VIA Data & Marketing Services has
moved to new 65,000 square-foot facilities
in Somerset, New Jersey, increasing
its distribution capacity in support of
VIAOnlineTM — the proprietary online
inventory and ordering system that daily
receives and processes orders for sales,
marketing and other business information
from as many as four continents.
VIA continues to develop sophisticated
database programs in support of its
direct mail and specialty assembly services.
VIA can now seamlessly integrate
customized digital printing with its fulfillment
and direct mail operations through
its strategic partners.
By Michael Josefowicz, Josefowicz Associates LLC
At the height of the telecom boom, cable companies rushed to lay fiber optics, acquiring billions of dollars of debt in the process. Laying cable across oceans and cities was cheap. The real expense arose in the complications of connecting to the end-user — the Last Mile.
An analogous situation exists today in the
world of hard-copy communications. The
strengths and weaknesses of the internet
are understood. It is, for example, unparalleled
at giving access to information and
creating virtual communities.
Interestingly, this virtual world creates a
need for customized images and information
in a tangible and portable form. In
addressing this need, digital printing has
ushered in a new paradigm for the printing
and marketing industry as marketing
managers grow increasingly aware of the
power of digital print to provide this
customization.
Now marketers face the same technical
hurdle as did the early cable companies
— the Last Mile. The most creative campaign,
the most ingenious package, means
nothing without traveling flawlessly to
its destination. In fact, flawed results are
worse than nothing. Customized information
delivered correctly illustrates that
the marketer understands the consumer.
Customized information delivered incorrectly
reveals the opposite — that the
marketer has merely pretended to know
the customer.
The Last Mile is the hardest. It requires
accurate data and flawless execution of
the final mailing and fulfillment.
Consider the Last Mile with care.
The Mail Moment
In a recent article in the New York Times, James Fallows discussed
the impact of the internet on post office volume.
After noting many of the reasons why mail
volume has actually doubled since the 1970s
– internet companies like eBay drive tremendous
volumes of mail through the system – he notes a
concept known at the Postal Service as “The Mail Moment.”
“Two-thirds of all consumers,” concluded a Postal Service survey,
“do not expect to receive personal mail, but when they
do, it makes their day. The ‘hope’ keeps them coming back each
day.” According to this survey, 55% of Americans say they look
forward to discovering what each day’s mail might bring.
The challenge to marketers is clear: send mail that is truly customized
and you will create a magic moment for a human being
and bring that person back every day for more.
The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea
by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge
“Like all groundbreaking works, The Company fills a hole we never knew was there,
showing us why it’s impossible to understand the history of the past four hundred
years without placing the humble joint-stock company at the center of the picture.
Doing so, the authors reveal the company to be one of the great catalysts of world
history, a mighty engine for gathering in and pumping out money, goods, people, and
culture to every corner of the globe, for good and for ill. It is a creature that exists
independently of mortal ownership, with the power to grow to any size and live to
any age...” Publisher’s Comments.