Main News Desk

Marketing campaigns ‘cost twice as much’ during postal strikes

~ Acxiom warns of long-term impact on marketers during Christmas period ~

October 22, 2009

Marketing campaigns will cost twice as much to execute during the fall-out from the postal strikes, according to marketing services company Acxiom. Nick Martin, UK managing director at Acxiom, believes the delays caused by the strike could turn customers away from brands, as out of date offers received through the post have a negative impact.

Based on Acxiom’s own experiences and that of its customers, the marketing services firm is warning businesses that postal campaigns will only deliver 50 per cent of the return on investment that they normally would – so campaigns will effectively cost twice as much

Acxiom is advising businesses to contact customers and prospects via email and telephone in a highly targeted and cost-efficient way, often in advance of DM going out, and to integrate use of channels based on a detailed view of consumers (insight), matching investment with response models.

Executive quote

“The timing of this strike couldn’t be worse – just as businesses are getting Christmas DM campaigns going,” said Martin. “Firms can switch to another supplier or courier, but that’ll only make a difference for parcels. Even if deliveries are handled by other firms, in 99 per cent of cases Royal Mail still delivers to people’s letterboxes in the ‘last mile’.”

Martin believes it is crucial that businesses scale investment in marketing channels with clear financial objectives to maximise success during the period when postal strikes cause uncertainty, he continued: “There’s no need to abandon postal campaigns completely in the run-up to Christmas – many people still have a clear preference to receive mail, even if they respond online or by telephone. In a nutshell, the postal strike provides an opportunity to dry run intelligently integrated campaigns and experience the ROI insight-driven marketing delivers. After all, it’s the future shape of marketing campaigns.”

About the company

About Acxiom
The global leader in interactive marketing services, Acxiom connects clients with their customers through deep consumer insight, powering effective and profitable marketing initiatives and business decisions. Our consultative approach spans multiple industries and incorporates decades of experience in consumer data and analytics, information technology, data integration and consulting solutions for effective marketing across digital, Internet, email, mobile and direct mail channels. Founded in 1969, Acxiom is headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., and serves clients around the world from locations in the United States, Europe and the Asia-Pacific. For more information about Acxiom, visit www.acxiom.com .

Contact details

For more information please contact the team at LEWIS PR:
Ellen Spenceley or Lisa Gillingham
Tel: +44 (0) 117 315 8584
Email: acxiom@lewispr.com

Technorati tags: Acxiom | marketing | privacy | ICO |

Bookmarklets:

Recent Press Releases

2010 Archive

2009 Archive

2008 Archive

2007 Archive

Jump to:

Main News Desk

Marketing campaigns ‘cost twice as much’ during postal strikes

Executive quote

About the company

Contact details