Making a Comeback

Maybe I am old fashioned but isn't it great to see that across the nation retailers are stating that sales of pens, paper and greeting cards are on the increase?  According to the stationery divison of John Lewis the increase is as high as 79% in the last month.

It seems that people are re-discovering the importance of writing to each other and sending simple thank you cards.  I love it!  Last week I was looking through some old paperbacks and decided that rather than simply pile them on my bookshelves I would send them to my sister, she has just started to get into reading again decades after being told by her teachers that it is good for the soul.  I purchased my Royal Mail postage box for just a couple of pounds and loaded in eight books.  With the space still left in the box I included a couple of other items that were lurking in a drawer that I thought she could use.  The joy and delight on receiving the box was incredible.  A simple act, a simple thought, encouraged by an old Royal Mail advertising slogan 'I saw this and thought of you'.  It simply made her day.
 
In these times when we are told that Royal Mail is losing millions and will have to shave thousands of jobs, why don't they re-think their service and bring back the early morning post?  There are generations of us who were used to receiving our mail before leaving to go to work in the morning. Now, we are lucky if the post is delivered before lunchtime.  Most of us don’t get to see the post until the end of the day when the last thing we feel is positive about the potential contents of the mail box.  Maybe if they went back to early morning post they might see an increase in Direct Mail, which does actually still work, even though internet gurus will tell you it doesn't.  I still believe that the decline in Direct Mail interest is in part due to late mail delivery.  You see to get a relevant message into the hands of the consumer at a time when they feel fresh and awake can make a huge difference to the advertiser.
 
There have been many successful comebacks - Take That, Salad Cream, Spandau Ballet, who would have thought it?  So, Royal Mail, stop whinging about losses, people are crying out that they love the post so do something about it ... come back!

Lloyd James - CEO