Whistl magazine Winter 2015
packets & parcels, Your all sorted
Interviewwith BarneyHosey of Brightsource
WHO’S LOOKINGAT YOUR DOORDROPS NEWCATALOGUE TRIAL NEWHYBRIDMAIL SERVICE INDUSTRY NEWS
WATCH THE ANIMATIONNOWAT WWW.WHISTL.CO.UK/HYBRID
Wells Said
I’mpleased to report that themanagement buyout of Whistl was completed in October, and our focus is now firmly fixed on driving the business forward. Our friends at PostNL are backing us with a retained shareholding, but the business is now under the direction of our long-established, successful management team, of which I’m proud to be part. Innovation and enterprise has always been at our core, and we’re taking that spirit into 2016 with a string of new product/service launches built around customer needs – PAYG hybrid mail (see opposite) is just the start. This follows hard on the heels of the roll-out of our new, fully-fledged nationwide Packets & Parcels service, with significant benefits for the burgeoning e-commerce sector. Read about that on pages 4/5. Together with significant planned developments in our establishedmarkets of Mail and Doordrop Media, it means we have a busy 2016 ahead of us. Throughout, you can rest assured that we will be keeping our eye on the ball – by providing you with industry-leading service standards that more than repay your trust in us.
New pay-as- you-go hybrid mail service
In the same way that hybrid cars are making inroads into the market, nowmany organisations are looking into hybridmail. The convenience of ‘outsourcing’ mail production is a big factor, but cost is the main driver – with total costs for a hybridmail item less than the price of a 2 nd class stamp, compared to in-house printing/stuffing/ franking estimated at £1.13 per item. Now it’s even easier to take advantage of our proven hybridmail solution, with the launch of our pay-as-you-go service. It’s a great way to trial this fast-growing desktop-to-doormat format, suitable for all postal users frommajor organisations to one-man-bands. Our new animation at www.whistl.co.uk/hybrid is a great introduction to hybridmail, whilst you can find out more about pay-as-you-go by calling 01628 879605 or e-mailing webenquiries@whistl.co.uk . “ We were thrilled with howmuch support we received when implementing the hybrid mail solution, and the results we have achieved are beyond our expectations in terms of increased efficiency and cost savings.”
NickWells Chief Executive Whistl
Sharne Brown, Category Manager-Operations, Ikano
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Whistl Magazine • Winter 2015
NEWS
DOORDROPS DID YOU KNOW...? Our ‘intelligent doordrop’ approach uses analytical insights to pinpoint target audiences. Every day we unearth fascinating facts about behavioural habits and spending patterns in the UK…
Crowning achievement
“As with all of the public sector, we are under pressure to save money and become more efficient. Whistl has helped us achieve excellent efficiencies and cost-savings with our post”.
At Whistl, our specialist Public Sector team has been providing innovative services to central and local government, the NHS and the education sector for over seven years. Now we’re delighted to have been awarded a place on the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Postal Goods and Services Framework, under the five lots shown. The CCS works across government and the public sector, helping to procure everything from stationery to temporary staff – with the aim of improving the quality of service delivery and saving money for the taxpayer. If you’d like to find out more about our extensive services for the public sector, please phone 01628 879611 or e-mail moreinfo@whistl.co.uk
THE AVERAGE PAID FOR A CRUISE HOLIDAY IN 2014 £1379
1 IN 5
UK HOUSEHOLDS DO NOT HAVE
CONTENTS INSURANCE
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
THE GENERAL ELECTION HAS BEEN HELD ON A THURSDAY SINCE 1931
1 IN 4
BRITONS DONATED TO THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE APPEAL WITHIN A FORTNIGHT OF LAUNCH
Lot 1 Collection and delivery; bulk, standard mailings.
Whistl are delighted to have been awarded a place on the Crown Commercial Services (CCS)
Lot 2 On-site hybrid mail solutions;
printing on-site and delivery of mail.
Postal Goods and Services Framework, under the five lots listed here.
Lot 3 Off-site hybrid mail solutions; printing, addressing and enveloping off-site and delivery of mail. Lot 4 International mail services; global delivery service available including; bulk, standard mailings. Lot 7 Off-site inbound mail solutions; mail can be opened, scanned and digitised
AN ESTIMATED 3 MILLION UK PEOPLE WOULD BENEFIT FROM WEARING A HEARING AID, BUT DON’T
SINCE 1985, UK PIZZA LOVERS HAVE CONSUMED ENOUGH DOMINOS TO STRETCH ROUND THEWORLD 20 TIMES
off-site before being distributed, also includes archiving, destruction, indexing and screening services.
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Whistl Magazine • Winter 2015
packets & parcels, Your all sorted
Organising and tracking delivery with numerous carriers can be a hassle, not tomention a drain on time.
The good news is that Whistl can manage the entire process for you. Our new Tracked Services offer all sorts of benefits for regular senders. You only have one person to call, one daily collection to get ready for and one IT system that integrates with yours. We do all the rest. We collect all your items, select which of our delivery partners is right for each individual item, then hand over to that partner for final delivery. This multi-routing approach is efficient and economical, and it also means we can cope with peak periods – vital in the weeks before Christmas. It also means you can offer your customers a choice of delivery options at the checkout with various levels of tracking and timedoptions. If you’d like to find out more simply get in touch with your account manager who will be happy to help.
European B2C e-commerce sales increased by more than 14%, reaching €423.8 bn
4 billion+ of parcels were sent in Europe in 2014
60% of the European B2C ecommerce market is accounted for by the UK, Germany and France
(source European B2C E-commerce Report 2015)
(source European B2C E-commerce Report 2015)
€1.27 trillion sales were made online in 2014
70million e-commerce items were handled by Whistl this year
(source European B2C E-commerce Report 2015)
(source Asendia)
4 Whistl Magazine • Winter 2015
Keep on track
THREE GREATWAYS TO KEEP TRACK OF YOUR DELIVERIES INSIGHT Ideal for low value basket items, our 2-3 day Insight service is a part-tracked solution providing visibility across the Whistl network. TRACKED Ideal for both packets and parcels that do not require a signature, this 2-3 day delivery service offers full end-to-end tracking. PREMIUM TRACKED Ideal for more urgent or valuable items, our Premium Tracked service offers next day, next day by noon and Sunday delivery with the option of a signature on delivery. ➜ Build trust with reliable delivery provided by experienced carriers including proof of delivery ➜ Choose from a complete range of integration options that suit your requirements ➜ Keep updated with online tracking via a user-friendly tracking portal ➜ Increase brand loyalty with branded emails that keep your customers notified ➜ Provide great customer service with more choice at the checkout DELIVERING RELIABILITY
Whether it’s speed, economy or a signature on delivery, you can choose froma range of options withWhistl’s tracking solutions. It gives you the flexibility to deliver each item in the most appropriate, cost-effective way whilst providing customers with more choice at the checkout. From low-value large letters to premium time- sensitive next day delivery, our tracking services are available every day of the week and all accessible via our user-friendly tracking portal. To find out more contact your account manager today or visit www.whistl.co.uk
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Whistl Magazine • Winter 2015
Barney Hosey, Managing Director of marketing and technology company Brightsource talks toWhistl magazine editor NatalieWalker about the importance of data-driven customer engagement and digital innovation. bright ideas Fullof
WE USEWHISTL BECAUSE their service is better. We’ve been in the downstream access market for nine years and it’s become clear over that time that Whistl have a focus on people, great service and innovation that feels very aligned to our own.
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CUSTOMER FOCUS
Brightsource describes itself as amarketing service and technology company. What types of projects inspire the Brightsource team?
These challenges will start to lessen as clients embrace technology at a more strategic level, and CTO roles become more established and effective. We see our role as helping clients overcome these transformation barriers, whether that’s by taking on some of the heavy lifting ourselves, or providing the technology to integrate legacy systems. There are also challenges in the approach to measurement – on one hand we see a shift towards customer- centric strategy, whilst on the other there remains a relentless focus on short termROI. The challenge is to find ways tomeasure customer engagement in different ways, and over longer periods of time. Then of course there’s the data regulation area – this is worrying lots of people in the industry but I’m relaxed: if we are serious about moving the bar when its comes tomore customer- centric 1-2-1 marketing, then we shouldn’t be sweating about the change: in the long term it will encourage the industry to do things in the right way.
We’re happiest when we are entrusted with our clients most challenging problems. Often the strategic challenge is tomove fromproduct-centric, to customer-centric 121 marketing. To tackle this, we are often challenged with automating the delivery of direct mail, SMS and email, according to individual customer triggers. For many of our clients this represents a whole change in approach away from generic, channel-siloed campaigns. Ultimately it’s the projects that ignite our – and our clients - desire to keep on learning that are the projects we findmost inspiring.
You’ve been with Brightsource for over 12 years now. What changes inmarketing trends and strategies have you witnessed/embraced during that time?
Cross-channel marketing is a popular approach inmarketing plans right now but it can be a difficult strategy tomaster. How have you approached this?
The way people engage with brands has changed enormously. To help clients adapt we’ve become masters of the technologies that drive 121 engagement. We use a combination of best-in- class platforms fromAdobe and GMC, supported by a specialist in-house development team. Brightsource Labs is our marketing automation team, where we help our clients to connect with their customers in a more relevant and personal way. Things are changing faster than ever – we focus on developing a culture that remains agile and embraces change.
We’ve seen ourselves how efficient use of multiple channels can get results for clients. For Christian Aid, we developed
an automated platform to deliver timely and relevant responses at critical touch-points in the charity/ supporter relationship. Key to the strong results was the blend between email and direct mail – allowing Christian Aid to use each channel to support the other.
Asmasters in print production, what role do you think printed collateral plays in the marketingmix?
At the end of the day ‘the power of the thing’ is something that print has, that can’t be replicated in the digital channel. The question is what does this look like? In terms of data-driven printed communications we’ll continue to see digital printing technology and data insights being levered to create more individualised communications. Alongside this we’ll continue to see a move away from generic direct mail campaigns, towards rolling streams of customer-triggeredmailings, managed in an integrated way alongside e-mail and SMS activity.
What is your vision for Brightsource in the next 12months?
To have developed something new and of strategic significance with every one of our major clients.
As a fellowmarketer youmust have been working late tomeet a tight deadline. Do you have anymemorablemoments of working late on a campaign?
You recently won an award for ‘Best Innovation in Data Marketing’. What do you think are some of the big challenges in data-drivenmarketing right now?
There are quite a few… luckily I’mpart of a very committed teamwho do whatever it takes. Normally we have bowls of fruit for staff to tuck into but when we’re on a late one that goes out the window and the Pizza comes out! The scariest moments are often when you’re working on a print or fulfilment campaign that ties in with a big TV campaign – we’ve had one or two of those that have run very close to the wire.
In 121 marketing, brand promises are often compromised by legacy systems and processes. There’s no quick fix for this. Creating a single customer view often remains a challenge. For clients it’s about marketing, data and IT teams working more holistically.
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Whistl Magazine • Winter 2015
Doordrop Media
WHO’S LOOKING AT YOUR DOORDROPS? For each and every one of our doordrop media clients, we take an intelligent approach using insight and data analytics to pinpoint the most receptive audiences. Here though, we paint a rich broad-brush picture of the typical recipient group.
RETAIL
FMCG
PRATTS BOTTOM
LITTLE SNORING
PITY ME
FINANCE
CHARITY
54% MALE
46% FEMALE
TELECOMS
It’s not just because of where they reach, which is surprisingly wide…
Why are doordrops used by the most successful names…
…but also who can you reach: 26 million people every week
…across the biggest sectors
DISPATCHES
POINTLESS GARDENERS’ WORLD ELEMENTARY THE ONE SHOW
£565 BILLION
GUARDIAN TIMES METRO
The average family income is £63K… and their combined savings and investments total a massive amount
But what’s this audience like? Well they
They visit the cinema at least once a month, and they go to the Opera at least once a year.
… and they regularly read these newspapers.
particularly like these TV shows…
Seem quite affluent? You’d be right in thinking that. Doordrops reach 8 million ABC1 women every week… enough to fill Westfield London 6 times over.
And finally, when all the talk is mobile, it’s good to know that a third of all PayAsYouGo mobile users are exposed to doordrop media.
Waitrose or Lidl is where they do their main weekly shop, but they also order online from Tesco or Sainsburys’…
…and they regularly visit their High Street favourites
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Whistl Magazine • Winter 2015
You’ll be pleased to hear that Whistl is launching a new trial in January 2016 aimed at retailers and businesses that send out cataloguemailings. Instead of restricting our prices on specific weight bands, we’ll be introducing more gradual price increases over 100g so you’ll essentially be able to send out more for less. Currently there is a more significant cost increase from the 0-100g weight band to the next price bracket for 101-250g , but from January 2016 we’ll be trialing gradual price increments per 10g. The trial is available to anyone sending 1400 advertising mail letters and large letters (excluding greenPost mailings) that comply with adMail specifications. The trial runs from January 2016 to March 2017. If you want to find out more or get a quote simply call your account manager. CUT COSTS INOUR NEW CATALOGUE TRIAL
Make themost of Mailmark ® Are youmissing out on the Mailmark price differential that’s set to become 2.5% less than CBC from4 January 2016 and 4% less frommid-2016? Mailmark is Royal Mail’s barcode and optical technology for handling high quality, machine-readable bulk mailings. It replaces the traditional ‘town and crown’ die with a 2D barcode that carries all sorts of useful information for analysing and tracking your mailings. The good news is that Whistl is the first DSA provider recognised as Mailmark enabled by Royal Mail. For you that means it’s really easy to convert as we’ve got all the right systems and processes in place to get you up and running in no time. Plus you get the full support of our specialist team throughout implementation and on an ongoing basis. So if you’re not taking advantage of all the benefits that Mailmark brings and would like to find out more, simply call your account manager today or email moreinfo@whistl.co.uk.
74% OF CUSTOMERS HAVE ORDERED PRODUCTS AFTER SEEING A CATALOGUE AND SPENT MORE*
*Source: printed catalogues in a Digital World, 2013
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Whistl Magazine • Winter 2015
Industry in brief DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY & POSTAL AFFAIRS, CHARLES NEILSON PROVIDES HIS REGULAR ROUND-UP OF INDUSTRY NEWS.
Ofcom issues Statement of Objections to Royal Mail
Ofcom agrees to Royal Mail’s
In January 2014 we submitted a complaint to the postal regulator, Ofcom relating to Royal Mail’s proposed price increases. We said that the proposed changes were unfair because they targeted postal companies that were providing their own end-to-end delivery and imposed higher prices on them. That unfairness amounted to a breach of the postal regulatory rules and also a breach of competition law. Ofcom took up the case, investigated it, gathered evidence and eventually issued the Statement of Objections. The Statement alleges that higher bulk mail delivery prices would act as a strong disincentive against entry into the delivery market. This would increase barriers to expansion for postal operators like Whistl seeking to compete with Royal Mail in this market, leading to a potential distortion of competition against the interests of consumers. In essence the Statement of Objections issued by Ofcom concurs with most of the complaint made by Whistl. However this is just a provisional view. Both Whistl and Royal Mail will give Ofcom further evidence and arguments about the case. We expect Ofcom to make a final decision next year.
request for Boxing Day USO exception
Ofcom to review the regulation of Royal Mail
Ofcom has agreed to Royal Mail’s request that Boxing Day (26 December) should be permanently designated as an exception to the universal service when it falls on a Saturday. In a statement issued on 1 October, Ofcom said: ‘Royal Mail was previously granted an exception (by the previous regulator, Postcomm) when Boxing Day fell on Saturday in 2009. Prior to the Postal Services Act 2000, Royal Mail’s policy (at least since the 1980s) was not to collect and deliver mail when Boxing Day fell on a Saturday. ‘Ofcom issued a consultation on affected if there are no deliveries and collections when 26 December falls on a Saturday. The consultation closed on 10 September 2015 and we received eleven responses. ‘After analysis of these responses we have decided to agree to Royal Mail’s 30 July 2015 to seek views from stakeholders on how they may be
Ofcom has launched a ‘fundamental’ review of regulation governing Royal Mail. The review follows the withdrawal of Whistl, Royal Mail’s only major challenger in the end-to-end mail delivery market, calling for a seismic shift in the way the postal market is regulated. Ofcom has said it will review the situation now that Royal Mail is ‘no longer being subject to national competition’. This will include ‘the company’s ability to set wholesale prices in a way that might harm competition’. Despite the structural decline of post, the continuing rise of e-commerce coupled with the position of the UK as leaders in the European e-commerce market, has raised awareness of the importance of the post and parcel market. The review attracted a wide range of responses from industry bodies and posting customers alike. Thank you to all those who contributed and we look forward to reporting Ofcom’s provisional views next year.
request for an exception in relation to deliveries and collections when 26 December falls on a Saturday.’
10 Whistl Magazine • Winter 2015
Canwe domore for you?
Mail Offering UK
Packets & Parcels National and international delivery services for UK organisations sending packets and parcels, with a range of delivery and tracking options.
Doordrop Media End-to-end management of doordrop campaigns using analytical insights to target the households you most want to reach, helping your media spend go further.
organisations an innovative range of economic and efficient mail delivery services. • Pre-sorted mail • Unsorted mail • International mail • Hybrid mail
• Pre-sorted • Unsorted • International
We hope you enjoy readingWhistl Magazine. If you’d like us to feature anything in particular in future issues, or would like to feature as a case study please get in touch using the following contact details. email whistl.communications@whistl.co.uk write NatalieWalker, Whistl, 1 Globeside Business Park, Fieldhouse Lane, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, SL7 1HY
TO FIND OUT MORE Existing customers contact your account manager New customers call us on 01628 861503 e-mail moreinfo@whistl.co.uk or visit www.whistl.co.uk
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Whistl Magazine • Winter 2015
Returnaddress:Whistl,1GlobesideBusinessPark,Marlow,BucksSL71HY
Guess who’s now got parcels all sorted?
We wanted you to be the first to know about our brand new range of Tracked Services. • Next day, 48 hour and 72 hour services • Part and fully tracked services • B2B and B2C services
Benefits are every bit as good as our market-leading DSA postal services, as we’re handling packets and parcels in a similar way – collecting, sorting and transporting, then managing your items through to our delivery partners. So expect great service and support, as well as potential cost savings. Plus, of course, the convenience of one collection across your post, packets and parcels. Call now to arrange an appointment and find out more.
Call 01628 861503 e-mail moreinfo@whistl.co.uk
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