The Dynamic Duo Duel Over the Best Brand Execution

Dear Industry Member: If you tuned into the postal-focused session on Oct. 7th during our 14th Annual National Forum, you heard former Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-KS) discussing his involvement in the new Keep US Posted campaign, which was cofounded by the ACMA, the Greeting Card Association and other industry groups. Today, I'm writing you to encourage you to also become involved with this vital effort. The goal of this campaign is to protect the long-term interests of vital market dominant mail interests, including catalogs, first-class letters, cards, periodicals - all mail that's protected by the postal monopoly. When the USPS announced its Delivering For America plan this past March, it made pretty clear that the core of its future would be in parcels rather than market dominant mail. Keep Us Posted was subsequently formed to ensure our mail has a future. Our Goals & Ask: This is not a fundraiser. If your future is to continue to be in the mail via catalogs or types of mail, we're just seeking the following: • For starters, please look over the Keep US Posted website then click this link and enter your information to add your organization to the list of campaign supporters. • Follow Keep US Posted on Facebook and Twitter, and share/retweet our content. Additionally, text the word “mail” to 52886 and tap the link to join as a consumer supporter. Share the Keep US Posted logo (click here) when you do this. • Share the site and Keep US Posted messaging on your LinkedIn feed with this suggested text: “I am proud to support Keep US Posted (www.keepUSposted.org). This new campaign is dedicated to amplifying our voices as we speak out against delays, postage hikes and other threats to businesses, consumers and the entire mail system. Collectively, we can make a difference. Join us. #keepUSposted." • For the near term, the campaign is pre-funded. What we need from you now is to agree to have your company name listed as a supporter and lend your voice, not your money. Simply click here to join. A member of the Keep US Posted leadership team will be in touch with further information. • Be willing to be our point of contact to engage in activities when called on and participate whenever possible. These include social media engagement, encouraging your suppliers and other colleagues to get involved and join in campaign grassroots outreach to Congress.

ChatGPT just arrived a few months ago, but the implications of generative AI can seem confounding to the average marketer. Here are a few ways marketers have found to use generative so far in 2023: Image generation: Tools such as Rosebud.ai and Midjourney can generate multiple versions of the same ad to try on various audiences. Notably, Heinz used OpenAI’s Dall-E 2 to create images of ketchup and it did so in a memorable fashion, in which all the images looked like Heinz bottles. Personalization: Using the traditional methods, creating personalized campaigns is often too much work, but generative AI has the promise of making personalization much easier.

Agencies and clients agree that research-driven customer insights play an important role in the development of effective marketing and creative campaigns. At the same time, I’ll bet relatively few think of research as a creative process or discipline. The fact is, all research is (or should be) creative. The best researchers approach their work with an open and creative mindset that skillfully uncovers the information to successfully drive creative development. The constraints of time and budget—facts of life in the business world—should never be an excuse for missing out on insights that support business growth and lead to game-changing creative campaigns. much more at: https://www.jschmid.com/blog/all-research-is-creative/