Basics of Mailpiece Design & Customized MarketMail!

Transcription

1 Basics of Mailpiece Design & Customized MarketMail! United States Postal Service First, I would like to go over basic size dimensions of postcard and letter size mailpieces. Since these are the most commonly used, I think it important to understand how size can effect the rate the customer will or can be paying per piece. Knowing how your customer plans on mailing their piece will help you to decide how to design the piece. Postcards and letters are usually less expensive to mail than flat size pieces. Below are the minimum and maximum size dimensions for postcard and letter size pieces: 1 ST CLASS POSTCARDS Minimum size 3.5 x 5 Maximum size 4.25 x 6 Orientation of the address determines length; Length is the side parallel with the address. Thickness:.007" min " max. Letter size pieces (First or Standard) Minimum 3.5 x 5 Maximum x 11.5 Orientation of the address determines length; Length is the side parallel with the address. Thickness:.009" min. -.25" max. Letter size pieces less than 1oz on First-class mail and less than 3.3 oz on standard mail must meet the aspect ratio! If they don t your customer will be charged a surcharge. This is where the Letter Mail Machinability Standard Template comes in Handy!... Aka the Grey & WHITE Template. (NOTICE 3-A) Length Divided by Height = 1.3 to 2.5 June of 2002, the Postal Service added a nonmachinable surcharge to pieces meeting any of the following criteria: 1. Has an aspect ratio (length divided by height) of less than 1.3 or more than Is poly bagged, poly wrapped, or enclosed in any plastic material. 3. Has clasps, strings, buttons, or similar closure devices.(staples are exempt) 4. Contains items such as pens, pencils, loose keys or coins that cause the thickness of the mailpiece to be uneven. Prepared for the 2006 BFMA Conference by Donna Cody-Walsh 1

2 5. Is too rigid (does not bend easily when subjected to a transport belt tension of 40 pounds around an 11- inch diameter turn). 6. For pieces more than 4.25 high or 6 inches long, the thickness is less than.009 inch. 7. Has a delivery address parallel to the shorter dimension of the mailpiece. 8. Self-mailers with a folded edge perpendicular to the address if the piece is not folded and secured according to C Booklet-type pieces with the bound edge (spine) along the shorter dimension of the piece or at the top, regardless of the use of tabs, wafer seals, or other fasteners. Notice 67 should be used with pub 25 (designing letter mail). The following information is covered on this template: (Yellow and clear, September 2000) Max and Min character height, spacing and stroke thickness. Spacing between lines. Facing Identification Mark (FIM) location, different FIM s, and pitch guide. Min Vertical and Horizontal Spacing required between address block barcode and other printing, window or label edges. Delivery address and window clearances. Optical Read area (OCR) (our equipment reads in this area) Location of delivery address. Barcode clear zone. Min and max size dimensions for postcard rate and letter rate. POSTNET decoder. Location of return address Return Address TOP TOP TOP LEFT CORNER 2 3/4" OCR READ AREA ADDRESS IN THIS AREA 5/8" 4 3/4" 1/2" All Templates available to public! Prepared for the 2006 BFMA Conference by Donna Cody-Walsh 2

3 Customized Marketmail (CMM) The shape of things to come! Unleash your creativity and Stand Out in the Mailbox! What is Customized MarketMail? Customized MarketMail service is a new Standard mail option that allows you to test your creativity and send a truly dimensional mail piece of any shape or design. You can empower your marketing message and reach your customers with unique formats that demonstrate your product and encourage responses. It is designed to be used in place of rectangular pieces. You can experiment with unique, non-rectangular shapes such as circular, oblong, triangular, square. Customized Market mail may include die-cuts, voids or holes. Dazzle your customers with never-before-seen Direct Mail creativity and help establish a strong brand identity. You can shape your piece to immediately demonstrate your product or service, for example cars, shoes, computers or pizza. Customized MarketMail pieces mail be constructed of virtually any material, including paper, cardstock, cardboard, foam, rubber, plastic, etc. However pieces may not contain sharp edges that could harm our employees or customers and must be sufficiently flexible to be inserted into smaller Post office TM boxes and mailboxes. Who can benefit from Customized MarketMail? Virtually anyone that currently uses direct mail to advertise or anyone that currently has an advertising budget. Prepared for the 2006 BFMA Conference by Donna Cody-Walsh 3

4 Regulations are as follows for Customized MarketMail! Mailing must contain a minimum of 200 pieces. Can weigh no more than 3.3 oz. Length is determined by drawing a straight line between the two outer points most distant from each other Length must be between 5 and 15 inches. Height is determined by drawing perpendicular lines to the points that are the greatest distance above and below the axis of length. The sum of these two lines determines the height. Height must be between 3.5 and 12. Minimum thickness is.007 inch thick. Maximum thickness is ¾ inch thick. It is important that you address each Customized Marketmail piece using either the exceptional address for ( or current resident ) or maintain an updated customer file with current, complete mailing addresses, undeliverable pieces will be disposed of. Ancillary endorsements are not allowed. Per piece postage(rate includes residual shape surcharge) o Regular $0.574 Nonprofit $0.460 Destination entry discounts and additional presort discounts are not available. Must be dropped at DDU s (destination delivery unit) or priority or express drop shipped. Must have carrier endorsement printed on each piece. o (Carrier, leave if no response) Remember, the more unique the mail piece, the more likely consumers are to retain and share it with friends and family, thereby extending the life of your message. Testimonial: Krispy Kreme Doughnut Company sent out a 10,000 piece customized market mail in the Los Angles area and received an 11% response rate. On August 10th, 2003, Great Circle Family Foods, a Krispy Kreme Doughnut Company franchisee in the Los Angeles area, conducted a 10,000 piece Customized MarketMail test mailing in Orange County, CA. The test mailing achieved an 11% response rate. The pieces were sent to prospective customers living within 3 miles of 3 Krispy Kreme retail outlets. The front of the Krispy Kreme Customized MarketMail mail piece consisted of a replica of a dozen of the company's famous Original Glazed doughnuts, while the back of the mail piece contained a special "Give us ten. Prepared for the 2006 BFMA Conference by Donna Cody-Walsh 4

5 We'll Give You Twelve" offer, which provided customers with a second dozen Original Glazed doughnuts for 10 cents at designated Krispy Kreme retail outlets. The mailing achieved significantly higher response and coupon redemption rates than Great Circle Family Foods has achieved in the past. "When we send a typical direct mail piece to an unsolicited party, we generally get a response rate of 2 to 3 percent," said Lisa Ducore, Vice President of Marketing for Great Circle Family Foods. "For a mailing to prospective Krispy Kreme customers, this was an extremely successful campaign. The unique look and shape of this mailing definitely caught the attention of prospective customers." According to Great Circle Family Foods Marketing Manager Amy Inabinet, "This was a fun, new offer that we hadn't done before. We believe that the irregular shape of the Krispy Kreme Customized MarketMail direct mail piece, coupled with the high quality image of our Original Glazed doughnuts, made for very excited customers and employees, and led to the very high response rates that we witnessed with this test mailing." Please visit our web page HWWW.USPS.com for additional information. On the web page, you can find information regarding size, rates, location and numbers of Mailpiece Design Analysts all across the nation and any other information you can possible need! Prepared for the 2006 BFMA Conference by Donna Cody-Walsh 5