Royal Mail is reportedly planning a fivefold increase in revenue from unaddressed direct mail, according to Middle England’s bible, the Daily Mail, which has expressed moral outrage.
Bemoaning the number of trees which will die in the process – although omitting to say how many the newspaper industry kills and the fact that the Mail has its own DM division – the media group claims the move “will infuriate families whose doormats are already littered with junk mail”.
Royal Mail is understood to want to raise unaddressed income from £50m a year to £250m by 2014 through higher market share and new business. The Mail quotes what it calls a “well-placed insider” who says the postal operator is looking to deliver “more coupons, menus and plugs for financial companies”.
The report also included a quote from Nigel Woods from Consumer Focus, who said: “Direct mail is a real nuisance for many people who already dread the sound of takeaway menus and catalogues landing on the doormat every day.”
His quote is likely to raise eyebrows in the DM industry as, since the abolition of Postwatch, Consumer Focus – which will itself soon be folded in Citizens Advice Bureau – is supposed to resolve disputes between postal operators and consumers.
The Daily Mail was recently blasted by industry commentators after it launched a scathing attack on Prince William’s future inlaws – the Middletons – for selling customer data from their Party Pieces business. Critics pointed out that Daily Mail owner Associated Newspapers also offers reader data for rental.
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