Happy Creative & Fun 2018!

It’s January and with every January come a few new Canada Post changes.

We have sent out our annual Canada Post guide, which recaps all of the changes for the year and gives our clients quick access to current rates and sizes.  If you don’t have one but would like one please send us an email and we can send you either a soft or hard copy.

Some notable changes this year:

• Minimum volume for machineable mail has been reduced from 500 to 400 items - this is a fantastic change and definitely helps those with smaller mailings.
• Maximum thickness for Dimensional Mail goes up from 2.2 to 2.4 inches– this is really great for our ingenious clients who love to take advantage of the creative flexibility Canada Post provides.
• Incentive Lettermail no longer requires an agreement – this could be my favourite change this year!
• Neighbourhood Mail increases its size, weight and thickness – like how I feel coming back from any vacation (see our guide for exact NM details).
• Postal Code Targeting no longer requires an agreement (non-contract rate) or the chevrons that formed part of the indicia – not to be mixed up with the highway spacing chevrons, but they were very similar in look

As Canada Post Expert Partners we are committed to helping marketers get the most out of their direct mail. As I am writing this I am flying back from vacation and when the flight crew was going through their safety demo I was doing what 99% of us do during the demo (not paying attention) when all of a sudden the TV in front of me caught my eye.  Qantas put a new spin on the old tired safety video that the flight crew synchronizes with.  The video had my full attention (hard to do) and was so creative and well done that I had to google it when I landed so I could share it with you - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSBrL74uK0c .  I share it with you not to prepare you for your next flight, although that might be handy, but to remind you that creativity is king (spoiler alert the safety video doubles as a tourism Australia advertisement).

Your direct mail or fulfillment packages need to stand out and be creative, they need to challenge the status quo just like what Qantas and other airlines have done with their safety videos.   Same old same old is safe but sometimes boring, so let 2018 be the year of creativity and fun while still getting your message to its intended recipients…..and as always we are here to help with that.