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Postal News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2002
Contact: (202) 268-2155
Release No. 02-046
U.S. Postal Service Retail Campaign Puts Small Business Owners In National Spotlight
WASHINGTON, DC - With more than 20 million small firms and 500,000 new start-ups each year, small businesses play a critical role in the American economy.* Looking to target this ever-important market segment, the U.S. Postal Service's latest in-store advertising campaign, "Real People. Real Success," works with successful small business owners to let them tell their own success stories.
"The stories conveyed by the small business owners in the ads give other business owners concrete examples of how postal services can help them make their businesses thrive," said Anita Bizzotto, senior vice-president and Chief Marketing Officer of the U.S. Postal Service.
The first phase of the campaign, which begins June 15 and runs through August 9, spotlights business owners from various fields of work including an interior designer, a diamond wholesaler and the president of an executive search firm. In the ads, which will be displayed in Post Offices across the country, business owners are featured with a Postal Service product/service that has best served their business' success.
A second phase of the campaign, which runs from August 10 to October 18, will feature a contest in which small business owners share their stories of how a Postal Service product or service has helped their business. Contest winners will be featured in "Real People. Real Success" in-store advertising campaigns during 2003.
"The 'Real People. Real Success' campaign is an example of the Postal Service's renewed retail focus, to provide services when and where people need them, as outlined in the recently unveiled Postal Service Transformation Plan," said Bizzotto. "The Postal Service has a full range of products and services that meet small business owners' needs in targeting and attracting new customers, and we are looking at ways to increase their access to these services."
Products and services that meet small business owners' needs in targeting and attracting new customers, shipping customer orders and building customer loyalty can be found at Post Offices or on the Postal Service's Web site - www.usps.com. The Web site serves as a single, convenient resource to help small business owners build and maintain a healthy business.
Services offered through the Small Business Tools page include:
Direct Mail - An online resource to help business owners create a direct mail campaign that delivers a targeted message right to the front door of a prospective customer. The Direct Mail page provides the following for the small business owner:
- Resources: The Postal Service offers Web links to a host of mailing services including everything from list brokers to designers to printers.
- Templates: Small business owners can download sample templates of brochures, envelopes, letters and other print items directly to their computers in either QuarkXPress® or Microsoft® Word to use in designing their own direct mail materials.
- Direct Mail Guide: This useful guide has all the information owners will need to plan and execute their own direct mail campaign. Small business owners can download the guide in Adobe Acrobat format to use as a convenient reference.
NetPost™ CardStore - Small business owners can create customized advertising or personalized cards online in minutes - then sit back while the Postal Service prints and mails them the next business day. A wide selection of designs, fonts, colors and even stamps are available online to choose from. Business owners can incorporate their own photo, logo or artwork for a completely customized card.
Since 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. It is an independent federal agency that visits 137 million homes and businesses every day and is the only service provider to deliver to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of more than $65 billion, it is the world' s leading provider of postal services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world 's mail volume-some 207 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year-and serves 7 million customers each day at its 40,000 retail locations nationwide.
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* Source: Small Business Administration