1. 1 PRINTERS GUIDE TO FOLDED SELF-MAILERS & BOOKLETS National Postal Forum April 13, 2010

2. 2 Agenda  Value of Direct Mail  Letter Mail Automation Environment  Letter-size Booklets  Additional Letter Booklet Formats  Folded Self-Mailers Study

3. 3 Value of Direct Mail  Personal and Relevant  Provides engagement with customers  Allows for a one to one moment with your customers  Targetable  Reach specific target audience  Measureable and cost effective  Creative  Compliments all media channels  Web, Radio, TV

4. 4 Market Trends  Mailpiece designs continue to evolve  More emerging creativity in the marketplace  Mailing standards do not account for these designs

5. 5 Letter Automation High speed automation equipment processes letter mail at a rate of 10 pieces per second! Standardization improves automation efficiency!

6. 6 Envelope vs. Non-Envelope Letters  Letter-size Booklets and Folded Self-Mailers do not process like enveloped letters:  Potential for more damage  Impact to effective processing  Impact to response rate  Higher jam rates  Potential for damage to other mailpieces  Lowers automation productivity  Solutions?  Goal - solutions beneficial to USPS and mailers

7. 7 Letter Booklet Study  Comprehensive testing and analysis with industry  Result - revised standards effective Sep 08, 2009 Reference: More information can be found in DMM 201.3.15 http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/201.htm#wp1042622

8. 8 What is a Booklet DMM 201.3.15.1 Booklets must have a bound edge. Sheets that are fastened with at least two staples in the manufacturing fold (saddle stitched), perfect bound, pressed- glued, or joined together by another binding method that produces an end where pages are attached together are considered booklets. Booklets are open on three sides before sealing, similar in design to a book. In general, booklets must be uniformly thick…

9. 9 Additional Booklet Designs  Continuing to create more mailing options  New booklet designs since revised rules were published, include:  Wallet Style  Simple spine continuous glue line closure  Oblong

10. 10 Additional Booklet Designs Primary attributes driving change of the new designs:  Dimensional size of piece  Allowance for more length  Cover weight  Allowance for lower cover paper basis weight  Closure method  Various methods allowed - based on weight of mailpiece Let’s take a look at the new designs…..

11. 11 Additional Booklet Designs 4” Height; 5.2” – 8” Length Weight up to 2oz with 1.5” Non-Perf Tabs Weight between 2 to 2.5oz with 2” Non-Perf Tabs Wallet Style

12. 12 Additional Booklet Designs Less than.8oz - No tab required Cover to Cover Internal FlapExternal Flap Simple Spine – Continuous glue line

13. 13 Additional Booklet Designs Weight between.8oz – 1.6oz Requires one lead edge 1.5” Non-Perf Tab Cover to Cover Internal FlapExternal Flap Simple Spine – Continuous glue line

14. 14 Additional Booklet Designs Weight between 1.6oz – 3oz Requires two lead edge 1.5” Non-Perf Tabs Cover to Cover Internal FlapExternal Flap Simple Spine – Continuous glue line

15. 15 Additional Booklet Designs Continuous glue line closure on trail instead of tab Oblong

16. 16 What Now? Folded Self-Mailers

17. 17 Folded Self-Mailer Study Objective of Proposed Mailing Standards Changes:  Identify incremental opportunities for improvement  Seek the greatest efficiency gains with the least impact to the mailing industry  Clearly define the characteristics required for automation and machinable letter prices  Preserve creative mailpiece design options  Incorporate standards for creative exterior elements that have and continue to emerge

18. 18 Folded Self-Mailer Study  Building off prior success from booklet study  Partnered with industry  Mailer supplied test material, samples included:  what mailers currently produce  what mailers would like to produce

19. 19 Folded Self-Mailer Study  Categorized samples based on basics of design style  Determine (4) primary characteristics of categories:  Traditional self-mailer; single sheet of paper folded  Nested sheets (layers) folded either vertically or horizontally  Self-mailers with internal attachments  Self-mailers with inserts/enclosures  Analyze data to determine standards  Primary correlations  Cover weight, closure method, dimensional size of piece

20. 20 Folded Self-Mailer Study What’s next:  Brief Folded Self-Mailer study participants  Publish a Federal Register proposal  Publish a Federal Register final rule  Implement revised standards More to come…

21. 21 QUESTIONS?