Marketing Mail Content Task Team Off to Slow Start

January 15, 2019

• Day 145: Potential Shutdown of Merchandise in Marketing Mail

The USPS public investigation into whether it will ban some or all merchandise from inside Marketing Mail has reached 145 days, with no clear end in sight.  We thought the Postal Service had promised the mailing industry a major milestone with the completion of a Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) Task Team by early February.

But the team seems to be moving with little sense of urgency.  The TT has met only twice, with a summary of previous steps, discussion of what constitutes a duplicate comment, and preliminary talk of what types of merchandise should possibly be excluded from the ban.

There should be more of a sense of urgency as we approach five months of an unnecessary public contemplation of a rule change that would damage many of the Postal Service’s most loyal customers.

As often happens, the threat of a more visible, accountable downside, such as a victimized customer successfully suing, is holding the day over the hidden but more ominous damage to mail volume, loyalty, customer retention, and brand value.  The longer it takes, the more damage will be done.