Marketing chief admits PO only has one last chance

The Post Offices marketing director Gary Hockey-Morley has admitted the company has one last chance to fix its problems as he prepares to launch the brands biggest advertising drive for several years.

The Post Office’s marketing director Gary Hockey-Morley has admitted the company has “one last chance” to fix its problems as he prepares to launch the brand’s biggest advertising drive for several years.

Hockey-Morley, who joined the Post Office from Abbey last year (MW September 7, 2006), says the company must modernise to survive. The Post Office, which is losing about £4m a week, is closing 2,500 branches to bring the business back to profit by 2011.

Hockey-Morley adds: “This is our last chance. Customer visits are falling and we don’t do nearly as much work for the Government as we used to. Staying as we are is not an option. We must modernise and compete hard for income. If we don’t change, the future is bleak. But we are changing and we will continue to change.”

The new advertising push, the first from the Post Office’s new agency Mother, breaks next weekend and features celebrities such as Westlife and Joan Collins. The campaign marks a shift in strategy for the Post Office, which axed the animated ant family advertising earlier this year (MW March 29).

Mother founding partner Stef Calcraft adds: “The Post Office is an institution but it’s a little dusty. This campaign will make it unashamedly popular and relevant again.”