PMS_AWARDS_p017 22/4/08 09:00 Page 17
PrecisionMarketing Response Awards in association with the International Direct Marketing Fair 17
Best Service Innovation
WINNER
Critical success factors
The success of the product stems from the combi-
Fastrack Postal Service
nation of factors. Taken together, these factors
Brightsource
deliver both cost and agility breakthroughs. But for
many clients, the key differentiating factor between
Fastrack and all the other downstream access prod-
Fastrack is the first postal service specifically ucts is that the product offers savings against Mail-
designed for marketing mail. It delivers three key sort 3 prices. Marketers who manage high volume
benefits not available elsewhere: mailings want all the benefits of downstream
a71 A downstream access service (two- day delivery, access post but not at a price premium – because
day specific delivery) which is competitive with postage is typically the largest single cost element
Mailsort 3 Royal Mail products in their direct mail campaigns.
a71 A VAT solution for charities and financial serv- The success of Fastrack has undoubtedly been
ices clients helped by the clarity and simplicity of its proposi-
a71 Flexibility to cope with fast-moving marketing tion to clients: “better postal service and significant
mail savings on your postal bill”.
The proposition of all our competitors has been:
Innovation “better postal service… but it will cost you more
Most downstream access services are intended pri- than what you’re currently paying for Mailsort 3…
marily for transactional mail. Steady, consistent and if you’re a financial service company or a char-
volumes, in one unchanging format, picked up from duction supplier that has been able to negotiate its ity, you’ll have to start paying VAT as well”. Not
a single mailing house... the kind of mail the own Condition 9 Access Agreement with Royal nearly such an attractive proposition.
courier companies are well suited to. But market- Mail. This saves clients having to pay double mark- Eighteen months after launch clients had taken
ing mail is very different. It is highly variable – vol- ups on the Royal Mail Access cost. (If a client uses advantage of Brightsource’s combined service
umes, formats, and specifications constantly a print management company or postal broker who offer. Over this period, Fastrack has delivered 70
change and evolve. sources downstream access post through, for exam- million items.
Each campaign may well require a different pro- ple, TNT or UK Mail, then the client is paying both Its primary ‘quality of service’ measure is the
duction supply chain. Campaigns are becoming TNT or UK Mail, and the broker, a margin on by far number of items delivered on the specified day – the
more segmented, involving increasing numbers of the biggest element of the total postal cost.) company’s commitment to clients is that this will
cells and test matrices. Most marketing mail uses Integration of print and postal management is exceed 95 per cent. It is currently achieving 98 per
Mailsort 3, so alternative postal services to Royal also the key that unlocks ‘the VAT problem’. cent.
Mail have to compete at this price level. And the two Postage from suppliers other than Royal Mail Clients which regularly use the service include
biggest users of direct mail are the financial serv- attracts VAT – creating a significant barrier to com- most major charities (including Royal British
ices and charity sectors – so any postal service that petition in the postal market for charities and finan- Legion, Salvation Army, RNIB, British Heart Foun-
attracts VAT will have a limited market. cial services companies. However, almost all direct dation, and Unicef), travel brands such as Explore,
Brightsource has solved all these major issues mail formats produced by charities and financial Sea France and TUI UK, retail clients such as Focus
relating to marketing mail – by integrating print services are designed to be zero-rated under the DIY, and financial services companies such as Res-
and postal management services. No other produc- ‘package test’ – as these clients wish to avoid VAT olution and Intune.
tion supplier (whether print manager, printer or on their print production costs. Under single sup- The strength of the product can also be assessed
mailing house) has been able to develop the ply VAT regulations, if a format is zero-rated, then in another way. The range of skills required to
skills and capabilities to make this offer to client other ancillary services (such as postage) can also deliver an integrated print and postal management
marketers. be zero-rated if they are supplied by the same sup- offer constitute a very high barrier to entry – as wit-
Integration makes it much simpler to deal with plier. Integration of print and postal management nessed by the fact that no other print manager or
ever changing production specifications – and thus delivers the ‘single supply’ solution that production supplier has, as yet, been able to repli-
clients get clear ownership from Brightsource for enables almost all Fastrack postage to avoid VAT. cate what Brightsource has done.
the whole project, print and post. Integration dra- To summarise…
matically reduces waste and inefficiency in the sup- Effectiveness The cost breakthrough Brightsource has
ply chain. With Fastrack, the same project manager The company’s turnover for 2007 was up 72 per cent achieved results from:
who is responsible for managing the print produc- on 2006, from £14.2m to £24.5m. Turnover for 2006 a71 New supply chain structure – having its own
tion, is also responsible for all postal arrangements was, in turn, 60 per cent up on 2005 (£8.9m). Condition 9 Access agreement (avoids double
– forecasting complex mailing matrices to Royal Turnover has grown 175 per cent over two years pri- margins)
Mail, co-ordinating pick ups from mailing houses, marily from clients buying this unique integrated a71 Step change reduction in the amount of project
ensuring all deadlines in the supply chain are print and postal management offer. management time required for postal management
achieved, etc. This approach, built on ‘lean service’ Fastrack is now the largest UK postal offering (through using the same project management
principles, gives the flexibility that marketing cam- outside the big three operators – TNT, UK Mail and resource that is handling print production)
paigns require. DHL – in terms of total volume of downstream a71 VAT solution (integration enables single supply)
By cutting down on the amount of project man- access mail. This is a remarkable achievement for The agility breakthrough Brightsource has
agement time required (by avoiding unnecessary a company which had only £8.9m turnover at the achieved results from:
duplication, hand offs etc), integration also cuts cost end of 2005, when the UK postal market was dereg- a71 The simplification of the supply chain that inte-
from the system – a key factor in enabling the serv- ulated… and for a postal product which is targeted gration of print and post offers, coupled with our
ice to be the most cost competitive on the market. at marketing mail, not transactional mail. (The direct relationship with Royal Mail Wholesale
The cost-effectiveness of Fastrack is under- transactional mail market is far larger than the a71Using a single project manager for both print and
pinned by the fact that Brightsource is the only pro- marketing mail market.) post reduces inefficiency and delays.
Finalists
Predicting Customer Payment Intentions
Fraudscreen and Identex
Gasbox Lab
Gasbox and Jaywing
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53