Direct Mail « veridata

Archive for the ‘Direct Mail’ Category

TNT Post joins forces with DMA to promote green direct mail

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

LONDON – TNT Post and the Direct Marketing Association have signed a letter of understanding pledging commitment to working together to promote environmental best practice within the direct mail sector.

The letter contains a call for the responsible use of direct mail and proposes the implementation of at least two joint initiatives over the next 12 months.

TNT Post claims to have a firm track record of bringing ethical innovations to the market, including its CarbonNeutral mailing service and greenPost product, which will provide a foundation for future projects.

88% of the carbon footprint of a piece of direct mail is in the ‘end of life’ solution.

The projects will be developed by a strategy group formed of TNT Post and members of the DMA’s Mailing Houses Council, and will be aimed at businesses of all sizes.

In line with the PAS 2020 environmental standard, TNT Post and DMA will work together to deliver advice, recommendations and information to help minimise the environmental impact of direct mail.

Gillian Lyall, chair of the DMA’s Mailing Houses Council, said: “The signing of this letter of understanding indicates the DMA and TNT Post’s commitment to both the continued growth of the sector and the environment.

“It sets out a positive framework of how we, and the rest of the industry, can work together to create a more advantageous situation for all organisations operating in the sector.”

Nick Wells, chief executive of TNT Post UK, said: “As a trusted provider of postal and direct mail services and solutions to thousands of organisations large and small, TNT Post is well placed to generate interest amongst businesses and mailing houses.

“This expertise, coupled with the DMA’s market position, underpins the strength of this joint effort.” nam et ipsa scientia potestas est – For Knowledge Itself is Power

by TrueBlueTerrier » Sat Dec 19, 2009 1:31 pm http://www.brandrepublic.com/Discipline … 900409/TNT

Veridata have been committed to providing a GREEN gone away mail data capture service for 14 years and all waste paper generated by our process is confidentially destroyed and recycled.

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'Green Tax', 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

Marketing News Direct mail ‘has had a good 2010′

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

Monday 15th November 2010

Direct marketing has had a good year as companies have turned to its “age old attributes of targeting, respond rates and accountability” to bolster their economic recovery, a commentator has said.

Mail Marketing Week news editor Russell Parsons noted that 2010 has been a year in which the UK economy “crept diffidently but definitely out of recession”, as well as a period when many businesses utilised traditional forms of marketing in order to boost their brand exposure.

“And let us not forget that fantastic tool of engagement, the direct mail pack and how the tactile nature of that medium can help develop lasting relationships in a way that other avenues are not yet quite able,” he added.

Mr Parsons therefore suggested that 2010 could be seen as a year when traditional and new forms of media worked together as complementary, rather than competitive forces within businesses. He was speaking ahead of Marketing Week’s Engage Awards, which take place on May 24th, 2011.

Source: http://directmarketing.thomsonlocal.com/Win/News-Archive/Marketing-News/?storyId=83945

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Catalogues, DMA, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Postal returns, Returned and Undelivered Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

TNT Post joins forces with DMA to promote green direct mail

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

LONDON – TNT Post and the Direct Marketing Association have signed a letter of understanding pledging commitment to working together to promote environmental best practice within the direct mail sector.

The letter contains a call for the responsible use of direct mail and proposes the implementation of at least two joint initiatives over the next 12 months.

The projects will be developed by a strategy group formed of TNT Post and members of the DMA’s Mailing Houses Council, and will be aimed at businesses of all sizes.

In line with the PAS 2020 environmental standard, TNT Post and DMA will work together to deliver advice, recommendations and information to help minimise the environmental impact of direct mail.

“It sets out a positive framework of how we, and the rest of the industry, can work together to create a more advantageous situation for all organisations operating in the sector.”

“This expertise, coupled with the DMA’s market position, underpins the strength of this joint effort.”

This article was first published on Marketing Direct

Nikki Sandison, Marketing Direct, 23 April 2009, 08:00AM

We hope you enjoy using Brand Republic. Please do not hesitate to send any feedback to us at: brandrepublic@mail.haymarketbusinessinteractive.com

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Returned and Undelivered Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

Every tonne of recycled paper saves approximately 17 trees and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

At Veridata as part of our service we recycle all the waste paper generated by the returns from the mail/catalogues that we process. Our service minimizes waste and therefore cost, protects brand image, mitigates fraud and cuts carbon footprint. We process returned mail from anywhere in the UK or Europe.

With 5.4 billion items of direct mail sent out yearly direct marketers have an ideal opportunity to make a major impact because every tonne of recycled paper saves approximately 17 trees and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. The public’s perception is important and organisations such as charities, and companies sending out large amounts of Direct Mail and/or catalogues i.e. the mail order sector should take note that consumers and the media do not like brands that do business while ignoring the environmental impact.

Adopting PAS 2020 best practices makes environmental and economic sense. Furthermore, cost savings can be made through Royal Mail as they offer postal services at a discounted rate to companies that can prove that they are compliant with PAS 2020, this can save up to 4.7 per cent off the standard mail tariff.

Veridata helps to meet corporate social responsibility by processing returned, undelivered and goneway mail, which saves companies considerable amounts of money. Additional huge savings on returned mail handling can be made by using CodEffect 2d barcode call us to find out more on 44 (0)1925 242360

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, Charities, CodEffect 2d bar code, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, Identity Fraud, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail | No Comments »

Direct Mail can reduce carbon emissions

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

The percentage of waste in the UK that goes straight into landfill sites is 60% compared to just 20% in Switzerland, a good proportion of this waste is coming from business.

Direct marketing material estimated to account for approximately 550,000 tonnes of the household waste. Of this, 181,500 tonnes is estimated to be addressed direct mail with the remaining 368,500 tonnes being unaddressed direct marketing material.

At Veridata we process returned and undelivered mail, – i.e. mail sent back with ‘RETURN TO SENDER’ often embellished with more spicy comments! Also mail that is inaccurately addressed, mail refused and mail for which the postman deems no such address exists. All this mail, if it is one our customers, is returned to the PO Box number on the reverse of the envelope and directed by Royal mail to our premises. We open, sort, scan, and return the information to our customers. This saves them mailing to the same people again. It also provides valuable marketing information, which helps to achieve greater focus on campaign performance.

AND it saves considerable amounts of money.

Just as importantly it helps to lower their carbon footprint and meet their corporate social and environmental responsibility, for included in the cost of or service is the safe destruction and recycling of all the waste paper we process. 80% of the carbon footprint of a piece of mail is in the ‘end of life’ i.e. when it’s dumped. So if you are sending out large amounts of mail or catalogues, you should be talking to us because you too could help the planet and save money. Paper has been identified as a material where reduced waste and greater recycling can yield significant environmental benefits.

When it comes to the subject of Climate Change: If you think you are too small to make a difference try sleeping in a room with a mosquito.

Veridata returned mail handling …a Totalpost Services plc company

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'Green Tax', 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, Catalogues, DMA, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail | No Comments »

And none will hear the postman’s knock

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

‘Is there any mail?’ or ‘Was there any mail today?’ is invariably one of the first questions we ask of each other when returning home. On the odd occasion that the reply is in negative I admit that I feel a tinge of resentment. Even a piece of ‘Junk Mail’ is better than nothing.

And none will hear the postman’s knock

Without a quickening of the heart.

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten? W.H. Auden

It’s a curious contradiction that so many people publicly condemn Direct Mail more often referred to as ‘Junk Mail’ and yet as sales medium it is so successful.

On questioning friends and colleagues and even a straw poll in the pub, it seems to me that there are few of us who have not at one time or another bought something in response to a piece of direct mail, I know I have.

Invariably these days on receipt of something that captures my attention I will immediately go on line to check it out and if satisfied with the price make the purchase. The Direct Mail Piece has achieved its purpose, the sale has been made.

Did you know?……

In the retail sector more than £102 billion in sales are attributed to direct marketing
Fewer people trash unsolicited direct mail when compared to email, 31% to 53% respectively
73% of respondents said they prefer receiving new product announcements by mail, versus 18% for email
Direct Mail – UK companies spend £43.3 billion on direct marketing activities every year
Nearly £17 billion is earned by workers employed within the Direct Mail industry
More than 1.1 million UK workers are employed by or are indirectly connected with the direct marketing industry.

At Veridata the cost of our returned and undelivered data capture service includes the secure destruction and recycling of all waste paper generated.

This helps our customers to cut their carbon footprint, mitigates the opportunity for fraud, protects brand image, increases their campaign performance and helps them comply with BSI Standard PAS2020.

It also saves them a shed load of money……

One of the loudest objections voiced against Direct Mail is the amount of waste paper it produces and therefore the perceived damage to the environment. This a concern to the industry and individual brands but cynically I believe only in so much as it affects their brand image. Despite the economic times, consumers and the media are still being tough on brands/government departments that do business while ignoring the environmental impact.

It is a legitimate concern even if the total amount of waste generated is a relatively small percentage because 80% of the carbon footprint for a piece of mail is in this ‘end of life’ solution. Mail/catalogues at one time they were just dumped into landfill. However EU Directives have put a total embargo by 2015 of this waste going into landfill. This has focussed the minds of business as there is a corporate social and environmental responsibility for the ‘end of life’ solution of any large mailings all waste paper generated is now disposed of properly. Or so we are lead to believe.

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, Catalogues, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, Identity Fraud, PAS2020, Postal returns, Returned and Undelivered Mail | No Comments »

Veridata Returned Mail handling is an operating division of Totalpost Services Plc

Monday, October 11th, 2010

Veridata Returned Mail handling is delighted to announce that it has recently become an operating division of Totalpost Services Plc (Totalpost). The formation of this alliance is a natural progression for Veridata, enabling the company to develop its returned and “gone away” mail data capture services for all current and future contracts. David Hymers, Chief Executive of Totalpost Services Plc, said “this is a very exciting growth area for both Veridata and ourselves in this business structure, and will offer new services to our existing clients and new businesses, and also help to develop the services of Veridata’s existing clients who may well benefit from the other mailroom services and contracts that we already offer”.

Veridata has closed its facility in Chester and will now operate from the highly secure Warrington facility of Totalpost where it will continue to provide its closed loop solution for returned and undelivered mail under the group ownership of Totalpost. Its commitment to the environment remains as constant as always with the continued secure and safe destruction of all waste paper, which is recycled and contributes to cutting the carbon footprint of Veridata’s clients. Returned, unwanted and undelivered mail produces vast amounts of waste paper and 80% of the carbon footprint for direct mail pieces lies in the ‘end of life’ solution.

Veridata have been setting the standards in returned mail management since 1996, and in conjunction with Totalpost Services Plc will continue to develop bespoke solutions for its proven, specialist, automated and quick turn around service for processing this sort of mail from anywhere in the UK.

With recent changes in the World of direct mail, increasing attention is being focussed on returned and gone-away mail and its impact on the environment. For companies that send out large quantities of mail there is a ‘producer responsibility’ for the ‘end of life’ solution for their undelivered and

returned mail and Corporate social responsibility. The Veridata division of Totalpost Services has the complete solution.

End.

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, CodEffect 2d bar code, DMA, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Sustainable Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

Are Direct Mail Businesses Thinking About Green Issues Enough?

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Veridata is trying to educate the Direct Mail industry about the benefits of processing their returned and undelivered mail. For 14 years we have been processing the the returns to MBNA who enlightened and well a head of their time have been ensuring that their returns have been and are handled responsibly.

Too many companies that send out large quantities of mail/catalogues do not address this issue of corporate social producer responsibility for the ‘end of life’ solution for their undelivered and returned mail.

A contributor to CO2 waste in the UK is, Returned, unwanted and undelivered mail its produces vast amounts of waste paper and 80% of the carbon footprint for a piece of mail is in the ‘end of life’ solution. The DMA’s BSI Standard PAS2020, the Royal Mail’s Sustainable Mail, TNT’s Greenpost and the new EU directives on landfill are going some way to address the issue of ‘producer responsibility’ that all waste paper generated is disposed of acceptably.

Veridata provides a specialist and automated quick turn around service for processing Returned and Undelivered Mail.

It saves money not mailing the same customers again, helps mitigate the opportunities for identity fraud and it is friendly to the environment as all waste is recycled thus reducing carbon footprint.

See article by

Are British Businesses Thinking About Green Issues Enough?

Written by Ben Thornhill

Friday, 16 July 2010 13:27

http://www.tchc.net/blog/38-business-operations/226-are-british-businesses-thinking-enough-about-green-issues

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'Green Tax', 'gone aways', Banking, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, DMA, Direct Mail, Identity Fraud, PAS2020, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail, Sustainable Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

David Miliband MP, has said that 550 000 tonnes of ‘junk mail’ sent each year is “unacceptable for the environment,”

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

The annual value of direct mail expenditure to the UK economy is £8.6bn and the value of sales generated is £17bn1. Each household receives just over three pieces of direct mail every week; 67% of that mail is opened.

However David Miliband MP, has said that 550 000 tonnes of ‘junk mail’ sent each year is “unacceptable for the environment,” and with the EU land-fill directives coming in to force the need to responsibly process any undelivered mail is now more pressing.

It has long been recognized that the carbon footprint of a Direct Mail piece indicates that 80% of CO2* exposure is at the ‘end-of-life’ stage. Responsible Direct Mailers can help to reduce this by having their returns processed by Veridata. Recycling paper waste has a lower environmental impact than either land-filling or incineration.

Veridata was set up in 1996 to handle and process the returned direct mail of one of the largest credit card issuers in the Europe. We currently provide this service to a variety of mailing companies and the recycle all the waste thus reducing carbon footprint.

* Figures are 1.65 tonnes CO2 per tonne of 100% recycled paper and 2.1 tonnes for virgin paper. These figures include emissions from manufacture, distribution, print process and disposal.

When it comes to having an impact on making a contribution to reduce global warming…………. ‘If you think that you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a room with a mosquito.’

Recycling Direct Mail – some facts from DMA UK & Royal Mail

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

A report, released by the DMA (UK) and Royal Mail, revealed that 76.5 per cent of direct marketing material is now recycled – well ahead of the 2009 target of 55 per cent and beating the 2013 target of 70 per cent.

Increased targeting and industry initiatives, combined with growing household recycling levels and increased subscription to the Mailing Preference Service (MPS), have resulted in an overall reduction of 348,600 tonnes of direct marketing material being distributed between the signing of the voluntary agreement in 2003 and the end of 2009.

The amount of direct mail entering landfill has fallen by 79 per cent since 2003, with some 382,698 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions saved by increased recycling activity in 2009 alone – the equivalent of one billion miles driven in a petrol car.

This increase in the levels of recycled direct marketing material also reflects a significant behavioural change over recent years, with levels of domestic recycling across all household waste more than trebling during the past decade. Direct marketing material now accounts for just 0.4 per cent of all non-recycled household waste and Confederation of Paper Industries data suggests that the current levels of recycling for direct mail material outperforms general paper recycling.

Since Defra introduced the recycling targets in 2003, the DMA and Royal Mail have supported a number of industry initiatives to support a wider industry drive towards sustainability, including:

PAS2020 – guidelines introduced in spring 2009 to gauge the environmental impact of direct marketing activity
Sustainable® Mail – a Royal Mail service that rewards better-targeted, sustainably produced and easy to recycle direct mail campaigns with lower prices
Expansion of DMA best practice guidelines to tackle environmental impact, and the introduction of a reduced-cost BSI ISO 14001 certification.

Robert Keitch*, chief of membership and brand at the DMA, said: “The huge volume of direct mail now being recycled is not merely mail that travels straight from doormat to recycling bin. Every year, direct mail generates £16 billion in sales for UK plc. Hitting the Government’s recycling targets shows we can do so without hitting companies’ bottom lines.”

Matthew Neilson, Head of Environmental Solutions, Royal Mail, commented: “The direct marketing industry has made a significant effort to reduce its impact on the environment, and the introduction of initiatives such as the DMA’s PAS2020 and Royal Mail’s Sustainable® Mail product have been instrumental in helping the sector to achieve this recycling goal. However, there is much more that can be done to ensure direct marketers are communicating in as sustainable a fashion as possible.”

The targets apply to posted direct marketing material in England, covering addressed items such as direct mail and unaddressed items including leaflets and inserts.

The report is available to download from 1 April at: www.dma.org.uk/recyclingtargets

* Robert Keitch left the DMA earlier this year

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail | No Comments »

Archive for the ‘Direct Mail’ Category

TNT Post joins forces with DMA to promote green direct mail

LONDON – TNT Post and the Direct Marketing Association have signed a letter of understanding pledging commitment to working together to promote environmental best practice within the direct mail sector.

Marketing News Direct mail ‘has had a good 2010′

TNT Post joins forces with DMA to promote green direct mail

Every tonne of recycled paper saves approximately 17 trees and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space

Direct Mail can reduce carbon emissions

And none will hear the postman’s knock

Veridata Returned Mail handling is an operating division of Totalpost Services Plc

Are Direct Mail Businesses Thinking About Green Issues Enough?

David Miliband MP, has said that 550 000 tonnes of ‘junk mail’ sent each year is “unacceptable for the environment,”

Recycling Direct Mail – some facts from DMA UK & Royal Mail

Archives

Categories