Thursday, April 4, 2013

Unaddressed Admail 2013

I went to my postal outlet today and noticed a stack of leaflets  promoting a service for businesses called Canada Post Precision Targeter ("Targeter").


Targeter is an on-line application service, introduced in early 2012, which makes it easy for customers to reach specific neighbourhoods or regions across Canada with Unaddressed Admail service.

Here is a piece of Unaddressed Admail I received in today's mail:

 Dimensions : 12" x 6"

Unaddressed Admail does not have a "Postage Paid" indicium

Unaddressed Admail accounted for about 7% of Canada Post's total revenues in 2011 and according to Canada Post is a  source of long-term potential growth.( Canada Post 2011 Annual Report)

I was intrigued by the Targeter and checked it out online to see if it was as easy as the leaflet promised. The instructions were clear and it didn't take very long to complete the process.

I was first asked to describe my mailing, i.e. the size and weight of my mailing. There are three size categories and surprisingly the dimensions in inches come out to round numbers:
Standard : Up to 12" x 6" [ The Harvey's Admail has the maximum standard mailing dimensions]
Oversize 1 : Up to 12" x 9"
Oversize 2 : Up to 14" x 11"

The standard weight was 30 grams and the maximum weight was 230g.

I was then  asked to select my "target audience" by ranking them demographically, i.e. by age, household size, building occupancy, building type, education , income, labour force, employment status, and marital status. I then defined my delivery area. Finally, Targeter provided me with detailed route information which included the demographic match percentage of each route. I was given the total number of mail pieces to be delivered and the estimated cost. Generally the cost was around 7 cents per piece.

All in all, it wasn't a difficult process.


Why do I like Unaddressed Admail?

A few reasons come to mind. It's colourful, cheap and easy to acquire. This is what the mail in 2013 is all about. I hope my letter carrier brings me a few Oversize 1 and Oversize 2 Unaddressed Admail items soon.