Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe appearing before Congress on September 6, 2011 proposing massive layoffs of postal workers.

The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart says that we should not fear a sudden USPS shutdown because, “All it takes is major and fast congressional action.” Stewart goes on to say that PMG Donahoe, “Went before Congress yesterday, and I think we know what’s going to happen. He is going to ask for a big old government bailout and a short term stop-gap measure.”

But unlike the Wall Street banks and Detroit car manufactures we have seen in recent years, Donahoe lays out cost cutting measures allowing the USPS to restructure its healthcare system independent of federal programs and an accelerated work force reduction by as many as 220,000 employees. Jon Stewart replied, “Oh, you’re just going to lay off 220,000 postal workers? What could go wrong with that? After all, the phrase ‘going postal’ is virtually synonymous with reacting well to bad news.”

Fear not, Congress is full of folks who can think fast on their feet. Maybe the PMG should simply lead a brainstorming session on ways the USPS can turn the tide. Near the end of the Daily Show’s segment, Stewart highlighted an idea proposed by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. “I’m not sure that there has been a marketing campaign about the value of a written letter. … I really believe that if somebody began to market the value of sending a written letter to someone you love, you might be surprised on how you could stabilize some first-class mail.”

Clearly, McCaskill was likely catching up on her text messaging while the PMG was explaining that the USPS problems lie in lofty labor and healthcare commitments. What do you think? Aside from McCaskill’s off the mark brilliance to increasing letter volume by winding back the technology clock a few decades, can marketing save the USPS?

-Bob Makofsky at bmakofsky@conformer.com

As 2011 draws to a close, we look back on the past 12 months and are reminded of all the important people — our friends, colleagues and clients with whom we spend time sharing the trials of business and the experiences of life.  With every passing year, we look forward to the next.  The team at Conformer Products, Inc. wish you the very best holiday season and a prosperous New Year.

For the second year in a row we will forgo our traditional holiday greeting card and in its place contribute to entrepreneurial endeavors around the world through micro-lending.  This year we have expanded our investment portfolio in several small businesses and look forward to watching them grow in 2012.  You can learn more about charitable micro-lending at www.Kiva.org.

-Bob Makofsky at bmakofsky@conformer.com

Domtar, “the sustainable paper company” has recently released a really short film that puts a very funny spin on the paperless movement allegedly sweeping the nation.  This video is a must-see!

I say allegedly because going paperless is often (1) not practical (2) not optimal or (3) is not actually the most sustainable choice you can make (see my article on which industry plants more trees vs. consumes more energy, the paper or the email industry).

And how about all of those wonderful paper-based packages you’re now sending/receiving in the mail in advance of gift-giving season?  You can certainly think a lot smarter about your packaging options (say, one that can be recycled and doesn’t require fill like a Conformer mailer) but you still need paper to mail out all of those gifts at year end.

So why go to extremes when you can simply be smarter about your paper consumption and get a lot more sustainable bang for your buck.

-Sari McConnell at smcconnell@conformerinc.com

Did you see the Wall Street Journal‘s cover story on Dunder Mifflin branded copy paper? If you’re wondering why that name sounds familiar, it’s the paper company parodied on ‘The Office‘, now in its eighth season on television. The real life office products company, Staples, has just cut a licensing deal with NBC and rebranded its copy paper under the ‘Dunder Mifflin’ name in an effort to sell more paper.

This was front page news, folks.  Makes me think we should have launched ‘The Conformer’ sitcom first — Imagine ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ crossed with ‘The Office’ and you’ve got a good feel for the wacky laugh-outloudness of our family business.

Then we’d engineer the “reverse product placement” and launch the Conformer brand off the back of the hit TV series.  Despite Conformer’s great conventional product placement this year on Fringe, the Wall Street Journal tells me that “it can be far cheaper than building brands from scratch.”

Now you tell me. (Laugh track.)

-Sari McConnell at smcconnell@conformerinc.com

Whether you’re looking for a presentation folder to deliver a client’s tax returns or to introduce a new product line at a trade show, you have a lot of options. If you’re not sure how to select the right folder, the guidelines below will help you find the best product for your needs.

Open pocket folder: Open pockets are sealed at the outside edges only and are a good choice when the materials in the folder are bound or are a uniform weight and size. For example, perfect-bound documents easily fit, and stay, in a folder with open pockets.

Closed right pocket folder: A closed pocket is sealed at both the outside edge of the folder and where the pocket meets the spine of the folder. This style provides better document retention. Materials of varying weight and sizes like presentations, brochures and samples sometimes struggle to stay organized in a folder and, the extra document retention pocket will keep them centered and upright.

Reinforced edge folder: Choose the folder with reinforced edges if your documents are printed on heavy paper stock or paperboard. It’s also a good choice when the folder will receive more than normal handling, like at a trade show, or if you simply like the feeling of extra heft on the edges when holding the folder open.

Duo-tang folder: If you are sending out important documentation inside a folder — such as tax returns or an insurance policy — to be stored safely for an indefinite period, then consider a folder with duo-tang prongs.  These metal clasps feed through hold-punched documents and ensure that documentation stays put.

Stay tuned for more articles on choosing the best pocket folder that address pocket height, paper types, and other important features.

I often hear the “paper is bad for the environment” perspective here in Silicon Valley, home of our West Coast office.   However, the more relevant question might be, “Compared to what?”

Unless I missed the memo, sales and marketing efforts still exist for a reason. Clearly these initiatives have migrated to other forms along with print – email blasts, social media, mobile, etc. And that’s how I arrived at the premise that paper is quite good for the environment compared with electronic data centers that power e-marketing.

Here are some startling environmental statistics:

• The paper-based industry is one of the biggest users of renewable, low-carbon energy in the world – 60% of the energy used to make paper in the United States comes from carbon-neutral renewable resources. Paper manufacturers also use combined heat and power (CHP) generation systems, which are 80-90% efficient.
• Electronic data centers powering the Internet use more than 90% fossil fuels purchased off the grid, and these conventional power-generation systems are only 45-60% efficient.
• The paper-based industry uses only half the energy that electronic data centers do.
• The consumption rate for data centers in the United States alone doubles every six years…and they will be using four times the energy of the paper industry in no time at all.
• The USDA Forest Service claims that four-million trees are planted daily in the United States. The wood and paper industries plant more than 25% of these. Does the electronic data center industry plant any trees? I’d love to see that data.

So whatever reasons you might have to “go paperless,” environmental concerns should not be one of them.  The printed materials you send in a sales kit, include in a press kit folder or send in a mailer may be more valuable and memorable than all of the energy your customers will consume online to find the same information on your website.

-Sari McConnell at smcconnell@conformerinc.com

Make no mistake about it – USPS workers want a say in how the post office of the future will look. Understandable, given their jobs depend on it.

But did anyone anticipate that the National Association of Letter Carriers (280,000 members) would enlist Ron Bloom to lobby for them?  Bloom is best known as President Obama’s former “car czar” who oversaw the bailout of General Motors Co. and Chrysler during the worst days of the financial meltdown.

On top of that, the union also has hired investment bank Lazard Ltd., whose reputation is built on analyzing large, complex, financially troubled institutions and proposing solutions.

For those of you who are following the USPS crisis as closely as I am, I’m dying to know what you think of the postal carriers’ union bringing these big guns onto the scene.  Do you think it’s a good move or a colossal waste of money?

For the full article in the Wall Street Journal, read on.

-Sari McConnell at smcconnell@conformerinc.com

Finally, some good news for the USPS.  A disgruntled British postal employee recently served as a good distraction.  The “distraction” involved nudity, crazy glue and disability benefits.  Don’t worry, this video is entirely safe to view at the office.

-Sari McConnell at smcconnell@conformer.com

Top Brass Lays Out Plan to Reverse USPS Downward Trend

Tuesday’s annual National PCC Day marked the 50th Anniversary of the Postal Customer Council. The event is typically highlighted by a video simulcast of the Postmaster General, along with other top executives. Having attended the past five years, I can tell you that the day is usually marked by irrelevant awards and USPS execs delivering painfully scripted, over-coached messages that are one degree away from a Saturday Night Live parody. This year proved to be different.

The USPS is in trouble, proven by the fact that Comedy Central has highlighted the turmoil on both the Daily Show and the Colbert Report twice in recent days. PMG Pat Donahoe presented a well-polished plan to create a “Leaner, faster, smarter USPS.” I have included an admittedly poor video of the presentation.

Here’s my take on the highlights:

Donahoe has asked Congress to allow the USPS the authority to manage their business more like the private, non-governmental entity it is. This would include reducing delivery service to five days, changing the prefunding of retiree benefits, and consolidating distribution centers by half.

Regarding the impact of these changes to USPS customers, Donahoe promises a swift implementation of more efficient practices. Donahoe was light on specifics, but he committed to listening to the marketplace and moving quickly — two areas where I can say that the USPS has stumbled in the past.

In a refreshing tone, Donahoe and his team are focusing on growth through new products. Plans include strengthening the business consumer channel by simplifying the process for small, local businesses, improving the customer experience by growing USPS locations in convenient retail spaces, and extending store hours. Post offices around the globe, including this one at the Eiffel Tower, adopted these strategies a decade ago; the USPS has some catching up to do.

Capitalizing on the success of the Priority Mail campaign, “If It Fits, It Ships,” Donahoe previewed a new ad campaign focused on “The power of mail.” The campaign pushes the personal connections and tactile nature of mail and the security of physical mail versus digital communications in light of identity fraud.

Lastly, Donahoe spoke about the integration of paper-based marketing communications with internet campaigns. Earlier this summer, the USPS offered significant discounts for standard mail customers to integrate QR codes on envelopes, which resulted in 33% of the standard mail in July featuring a QR code, compared with 2% in June.

Following the PMG’s presentation, the general feeling among fellow vendors, customers, and the USPS employees themselves was both skeptical and optimistic. The plan appears sound on paper, but everyone I spoke to voiced significant concern over the timeline required. The USPS can deliver a first-class letter from coast to coast in days for $0.44, but can they force an act of Congress, slash bureaucracy, cut unionized distribution centers in half, and launch a handful of robust new products fast enough to stop the bleeding, all while promoting the relevance of mail in our increasingly digital age? Sounds to me like the post office will be working overtime.

Bob Makofsky at bmakofsky@conformer.com

This Reuters article does a particularly good job of outlining the battles on Capitol Hill that will be fought on behalf of the USPS crisis.  In summary:

• The Democrats, led by President Obama’s plan, want to cut Saturday delivery, restructure the mandate that outrageously overfunds USPS pensions, and offer retirement incentives rather than massive layoffs (jobs, jobs, jobs) plus — wait for it — sell non-postal items.  Tall latte, anyone?
• The Republicans’ bill, led by Republican Darrell Issa who is chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, is against revamping the prepayment or returning retirement fund money, and instead relies on more aggressive cuts, operational restructuring and workforce reduction.  It may also “phase out delivery to front-door mail slots” (though, personally, I don’t know where else the mail would be delivered if not to the front door).

As an excellent illustration of how the unresolved USPS crisis is affecting businesses nationwide, shares of eBay, Inc. fell more than 6% this month.

At Conformer, we’ve done our part to return greater volume to the USPS mail stream through innovative packaging designs that manage customer postal costs, but this crisis is so much bigger than any one company can fix.  How do you think the USPS financial crisis should get resolved?

-Sari McConnell at smcconnell@conformer.com