This April 2^nd, Royal Mail are making some significant changes to their services.  Some of these changes will make things a little less complicated, but others will do quite the opposite.  To add further complication, if you use a Downstream Access postal company such as TNT, then their services are not all changing in quite the same way.

On pricing, if your mailings qualify for Advertising Mail then you should expect price increases generally in the range from 2% to 4%, however if you have to use their Business Mail services you are likely to see increases in the region of 9% to 20%!  On top of all this, for almost all postal services you will also now be charged VAT.

At DP Direct we will do our best to help you through the maze of options and prices to ensure that you get the most appropriate and cost-effective solution for your requirements.  In the meantime, here are a few key headline points which we hope you will find helpful:

• Where possible make your mailings “machinable”.  This will enable the Royal Mail to process your addressed items most efficiently and cost effectively through their new sorting equipment.  Pricing this time and in the future will continue to encourage “machinability” with significant discounts available
• Most mailings that are either promoting a Marketing / Sales message or are Fundraising communications can qualify for the much cheaper Advertising Mail services as long as a few straightforward Data Management requirements are adhered to
• Machinable Sorted Mail is generally cheaper for us to handle on your behalf and is likely to give you the cheapest postage prices
• Royal Mail 2^nd class postage will be more expensive than comparable DSA postage rates such as with TNT.  These in turn will generally be a little more expensive than the cheapest Economy rate of postage from Royal Mail but will get there a day or two earlier

Please speak to your Account Manager who will be able to give you best advice on all these new changes.

If you are planning to send a Christmas mailing, you need to start your preparations NOW! Plan a mailing as part of a properly integrated marketing campaign and decide what part direct mail needs to play in achieving your goals. Speak to DP Direct today to take the stress out of your Christmas direct mail campaigns.

Christmas is also a time where people take time to reflect and plan for the future and this also applies to the business world as well. To increase your chances why not send information about offers and deals on your services in mid to late December. It could be a chance to re-launch or re-brand for the New Year. Let DP Direct help you plan your next move.

We provide online and offline inkjetting, but what exactly does inkjetting mean?

Inkjetting, or inkjet addressing, is the term used to describe the process of printing variable names and addresses onto mail pieces using inkjetting printers.

DP can provide a complete solution to meet the specific inkjetting requirements in the mailing sector.

Inkjetting Mailings and Inserts :

• Personalising and pre-addressing on-line eliminates time and expense of a separate printing process.
• Personalised in – and on-serts can be selectively fed on to the product with reader details, targeted advertising or special offers.

Personalised and Addressed Covers:

• Inkjet addressing on-line and personalised with membership or subscriber details.
• Quality output with a wide range of fonts even at fast production speeds.
• Print text in several different positions – on cover, or within the book, parallel to spine or head.
• Inkjetting of barcodes for automated data capture.

Inkjetting and Polywrapping:

• Inkjet addressing directly onto wraps eliminates need for labels.
• Automatic re-ordering facility ensures 100% output.
• On-line addressing on poly or paper wraps can reduce cost by 10 fold.

As well as inkjetting addressing DP also have laser printing capabilities, cut sheet and continuous. More suitable for lower volume mailings, and for producing personalised letters.

As DPDirect starts our next 2010/11 financial year we do so once again with a strong approach built from our 39 year heritage and despite the difficult economic climate we have maintained our current team and strengthened it in numbers.

We have again added to our Laser department capacity, by bringing in a third high speed colour printer, fresh from our visit to IPEX. (www.printweek.com)

We are now confident that with our five Konica Minolta and two Heidelberg printers to cover cut sheet alongside our duplex continuous Delphax and Nipson printers that we can handle most requirements.