firm, will acquire DataProse Inc., a direct mail and billing statement services company, for $39 million. ...
Mail Promoting Unsecured Loans Rises 42%, Says Study
In the fourth quarter, lenders send more direct mail offers for unsecured loan and credit line products than for secured loan and line products, according to a study by market researcher Mintel Comperemedia. ...
Credit Card Mail Falling, Says Study
In January, the estimated number of mailings sent by credit card companies dropped another 3% from December, according to a new study from Mintel Comperemedia....
Stupid Media Watch: Journal Times Better Get With it
Quick! Look out the window. What’s that, you ask? It’s flying pigs. Why are pigs flying? Because a consumer newspaper actually ran a well-reasoned opinion piece on direct mail....
Bare Bones
Postal reform works. The rate hike that takes effect May 12 is the lowest in memory: an average of 2.88%. And some mail classes are getting even less than that....
Higher Postage and Lower Response Squeeze Direct Mail
A report released Monday by the Winterberry Group warns the use of direct mail may diminish as result of rising postage costs and declining response rates, unless the medium is made more efficient. ...
ACMA to Join PostCom
The American Catalog Mailers Association (ACMA), a new advocacy group for catalogers, will join the Association for Postal Commerce, or PostCom, and take a seat on its board of directors....
Calling All Students
DeVry University recently sent a mailing to 1.1 million potential students as part of an ongoing rebranding effort....
Success? It's in the Mail
Success magazine is hoping to see at least a 3% response from a subscription-building mailing tied to its relaunch this month....
War of Words
Ron Paul's (failed?) presidential campaign certainly demonstrated online fundraising prowess. But good old-fashioned direct mail played a highly unusual...
Oh, Oprah
Sometimes our mail just makes us laugh. Take a recent mailing we received from O magazine. What's the first thing we read on the letter? Market Development...
Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder
On winter weekends when it's too cold, rainy or snowy to play outside, I'm constantly searching for places to take my kids so they can burn off some energy....
USPS Seeks to Make Sticky Note Classification Permanent
The U.S. Postal Service has asked the Postal Regulatory Commission to allow mailers to place repositionable [sticky] notes on their market-dominant mailing packages on a permanent basis....
Direct Mail Service to Launch in Vietnam
The Vietnam Post Corp. and the La Poste Group of France will jointly launch a direct mail service in the country in April. The service will be run by Smart Media, a unit of the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group....
Credit Card Firms Mailing More to Customers: Report
Credit card marketers have begun using direct mail more to connect with current cardholders than to prospect for new ones, according to a report from Mintel Comperemedia....
