Earlier this month, SG360° announced its first outside board of directors member since It was acquired by private equity firm ICV Partners – Patrick R. Donahoe, former Postmaster General of the United States and CEO of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
The Wheeling, Ill.-based company specializes in direct marketing services, providing a range of services including direct mail, sampling, card production and fulfillment, among other things. However, noted Mary Lee Schneider, president and CEO, SG360° saw a distinct need to expand its services surrounding mail, and see this appointment as the perfect way to gain invaluable experience and expertise.
“He is really going to help us think differently,” said Schneider. “This is just the first step in a much longer-term strategy to bring a broad array of postal optimization strategies to our customers. We already help clients differentiate themselves in the look, feel, design and impact of their mail pieces. We can now leverage our scale to better drive postal efficiencies.”
“This is a unique time for direct marketing and print communications, and SG360° has proven to be a true innovator,” added Donahoe. “Direct mail plays a central role in omnichannel marketing strategies. I look forward to working with Mary Lee and the board to deliver new solutions to the market.”
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A self-proclaimed “data geek,” Schneider noted that this strategy is backed up by the numbers. She cited a DMA study released earlier this year on the effectiveness of direct mail, which tracked the numbers from 2015-2017. For direct mail pieces, she pointed out, the response rate for house lists in 2015 was 3.7% – as of 2017 that had grown to 5.1%, a 38% increase. And for prospect lists, the jump was nearly 200%, from 1% to 2.9%. Then she compared that to all of the digital channels combined – which only had a 1.8% response rate in 2017.
“I believe that better targeting and increased personalization of direct mail campaigns drove this increase in response rates,” she said. “In an omnichannel world, direct mail will continue to be an enduring part of the mix.”
Donahoe’s background in transforming the USPS will provide insight on everything from operational efficiencies to postal and logistics strategies. As a member of the board, Donahoe will help SG360° shape its long-term strategy in order to take advantage of the trends in the marketplace.
“As one of the largest direct mail providers in the country, we pride ourselves on our ability to bring highly complex, unique formats to our customers,” Schneider concluded. “Expanding our data services, commingling and logistics capabilities is a natural extension of our offerings. Pat’s insight into these areas will be invaluable to us.”
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