• 34 per cent of businesses to consumer marketers consider direct mail to
provide the best return on investment, making it the best method of
marketing in their view.
The envelope must be seen as a viable and modern product in today’s media mix
that ensures the message is securely and attractively transmitted in a personal
way to the recipient. And apparently it is. According to a Nielsen survey, even
young people prefer the envelope to e-mail as they complain about an overload
in their digital inboxes.
Despite our challenges in South Africa, the South African Post Office has, over
the past five years, provided over 5 million citizens with new postal addresses
effectively offering a reach to South Africans unsurpassed by any other
media type.
Postal services around the world are reinventing themselves and there are many
success stories. Perhaps a quote from Dirk Oosterlinck of Belgian Post, one of the
most successful Posts sums it up, ‘by putting the consumer at the heart of what
we do, and by closing agreements with the receiver rather than the sender, a
whole new area of potential services is opening up.’
As an organisation with the largest retail network in South Africa, the Post Office
has so much potential to add value to consumers, not only just with mail delivery
but also with so many other services.
We offer the South African Post Office all of our support as it reinvents itself, as
it must do, to become a service provider of choice. We hope those in the paper
communications and parcel delivery value chains do the same.
Consumer choice
The Keep Me Posted Campaign, inspired by Chair Judith Donovan CBE in the
United Kingdom, seeks to ensure that consumers retain the choice as to how
their service providers communicated with them. ‘It appears that in their drive
for greater efficiency and cost savings, many businesses have forgotten to
consult customers about their ability and willingness to switch to online,
and the implications of taking choice away.’
In partnership with charities, consumer and business groups, the Keep Me
Posted Campaign commissioned a research project with Opinium Research
to look at the following;
• Consumer attitudes towards communications choice.
• How lack of choice affects all consumers.
• The consequences of lack of choice.
• Consumer vulnerability and the digital divide.
• The current choices available for consumers.
• How existing regulation does not protect consumer choice.
• What steps must be taken to protect consumer choice.
Does a research project of this sort, commissioned in the UK with cheaper access
to broadband internet for its population have relevance here in South Africa?
‘We believe so,’ said Joubert, ‘South African consumers, many of whom do not
have any internet connection at all, may be even more compromised than their
British counterparts.’
Summaries of the Opinium findings make interesting reading.
Consumer attitudes
√
Eighty one percent of consumers polled felt it important to have choice in how
they access financial information and statements from their service providers.
√
Eighty four percent agree that they do not like it when service providers take
their choice away.
√
Fifteen percent said that they would move their business elsewhere and 50
percent would consider doing so if companies took their choice away.
√
Most consumers like a combination of both paper and online. Seventy six
percent agreed that their preference is to have online access for quick
checking, but to also have their statements sent in the post for thorough
reading when they have more time.
How this affects all consumers
√
Forty four percent believed that their financial records would be incomplete if
they had no access to paper statements.
√
Forty one percent were worried that they may miss a payment.
√
More than half (56 percent) agreed that they would be more likely to read a
paper statement and half also agree that they would more likely take action
from a paper statement.
The consequences of lack of choice
Despite the importance of transactional mail, there remain long-term implications
for taking away the options of printed communications.
√
Many consumers print on-line communications either at home or at their
places of work at a greater financial and environmental cost
√
Government, Passport and Financial Intelligence Centres often require original
financial documents for verification procedures. Those then needing to secure
an official copy of an online statement may be charged a fee.
√
Not all online systems offer access to statements beyond a certain timeline.
√
Consumers often have to opt back into paper based communication when
advised that their service providers will no longer provide these. This is often
at a cost.
The consumer and the Digital Divide
Even in the UK, there is a significant group of consumers who do not, or choose
not to, have access to online communications.
√
Preference for paper/postal transactional mail increases significantly with age.
√
More than half (54 percent) of people living in rural areas prefer paper
statements.
√
Low income groups or unemployed citizens are in particular danger of being
left behind. In the UK half of the people without access to the internet are
in the lowest socio-economic groups.
Current consumer choices in the UK
The opinium research of a sample of financial service providers, utility and media
companies found that, while a range of methods for sending transactional mail is
available, upfront choice for the consumer is limited.
It also found that, these three industry sectors have a ‘default’ method of sending
transactional mail and it is not always easy for the consumer to make a change
and that often these changes are not free of conditions or additional cost.
Research summary
The research is clear, often when decisions are made about customer
communications, the business case is favoured above consumer rights
and preferences.
Keep Me Posted maintains ‘it is every consumers right to choose, without
penalty, how they are contacted by banks, utilities and other service providers. It
is our aim to protect consumers from any form of social or financial disadvantage
arising from the withdrawal of paper correspondence.’
We wonder how South African consumers, especially those marginalised
communities, feel about the obvious lack of choice creeping into the way
service providers communicate?
About Merpak Envelopes
Merpak is a specialist manufacturer and printer of fine envelopes.
With digital print for short-run direct mail teaser campaigns to high-speed web
machines manufacturing envelopes specifically designed to operate efficiently in
high speed mail rooms, Merpak will have a solution for all of your mailing needs.
Use paper, use envelopes, use Merpak
Nex Media •
Vol 2 Issue 3
27
