Royal Mail signals a renewed focus on MarketReach with senior hires
Royal Mail has drafted in three executives to bolster its direct marketing solutions service MarketReach as advertising mail plays an increasingly important part in the company’s business strategy.
Diana Rhodes joins from media agency Mindshare as mail strategy and planning director with a brief to plan for the changing needs of direct marketers.
Zenith Optimedia’s Antony Jones joins as head of insight to develop insight tools, while Kathryn McNamara moves internally from Royal Mail’s brand and communication team and will work with brands to optimise their investment as head of communications and channels.
Managing director Jonathan Harman, who joined from Aimia eighteen months ago, instigated the creation of the three new roles, which will be seen as a renewed focus on MarketReach.
MarketReach launched almost two years ago as a media planning, data and creative service for brands. Its stated aim was to boost physical direct marketing’s share of the UK advertising market by persuading brands of the merits of advertising mail.
Direct Mail, however, is expected to underperform the rest of the advertising market in 2013 with growth forecast to be flat against a 3.8 per cent increase across the advertising sector, according to latest estimates by the Advertising Association.
Royal Mail, privatised in September, recently reported a 3 per cent dip in revenue from its marketing mail business for the six months to 29 September 2013.
The company sees DM as playing a bigger role in its revenue mix to offset the decline in its letters business.
