This article first appeared on NAPUS 7/14/16 – PEN

GS Marketing’s “Superhero” Toyota Sienna campaign, commissioned by Gulf States Toyota, was selected as the first quarter winner for 2016 and will compete with three additional quarter winners for the Grand Champion “Irresistible Mail” trophy on May 22, 2017 at the National Postal Forum in Baltimore, MD.

GS Marketing’s Toyota Sienna “Superhero” mailer designed for
Gulf States Toyota.

The overall strategy of the “Superhero” mailer was to show what the Toyota Sienna could be for a child with the concept “Fits even the biggest imaginations.”  A lenticular postcard gave the illusion of depth by creating a motion effect that encourages interaction, increasing the impact of the message. When you move a lenticular piece the image changes.

Two images were superimposed over each other so at first glance you see a boy sitting with his superhero outfit in the Sienna. With one tilt of the mailer you see his imagination, him sitting at the top of a building protecting his city as a real superhero. This concept used copy, design and format to bring a child’s fantasy to life in the Sienna, thus creating engagement through play with a format that was impossible to put down. All while alluding to Sienna’s features such as dual sliding doors and a spacious interior.

“This lenticular design provided us an opportunity to tell a compelling story in 6 x 9 inches that evoked intrigue and a desire to look closer.  We were very pleased with the end result.” Tiffany Cannon, Director, Digital Marketing & CRM at Gulf States Toyota.

The creative team for the winning campaign included Samantha Skone for Art Direction, Anna Christensen for Copywriting,Jeanna Smith for Planning and Marissa McGinty for Account Management. The Gulf States Toyota CRM team, led by Tiffany Cannon, included Liz Nguyen, Manager of Customer Relationship Marketing.

About GS Marketing
GS Marketing (GSM), located in Houston, TX, is a full service marketing agency specializing in the automotive industry. For more than 27 years GSM has worked with automotive professionals across the country to deliver leading edge, data-driven marketing solutions.

Photo: Vincent J. DeAngelis, (left) Neopost USA’s Vice President of Postal Relations and
Dennis P. LeStrange, Neopost’s Chief Operating Officer of Small- and Medium-Sized
Enterprise Solutions, (right) present Neopost USA’S plaque of appreciation to James
Cochrane, USPS Chief Marketing and Sales Officer and Executive Vice President
and Megan Brennan, Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer as part of the
Milford, CT-based mailing industry hardware and software provider’s National Postal
Worker Day celebration on April 4, 2016, in Washington, D.C.

MILFORD, Conn., June 27, 2016 – Neopost USA, a provider of hardware and software solutions to mailers and shippers of all sizes, will be proud to recognize the men and women of the United States Postal Service^® on National Postal Worker Day, Friday, July 1. Neopost USA’s 1,400 employees across the country invite every American to join the celebration by taking a moment to thank their local USPS mail carrier, window clerk and or Postmaster on National Postal Worker Day.

“The USPS is so deeply ingrained in America’s history, commerce stream and quality of life that we can easily take it for granted,” says Alain Fairise, President of Neopost North America. “But we should take every available opportunity to appreciate the benefits we derive from the nation’s postal workers. The USPS as an institution deserves to be honored for its steadfast dedication to delivery, social responsibility, security, technology and innovation. National Postal Worker Day gives Americans the opportunity to honor the people inside the Postal Service who serve us on so many levels.

“More than 500,000 USPS employees do more than deliver 155 billion mail pieces – 47 percent of the world’s mail volume – per year,” Fairise says. “They also build personal relationships inside every community in the country and they help the 21^st Century’s most valuable commodity – information – flow efficiently and seamlessly.”

Neopost USA is taking its third turn as the de facto champion of the annual National Postal Worker Day celebration.

NATIONAL POSTAL WORKER DAY, JULY 1 
Neopost USA, a provider of hardware and software to mailers and shippers of all sizes, celebrates the men and women of the United States Postal Service® (USPS) on National Postal Worker Day, Friday, July 1.

Neopost USA’s 1,500 employees across the country invite every American to join the celebration by taking a moment to thank their mail carrier, administrator, postal business service provider or executive on National Postal Worker Day.

The USPS was born in July 1775 and has achieved myriad remarkable milestones in the past 241 years.

Neopost USA is proud to share a tiny fraction of interesting details and fascinating facts about the Postal Services’ development and progress, and the quality service it brings to each community in the U.S., as well as military outposts, diplomatic stations and other locations across the globe.

Top Three Reasons to Thank Your Postal Worker

• Postal workers process and deliver more than 509 million mail pieces each day.
• Postal employees go beyond the call of duty when necessary. Some even risk their own safety to save the lives of the customers they serve. In 2015, the Postal Service recognized 318 employee heroes for acts of bravery and personal sacrifice.
• 7,184 letter carriers deliver mail entirely on foot.

Fascinating Facts About Your Postal Workers’ World 

• The USPS operates on $0.00 tax dollars.
• The USPS handles 47 percent of the world’s mail volume.
• The Postal Service is the world leader in optical character recognition technology; its machines read nearly 98 percent of all hand-addressed letter mail.
• The USPS delivers physical mail, parcels, packages and a variety of unusually items to customers in 226,777 delivery routes each day.
• Our new nation’s first appointed Postmaster General was Benjamin Franklin.
  Source: www.usps.com

About Neopost USA
Neopost USA provides hardware and software to mailers and shippers of all sizes. Neopost-brand solutions enable businesses to send and receive physical mail, digital documents and traceable packages. More importantly, Neopost solutions help our customers connect with their customers by establishing individualized, one-to-one business relationships. Visit www.neopostusa.com for complete information about Neopost USA’s solutions and services.

About Neopost
Neopost is the number-two global provider of mailing solutions and a major player in the field of digital communications and shipping solutions. Its mission is to guide and support organizations in how they send and receive communications and goods, helping them better connect with their business environments through hardware, software and services.

Neopost supplies innovative user-friendly solutions for physical and digital communications management for large companies and SMEs, as well as shipping processes for supply-chain and e-commerce players.

With a strong local presence in 31 countries and more than 6,000 employees, Neopost works closely with a network of partners to market its solutions in more than 90 countries. In 2015, Neopost reported sales of €1.2 billion.

Neopost is listed in Compartment A of Euronext Paris and belongs notably to the SBF 120 index.

Company Contact
Peter Lichtgarn
Neopost USA
203.301.3936
p.lichtgarn@neopost.com

Public Relations Contact
Virginia Anderson
Allison + Partners
623.201.5561
NeopostUSA@allisonpr.com

 “Anytime Mailbox will add executive management experience and key technology value to the Alliance Network’s portfolio of companies,” stated Mr. Buechi. “Our primary goal was to provide software that transforms traditional mail services into digital mail that can be managed anytime and on any desktop or mobile device.”

Anytime Mailbox a digital mail platform that is revolutionizing the way flexible workspace operators process and forward mail is delighted to announce its partnership with the Alliance Business Centers Network (ABCN), the largest global network of flexible workspaces.

Anytime Mailbox is a technology startup that has successfully grown its operator base into 50 metro markets since launching its cloud-based digital mail platform in 2013. Co-founders Matt Going and Marcel Buechi believe digital mail is going to revolutionize flexible workspaces’ mail services by allowing users to have immediate access to and control over the mail they receive.

“Anytime Mailbox will add executive management experience and key technology value to the Alliance Network’s portfolio of companies,” stated Mr. Buechi. “Our primary goal is to provide software that transforms traditional mail services into digital mail that can be managed anytime and on any desktop or mobile device.”

Founded by Frank Cottle in 1992, Alliance Business Centers Network (ABCN) is the leading flexible workspace network, which operates in over 40 countries and boasts more than 650 locations in its portfolio. The partnership will provide Anytime Mailbox with an opportunity to accelerate the growth of their platform distribution and provide executive level access to the multi-billion dollar coworking industry around the world. By partnering with The Alliance Network, Anytime Mailbox will be able to target the fastest growing markets for the company’s digital mail platform.

“Our partnership with Anytime Mailbox will strengthen our global strategy and will allow us to improve how our family of brands does business. Together with Anytime Mailbox, we will be able to mark the next milestone and innovation for the industry: digital mail,” stated Frank Cottle, Chairman, and Founder of ABCN.

Mr. Going went on the say; “One of the greatest benefits we see from this partnership is how Alliance’s team will be able to play a key advisory role in how we continue to grow Anytime Mailbox. Frank, as well as the rest of his team, have extensive knowledge of the market and a proven track record of growth.”

To significantly accelerate this growth path, Anytime Mailbox has entered into a joint venture to provide its mail platform and benefits to the Alliance Network, its members, and brands. Anytime Mailbox’s digital mailbox platform is secure with unlimited storage, streamlining the process to upload and track requests for actions taken such as open/scan, forwarding, recycling and shredding services.

About Anytime Mailbox

Anytime Mailbox software platform gives mail center operators the ability to offer their customers a digital mailbox experience in minutes. Anytime Mailbox was founded by Matt Going and Marcel Buechi in 2013. Their goal was to develop a secure, scalable, and easy to use tool for mail recipients and mail center operators to turn postal mail into immediately available digital mail. Anytime Mailbox is recognized for being a leading private labeled, cloud-based technology platform for the postal ecosystem. www.anytimemailbox.com

About ABCN

The Alliance Business Centers Network was founded by Frank Cottle, a pioneer and respected visionary in the business, in 1992. Today, Alliance is the largest global network of serviced offices in the world, with more than 650 locations in 40 countries. Combining the best of people, place and technology, Alliance provides solutions to mobile workers, entrepreneurs, small businesses and corporates. www.abcn.com

The USPS Pickup Scheduling website includes the Mail Class “Other”, which refers to First Class Package Service, Media Mail, and Parcel Select Ground. Prior to April 10, customers were able to schedule a free pickup for packages in the “Other” mail class without including Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Returns, or International.

However, when the April 10 rate changes were implemented, the USPS Pickup Scheduling website changed to support scheduling pickups for “Other” Mail Classes only when customers also included at least one Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Returns, or International package.

This problem has been identified at USPS, and the Post Office is currently working on a solution. We expect the previous Scheduled Pickup functionality to be restored soon and will update this post once we receive confirmation.

In the meantime, we have arranged a workaround solution that will suffice until normal functionality is restored. Sellers who wish to schedule a pickup on First Class Package Service, Media Mail, and Parcel Select Ground packages should select the “Returns” category.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this might cause. If you encounter any problems with this workaround solution, please reach out to us via eBay messages at @ship_like_a_pro and we will address the issue with the USPS.

For more information on USPS package pickup, visit our Shipping Zone page.