Royal Mail has finally clarified that customer magazines containing third-party inserts will qualify for its new Advertising Mail service, following accusations that its handling of the launch has been farcical.
Advertising Mail is due to go live this week, offering a substantial discount to the double-digit price hikes approved by Postcomm.
But many companies have until now been left in the dark over third-party inserts with Royal Mail only just issuing a statement to the members of the Strategic Mailing Partnership (SMP) clarifying the issue.
One print industry source claims that there had been conflicting advice from Royal Mail. “It’s been an absolute farce,” he said. “We’ve been hearing one thing from Royal Mail and then a client comes and says that they’ve been told the opposite.
“We are the people who should be telling our clients how Advertising Mail will work and to be honest this has left us looking a little incompetent.”
Royal Mail has since confirmed in an email to SMP members that third-party inserts will qualify for the Advertising Mail service.
The email, from a member of staff at Royal Mail, said: “Many of you have recently queried whether customer magazines containing third-party advertising qualify for Advertising Mail.
“I have had confirmation from our head of business that customer magazines containing third-party advertising, that are not paid for by the end recipient and that form part of a company’s marketing communications do qualify for Advertising Mail.”
Transactional mail, which makes up more than 60 per cent of the UK mail market, does not qualify for the Advertising Mail because the service only applies to mailings that comprise 100 per cent advertising content and specifically excludes insurance renewals, bills and statements.
