The document discusses trends related to physical and digital correspondence. It analyzes why people still value physical mail and letters despite the proliferation of digital communication options. The document includes survey results showing people see physical mail as more personal and meaningful than digital messages. It also profiles innovative direct mail campaigns and discusses emerging technologies that blend physical and digital elements, such as interactive mail, digitizing physical mail, and delivery lockers. The trends suggest physical and digital media will continue to influence each other in new ways.

1. July 2013
CORRESPONDENCE
THE FUTURE OF

2. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................3
Slow Communication...................................................................................................................4
The Fusion of Digital and Physical ................................................................................................ 11
Case Studies: Eight Innovative Direct Mail Campaigns ........................................................................ 19
Things to Watch: Delivery Lockers, Rethinking Email and Simplifying Addresses and Stamps ....................... 21
Appendix............................................................................................................................... 24
........................................................................................... 24
Additional Charts .................................................................................................................. 26
A note to readers:

3. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
3
and easy options have proliferated: faxes, then emails, then text messages and tweets, among other things.
leverage the power of mail.
Methodology
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
TOM ALLASON,
founder and CEO, Shutl
EVAN BAEHR,
ALEXA HIRSCHFELD,
EXPERTS AND INFLUENCERS*
*See Appendix

4. 4Alexander Savin
SLOW
COMMUNICATION

5. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
5
While people love the
while the volume is more manageable. And as the old adage
generational breakdowns, see Appendix,
Nostalgia: People have always had a fondness for things that speak to older ways of
Objectifying Objects: One of our 10 Trends for 2012, this is the notion that people
have something to hold, to display or to store as keepsakes.
SLOW COMMUNICATION
DRIVERS
1A:
U.S.
When I send someone
a letter, it feels more
personal than an email
When I send something
via the mail/post, I
feel like the extra
effort is worth it
when I send a letter or
Putting something
in the mailbox/
postbox is fun
Sending a letter or
post is the best way to
about him/her
85
85
77
85
80
79
77
72
59
54
letter. We all like to get one. An email,
a freight train.” ANDY ROONEY,
“What’s Happening to the Post
60 Minutes
JOHN O’CONNELL The Guardian

6. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
6
The “Mail Moment”:
De-‐Teching:
Physical mail seen as warmer, more authentic: As part of our survey, we asked respondents to assign personality traits to
Figure 1F
SLOW COMMUNICATION
DRIVERS (
MANIFESTATIONS
WILLIAM HANSON
for a present. Only a handwritten letter will do,” The Telegraph
AUTHENTIC
ORDERLY
FRIENDLY
SPONTANEOUS
& FUN
Spontaneous
Independent
Boring
Easygoing
Consistent
Hardworking
True to self
Tweets
Instant messages
Facebook updates/
messages
Physical
letters
Text messages
Emails
Fun
Clever
Real leader
Down to earth
Orderly
Smart
Reliable
Content
Friendly
1B:

7. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
7
Sending and receiving physical mail is satisfying:
breakdowns, see Appendix,
and generational breakdowns, see Appendix,
Stationery’s revival:
through the mail. Stationery was on our list of 100 Things
an August 2012 report from MarketLine. Louis Vuitton
Catalogs’ endurance:
The Columbus Dispatch noted last year.
But, as the paper reported, “there is more life left in those
SLOW COMMUNICATION
MANIFESTATIONS (
1C:
U.S.
81
89
78
81
84
79
or text, even if the
message is the same
in the mail/post
make me feel more
than digital notes
Louis Vuitton
doors and opportunity for us. … We
with this being one of many ways that we
VP of marketing, Express,
The Columbus Dispatch

8. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
8
SVP of marketing at Express, remarked to the Dispatch
Books celebrating old-‐fashioned letter writing: Three books released
The Missing Ink: The Lost Art of Handwriting, John O’Connell’s
For the Love of Letters: The Joy of Slow Communication and Ian
Sansom’s Paper: An Elegy
Letter-‐writing programs: A string of initiatives from lovers of postal
mail is designed to get more people motivated to write and send letters.
Mary Robinette Kowal’s Month of Letters Challenge: In January 2012,
the post every day during the month of February (minus Sundays and
The World Needs More Love Letters: After she began leaving love letters to strangers on trains in New York City in 2010,
The Hand Written Letter Project:
published in book form.
Social networks for post:
League of Extraordinary Penpals: Started in January by two bloggers,
designed letterset that’s available only to members.
Swap-‐bot:
Real: “The word post has been stolen ... it’s our aim to take it
SLOW COMMUNICATION
MANIFESTATIONS (
League of Extraordinary Penpals

9. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
9
Mail subscription services:
Abe’s Peanut is an offshoot for kids.
SLOW COMMUNICATION
MANIFESTATIONS (
Abe’s Penny
Unwrap the process:
Remember that physical mail can build emotional connections:
interviewee explained to The Wall Street Journal
WHAT IT MEANS

10. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
10
Use real-‐world mail to create rich experiences: Simply
to digital marketing.
Turn the mail piece into a product:
(See
Help connect consumers in slower ways: As more
SLOW COMMUNICATION
Even with the iPad, [the tablet] has
that wonderful medium that is paper,
EVAN BAEHR,
WHAT IT MEANS (
BMW Fast Company
Small businesses often operate at a disadvantage,
MP MUELLER,
Handwritten Notes,” The New York Times

11. 11
AND PHYSICAL

12. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
12
The allure of digital:
The allure of physical:
Worlds Colliding:
MAPPING DIGITAL ELEMENTS ONTO PHYSICAL
Interactive mail:
QR codes on bills:
Monarch Airlines:
DRIVERS
MANIFESTATIONS

13. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
13
MANIFESTATIONS (
Postagram Volly Manilla
Postagram:
of the photo, enables sharing via Twitter, and provides
the option to reply with a Postagram. The app will also
Digitizing physical mail:
Outbox:
E-‐billing services:
largest mailers in the U.S.
Postal services:
monthly fee to use NetPosti.

14. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
14
MANIFESTATIONS (
Swiss Post Box
MAPPING PHYSICAL ELEMENTS ONTO DIGITAL
Digital-‐into-‐physical cards:
testing a tool that lets members
Brand initiatives: Brands have been
deliveries. Marketers have used
responses.
When the Web offers so
in terms of time and
paper has that the Web doesn’t have
it somewhere.”
ALEXA HIRSCHFELD,

15. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
15
MANIFESTATIONS (
eHarmony USPS
For Valentine’s Day 2012, eHarmony Australia developed an easy way to
SPEEDIER DELIVERY
delivery window for online orders.
E-‐commerce providers:
smaller online boutiques to
partner with large retailers.

16. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
16
MANIFESTATIONS (
eBay Shutl
Startups:
explained to the L.A. Times.
“You press a button and [in]
under an hour the item that
you so desire is in your hands.”
TOM ALLASON, founder and CEO, Shutl

17. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
17
Go omnichannel:
third parties to provide this offering.
Put the consumer in control:
trust, as well as a greater willingness to read and open any
mail are delivered and in what format. And Canada Post helps
WHAT IT MEANS
Outbox Earth Class Mail

18. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
18
WHAT IT MEANS (
Simplify the sending process:
Show digital and physical media aren’t so far apart: To some digital natives and others immersed in the virtual world, postal
partnered with Postagram, allowing people to send their
promotion with Coppertone.
Ease environmental concerns:
Explore faster delivery:

19. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
19
CASE STUDIES
Seda, “Shampoo Paper”:
trendsetters, printed with an invitation to the Sónar festival,
Union Bank of India, “Bouncing Mail”:
BMW, “The M Press”:
in November.
Telecom, “Big Thank You”:
Seda Union Bank of India BMW

20. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
20
CASE STUDIES
Australia Post UNICEF
Australia Post, “Big Yellow Suitcase”:
provides an affordable way to send luggage from a hotel and avoid
Kit Kat, “Kit Kat Mail”:
GGRP, “Cardboard Record Player”:
UNICEF, “Fahad’s Arm”:

21. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
21
DELIVERY LOCKERS
USPS BufferBox
Postal services:
Amazon/Walmart:
up items from a nearby site rather than wait at home for deliveries.
U.S. stores this summer.
BufferBox/Kinek:
Cleveron:
Itella grocery pickup:
the pilot stage.

22. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
22
stubbornly 1.0.
Messages arrive with unreliable speed (who hasn’t had an
for a few days, or even hours.
Smarter inboxes: The email inbox, though familiar, is hardly intuitive. Even
Better mail management:
sorting of important and unimportant emails,
they appear at a later time. .Mail, an app in
attention. Handle offers priority lists and easy
a reply.
RETHINKING EMAIL
Mailbox
intrusive than the telephone and faster
as designed, it’s a virtual nightmare.”
JENNA WORTHAM, “
to Deluge,” The New York Times

23. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
23
Fixing the address problem:
mail as often as they used to, they’re less diligent about keeping
to get addresses from friends via apps.
SoPost:
Sincerely’s Magic:
Postcard on the Run’s Postal Gopher: The app
will request your friends’ addresses via email or text
with the details.
Simpler stamps:
does Sweden.
RETHINKING EMAIL (cont’d.)
SIMPLIFYING ADDRESSES AND STAMPS
An address should be where you
are, or where you want things to be
somebody has for you. … SoPost is about turning

24. APPENDIX:
MORE ABOUT OUR EXPERTS/INFLUENCERS

25. WHAT WE’LL COVER (cont’d.)
25
APPENDIX: MORE ABOUT OUR EXPERTS/INFLUENCERS
TOM ALLASON, founder and CEO, Shutl
EVAN BAEHR,
ALEXA HIRSCHFELD,
Fortune’s “10 Most Powerful Women
Entrepreneurs” and was one of Fast Company’s

26. APPENDIX:
ADDITIONAL CHARTS

27. 27
APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL CHARTS
1D:
When I send someone
a letter, it feels more
personal than an email
When I send something
via the mail/post, I
feel like the extra
effort is worth it
when I send a letter or
Putting something
in the mailbox/
postbox is fun
Sending a letter or
post is the best way to
about him/her
85%
77%
80%
77%
59%
83
77
80
77
71
85
76
79
82
59
85
76
81
76
51

28. 28
APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL CHARTS
1E:
When I send someone
a letter, it feels more
personal than an email
When I send something
via the mail/post, I
feel like the extra
effort is worth it
when I send a letter or
Putting something
in the mailbox/
postbox is fun
Sending a letter or
post is the best way to
about him/her
85%
85%
79%
72%
54%
81
85
78
75
62
89
88
84
76
59
87
84
78
73
51

29. APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL CHARTS
29
AUTHENTIC
ORDERLY
FRIENDLY
SPONTANEOUS
& FUN
Spontaneous
Independent
Boring
Easygoing
Consistent
Hardworking
True to self
Tweets
Instant messages
Facebook updates/
messages
Physical
letters
Text messages
Emails
Fun
Clever
Real leader
Down to earth
Orderly
Smart
Reliable
Content
Friendly
1F:

30. APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL CHARTS
30
:
is more meaningful
or text, even if the
message is the same
in the mail/post
make me feel more
than digital notes
81%
78%
84%
78
77
85
79
79
80
82
78
85
1H:
is more meaningful
or text, even if the
message is the same
in the mail/post
make me feel more
than digital notes
89%
81%
79%
88
84
77
84
76
77
93
82
84

31. JWT:
@JWT_Worldwide.
JWTIntelligence:
Cover Credits: 1.
2. 3. Hub
billibala
Maarten Takens khrawlings
10. egg™ 11. Joel Washing
| @JWT_Worldwide
|
| @AnxietyIndex
Written by Will Palley
Director of trendspotting
Editor
Trends associate
Contributors Aaron Baar
SONAR™ Mark Truss
Design Peter Mullaney
The Future of Correspondence
Ann M. Mack
Will Palley
@wpalley
© 2013 J. Walter Thompson Company.
All Rights Reserved.
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