2009-10 Annual Report - Australia Post

CORE BUSINESSES LETTERS & ASSOCIATED SERVICES
The Bulk Mail Partner program, which requires accredited mail houses
to meet defi ned production standards, continues to grow as mail
originators demand assured levels of service. Seventy-one mail
house sites are BMP accredited.
International letters
In 2009–10, total international letter volumes increased by 11.2 per cent;
however, revenue was down by 3.8 per cent. This is because the value
of payments made by overseas postal services (in return for our delivery
of incoming mail) diminished against the strong Australian dollar. The rate
Australia Post pays for outgoing international mail to be delivered is being
actively addressed as we seek cost and revenue improvements.
Once again, we exceeded our on-time delivery target set by the
Universal Postal Union for inward international letters, despite the high
rate of fl ight cancellations due to a global downturn in freight volumes.
Innovative products and specialist services
Australia Post continues to make letters a more convenient, fl exible
and effective communications option, particularly through our eLetter
Solutions business and the Decipha and PrintSoft subsidiaries.
Letters meet digital technology with the eLetter Solutions suite of
products, many of which allow businesses to send mail from their
computers to their customers’ physical letterboxes. Defying market
trends, eLetter had another impressive year in 2009–10: volumes
increased by 14.4 per cent and revenue was up by 18.4 per cent.
These positive results refl ect the success of recent product innovations,
such as the eLetter Ticket, used by major ticketing agency Ticketek.
This patented solution streamlines the production and delivery of tickets,
which can also incorporate targeted third-party advertising. Another
highlight of 2009–10 was the integral role that eLetter’s smart online
forms played in Australia Post’s successful pilot program with the New
South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (see page 19).
In December 2009, eLetter consolidated its Victorian activities into a
single purpose-built facility at Essendon Fields.
Decipha is a specialist provider of inbound information management
solutions, customised for major organisations from a wide range of
industry sectors, including government, fi nancial services, manufacturing
and retail. Among its services are mailroom management, document
imaging, data capture, automated document categorisation, online
forms, workfl ow and electronic archive solutions.
In an increasingly competitive market, Decipha continued its solid
growth during 2009–10 by:
• winning new business with key clients, including Bupa, Coca-Cola
Amatil, the Australian Tax Offi ce and Myer
• re-securing or extending agreements with major customers,
including Westpac, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission
and Bank of Queensland
• enhancing our position in the key accounts payable and claims
processing market segments
• building on our capabilities in document auto-categorisation,
straight-through processing and collecting incoming information
via various electronic methods.
This activity led to a 0.8 per cent increase in revenue.
PrintSoft provides integrated software solutions that simplify and
automate the creation, production and delivery of personalised corporate
communications. The subdued global economy resulted in a revenue
decline of 35.3 per cent for the subsidiary, but work is underway
to restructure the business for future growth. Employing 143 people
16 AUSTRALIA POST ANNUAL REPORT 2009–10 | REPORT OF OPERATIONS
in nine offi ces around the world, PrintSoft is shifting its focus from
the delivery of product sales to the provision of professional services
and solutions, particularly for corporate clients in targeted markets.
Specialist data products
The availability of customer data is crucial to the success of
promotional mail and other marketing communications. Australia Post
has undertaken a wide range of activities that enable businesses to
access reliable, accurate and relevant customer data, particularly
through our data and media division, First Direct Solutions.
Offering paper-based and digital communications that help businesses
to target and acquire customers, First Direct Solutions also manages
the Mail Redirection and Mail Holding services. Central to its activities is
the management of six databases: Lifestyle, Movers, Data Co-operative,
Transaction Universe, Australian Address Reference File and National
Change of Address.
The strong performance of the Mail Redirection and Mail Holding
services, and the introduction of services that respond to the shift from
traditional mail to online marketing, enabled the division to achieve an
overall 0.8 per cent increase in revenue.
Among the highlights of 2009–10, First Direct Solutions:
• exceeded its new data generation target of 7 per cent
• developed and launched an online affi liate network, enabling our
customers to access third-party email databases
• developed and launched a service analysing trends in consumer
behaviour in response to email communications – an invaluable
tool for customers creating email campaigns
• extended the Movers Direct Mail service, enabling organisations
with move-related offers to send a semi-addressed mail piece to
households that have vacated the home of a mail redirection applicant
• brought back-end management of the Data Co-operative database
in-house, reducing costs and increasing internal capability.
Mail channel solutions
Established programs, such as the Open Up To Mail campaign
(openuptomail.com), and the Marketing, Media and Post Centre of
Excellence on the Our Community website (ourcommunity.com.au)
(see page 17) continued during the year.
In 2009–10, our dedicated Channel Innovation Centre actively worked
with business and the community to develop specialist products,
resources, tools and collaborative solutions that encourage more
effi cient and effective mail. These include the following:
• Send Me:
The Send Me pilot began in March 2010. This new
SMS response management and fulfi lment service provides a secure
one-off registration for consumers to request samples, brochures and
other advertiser information from their mobile phones.
• Candidate communication packs:
Five end-to-end mail packs
were launched in February 2010, designed to assist state and
federal politicians in communicating with constituents using
fully or semi-addressed mail.
• Automotive Mail Innovations:
Launched in August 2009, this
initiative assists automotive marketers to undertake direct mail
campaigns by providing information, resources and tools that
are relevant to this sector. The initiative highlights ten innovative
automotive mail solutions, including sensory production techniques,
quick response codes and augmented reality.