Acxiom to Provide Direct-to-Consumer Marketing Solution for Wellmark, Inc.

Acxiom® (Nasdaq: ACXM), an enterprise data, analytics and software-as-a-service company signed a full-scale direct-to-consumer marketing program with Wellmark, Inc., doing business in Iowa and South Dakota as an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Acxiom will help Wellmark assess, understand and execute within the consumer marketplace as it relates to their focus and innovation surrounding consumer engagement by providing data and campaign management expertise and collaborating on analytics and performance reporting into 2016. The solution will include a wellness engagement strategy and acquisition and renewal campaign efforts.

Source: http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2013/07/18/2830469/acxiom-to-provide-direct-to-consumer.html

The Postmaster General Takes Issa to Task

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe today approached the House committee preparing a postal reform bill with one overriding question: “Does it enable $20 billion in savings by 2016?” 
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, issued a “discussion draft” of a postal reform bill in May that included compromises he hopes will win bipartisan approval.  The draft did not appear to meet the full approval of the PMG, however, who is adamant that any new legislation remove the U.S. Postal Service's obligation to prefund employee health and retirement programs. Issa's plan calls for future payments to be made on an actuarial calculation that will reduce the Postal Service's annual  $5.7 billion prefunding payment, which it defaulted on last year.

Source: http://www.dmnews.com/the-postmaster-general-takes-issa-to-task/article/303491/

DM services set for boost as Royal Mail sell-off gets green-light

Business Secretary Vince Cable is expected to outline the flotation in a statement to MPs. It is said the business will be valued at more than £2bn.
In an interview with The Telegraph, postal services minister Michael Fallon says a sell-off will “give it [Royal Mail] commercial freedom and future access to capital that a company of its size needs”.
It is likely the cash injection will allow it expand its marketing services operations, the revenue from which has helped offset the decline in income from letters.
Revenue from its letters division increased by 3 per cent in the 12 months to 31 March, with an increase in addressed and unaddressed marketing mail offsetting the 8 per cent drop in the volume of letters.

Source: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/dm-services-set-for-boost-as-royal-mail-sell-off-gets-green-light/4007302.article

Wynright Acquires BoxLogix Automation’s Software and Controls Group

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. -- 

Wynright Corporation, the nation’s leading independent, U.S.-based provider of intelligent material handling systems, announced that, effective today, it has agreed to acquire the Software and Controls Group of BoxLogix Automation, a Wisconsin-based systems integrator with more than 20 years of experience developing turnkey systems for high-volume distribution facilities. The people and assets of the Software and Controls Group will remain in their current location in Cincinnati, Ohio, following a strategy Wynright has set in past acquisitions. BoxLogix will continue to provide mechanical material handling engineering and design services out of their Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin office.

Source: http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2013/07/16/2825178/wynright-acquires-boxlogix-automations.html

UPS, FedEx Threatened by New E-Commerce Strategies

SAN FRANCISCO -- UPS and FedEx might be worried about international shipments to slowing economies such as China, but perhaps they should be more concerned about what's going on in their own backyards.

Major U.S. retailers are experimenting with new e-commerce strategies that could dent demand for package delivery services, particularly demand for shipments over long distances, according to analysts and industry executives.

Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/07/15/ecommerce-threat-ups-fedex-package-delivery/

RR Donnelley Awarded Expanded Agreement to Provide Fulfillment Services for John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

CHICAGO, July 17, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company (Nasdaq:RRD) today announced that it has been awarded an agreement that expands its relationship with John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement RR Donnelley will provide warehousing, distribution and fulfillment services for Wiley's North American professional development and research products.
"We see innovation as a means of providing exceptional service to our customers while minimizing our fixed and other costs," said Ellis Cousens, Wiley's Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer. "This initiative provides another means of accomplishing this important objective as we draw on RR Donnelley's proven and robust logistics capabilities."

Source: http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2013/07/17/560561/10040620/en/RR-Donnelley-Awarded-Expanded-Agreement-to-Provide-Fulfillment-Services-for-John-Wiley-Sons-Inc.html

Royal Mail is a good business but not yet a good investment

The Government stopped short of formally announcing an IPO so it is not known when the sell-off will happen. What is clear, however, is that investors will be buying into a company that is recovering from the losses the decline in letters volume caused to become a profitable media owner and a brand the public is ready to love.
Since taking over as chief executive in 2005, Moya Greene has turned the business around. Operating profit hit £403m in the last fiscal year from a loss a year earlier. Cost-cutting and round after round of efficiency programmes aside, the business has enjoyed great successes from revenue generating divisions closer to home.

Source: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/opinion/royal-mail-is-a-good-business-but-not-yet-a-good-investment/4007348.article#commentsubmitted