Royal Mail Matters - A Smart Idea

[johnnyp]

http://www.hellmail.co.uk/postalnews/te ... 4&zoneid=3







05 September 2008 by Mark White - © Hellmail.co.uk




The newly launched Royal Mail / Artomatic "Matter Box" is one of the funkiest, progressive ideas I've come across. For all our fascination with a virtual world, theres nothing quite like the real thing and with advertisers switching to online advertising, they're actually missing something important here.

In more recent years Royal Mail has been trying to persuade even domestic customers that a hand-written letter is worth far more than any amount of emails, no matter how many funky icons we attach to them and of course they're right. We've just become lazy. We do tend to keep letters though. My Aunt Mabel, long since passed on, used to write letters in the same way she talked, a rather easy-going conversational style and those letters have become treasured items in our family. Mabel was no academic but there was something 'real' about the way she put pen to paper that is thoroughly entertaining, plus theres always the fact that the letter is something she once held.

I'm no marketing expert but I do understand branding.

As a child I wrote to the BBC as I was a big fan of Saturday morning childrens series called Zokko. It has long since been forgotten but the reason I remember it was because the BBC returned my letter with a postcard sized picture of the Zokko character. It had everything, it was colourful and it smelt different too, perhaps the ink they used, but no matter how simple it was, I was so thrilled with it. It was something you could hold and as a child, things like that matter.

Years later I attended a large conference when Radio 5 was just starting out and was given a freebie in the form of a tiny radio tuned exclusively to the station. I have long since lost the earphones but I refuse to throw it away and every time Radio 5 is mentioned, I am reminded of that radio and conversely each time it is unearthed from a drawer in my desk, I am reminded of Radio 5.

The 'Matter Box" runs along similar lines. Its a free box of goodies containing branded items. None of them are particularly expensive, but everything about the 'Matter Box' is so funky, you'd be hard pushed to throw it away - ever. Its beautifully designed and as a marketing tool, you'd be hard-pressed to improve on it's effectiveness. Even Television, powerful as it is, is no match for an object you can see, smell and touch.

Matter is a collaboration between Artomatic and Royal Mail. Artomatic say:

"Matter works a little like a magazine by creating specific boxes for different audiences, except each bit of 'content' is in fact a different object each created by a different company. Matter works with each company to create items you'll enjoy getting, which might be something that explains what the company does, its ideas or its values, or simply something to try out.

Matter is a refreshing interlude to the fast-moving blur of modern media. It's stuff you can read, play with, or try at your leisure. But because Matter is carefully created it's also a thoroughly modern concept–it's advertising you'll want to keep."

I honestly think this is a great idea and I've drawn out my own experiences of the power of physical objects to illustrate just how potent this kind of advertising can be.

Well done Royal Mail and Artomatic for such a brilliant idea. Hellmail wishes it every success!

© Hellmail.co.uk - Postal Industry News

[k979aaa]

Well what can one say Adam :cfo himself lives in a virtual world and instead of smelling of roses their is a heady air of BULLS*IT and a FISHY SMELL about 148 old street london these days!.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/articl ... nture.html

DAILY MAIL HAS PICKED UP ON THE STORY AS WELL.

Junk mail to be sent by the boxload in new Royal Mail venture

First it was junk mail, then there was smelly mail and now, in a desperate attempt to boost sales, Royal Mail plans to send junk parcels.

Instead of a gentle plop through the letterbox there will be loud thuds as packages weighing more than one pound, specially designed to fit through standard letterboxes, crash to the floor.

Inside the package will be at least 14 items ranging from badge pins to calendars, sweatbands, shampoo and crayons, with an alleged value of up to £20. Trial boxes have also contained invitations to free vodka drinking sessions.

The box’s contents are designed by marketeers to highlight brands by putting them directly into the hands of consumers.

Over the next 12 months Royal Mail plans to use its 100,000-strong army of postmen and women to deliver more than half a million free parcels to households.

But unlike most junk mail, recipients will be invited to sign up for their promotion boxes – called Matter. Though Royal Mail will promote the boxes, it is relying on ‘word of mouth’ marketing too.

Earlier this year it tested the scheme on 1,000 men. Marketing executives were astonished to be bombarded by 30,000 potential customers demanding freebies.


Royal Mail said: ‘We discovered the Matter box had become a desired item and the subject of blogs and websites, as well as featuring on YouTube.

‘The vodka invitation item was so popular, we had to withdraw it from the offer.’
Royal Mail makes money by selling space in the box. With the volume of mail falling fast, the company is working overtime to boost revenue.

Recently, Royal Mail sent targeted customers noisy and smelly letters. The contents fizzed to advertise carbonated soft drinks or carried the smell of the promoted item.

Tim Milne, head of Matter Media, which is working with Royal Mail on the giveaways, said: ‘There are no rules about what goes into the box – only that recipients value the contents enough to keep them, or give them to a friend or family member.

They have a picture as well - stills looks bigger than letter boxes on my round.

Matter Mail.jpg

[Stormproof]

Here's the link to the matterbox website http://www.matterbox.co.uk/

Matter comes to your door on a Saturday morning

[theflyingpostman]

They have a picture as well - stills looks bigger than letter boxes on my round.

More stuff to "739" then?

[BELIAL]

I think the marketing men have missed a trick. Surely a golden opportunity to double their sales would have been to offer a rival service for direct competitors of "matter" customers,could be called " Anti-matter". Put both in a pouch and all packets instantly vanish and reappear in Switzerland.

[k979aaa]

I think the marketing men have missed a trick. Surely a golden opportunity to double their sales would have been to offer a rival service for direct competitors of "matter" customers,could be called " Anti-matter". Put both in a pouch and all packets instantly vanish and reappear in Switzerland.

I think the problem would be getting the anti-matter out of adam crozier :cfo head!.

[BELIAL]

Thought that was a black hole, put what you like in nothing useful at all ever comes out

[POSTMAN]

I registered,hey might as well.
Mind you if EVERY postie and everyone else we know does it think of the revenue!

[NWpostie]

I registered,hey might as well.
Mind you if EVERY postie and everyone else we know does it think of the revenue!

may even got some useful goodies at the same time

[baldrick]

I registered,hey might as well.
Mind you if EVERY postie and everyone else we know does it think of the revenue!

Me too even of you don't get the free vodka tasting now
still maybe it will save the Saturday delivery
I got yet another 6 free lightbulbs yesterday - from Royal Mail.
As they are supposed to last 10 years I've now got enough energy saving bulbs
(from Eon, EDF, British Gas, and RM) to last for the next 50 years - hope I live
that long.

[NWpostie]

looked up on youtube and flickr as well as matterbox forums, it seemed to be a hit and very popular, wish I had signed up earlier, I wanted that vodka lapel badge.
can't wait til the next one gets sent out.

[F0zziebear]

Am I right in thinking that you "posties" are not completely adverse to this idea. What about the weight on your round? I thought this might have been mentioned by now. Maybe it isn't a problem? And maybe you're right that it could save Saturday deliveries. Hoaving siad that no posties I ever met seemed to relish saturday deliveries. Food for thought

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Am I right in thinking that you "posties" are not completely adverse to this idea. What about the weight on your round? I thought this might have been mentioned by now. Maybe it isn't a problem? And maybe you're right that it could save Saturday deliveries. Hoaving siad that no posties I ever met seemed to relish saturday deliveries. Food for thought

The weight should not be a problem as you have the weight limit to adhere to. This will be better than the bulbs because people have to opt into it and they will be expecting it on a particular day so the chances of carrying it round after FLing it is fairly remote.

Today I took 2 bulbs per bag (5 bags) at the end of the duty I had to walk to a PO and pouch off 9 light bulbs - yes I only got rid of one. Thats the main bone of contention with these unsolicited and unexpected (by the receiver) low energy bulbs. It must be costing RM a fortune in the re-deliveries, storage of FL ones, and RTS, also the overtime thats now being put into getting rid of the back log.

Its crazy I tell ya, crazy.

Oh I now treat Saturday as a normal day just that I have 1 hr less to complete.

[theflyingpostman]

In contrast to the light bulb promotion, you can say where you would like the box left if it can't fit through the letterbox.