Royal Mail readies first TV ad in six years

The Royal Mail is to launch its first major TV campaign in six years just weeks after the postal service was privatised by the Government as it gears up for the busy festive parcel delivery season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyuRKDgkYqA

The “We Love Parcels” ad will feature 25 Royal Mail delivery workers and aims to encapsulate the joy people feel when they receive packages through the post. It is soundtracked by a version of The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love”, sung by the Royal Mail choir.

Moves to place a greater focus – and an increase in price – on parcel delivery helped The Royal mail post revenue of £9bn and more than double profit in the year to 31 March. 

Ben Rhodes, Royal Mail head of marketing and commercial strategy, says: “Our people are responsible for delivering millions of precious parcels a year, and they go the extra mile to make sure that our customers’ needs are met – never more so than at Christmas time. We wanted to capture this spirit, as well as celebrate our postmen and women, and the job they do, from start to finish.”

The campaign, created by (Beta) London, will launch on Saturday (2 November), with a 60-second version airing during The X Factor. A 30-second Christmas version of the launch ad will then appear two weeks later, with six 10-second festive themed adverts running simultaneously in the run up to 25 December.

In September the Government ran a low-key campaign across press and digital to drum up interest among potential investors in the Royal Mail ahead of its stock market flotation. 

The newly privatised company will be thankful that earlier this week its workers called off a planned 4 November strike, given the timing of the new campaign.

The Royal Mail’s share price was 573p at the time of writing, driven up 2.3 per cent on the news that the Communication Workers’ Union had cancelled the strike.

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