Billions Sold

USPS Says "Welcome Home" in a New Way

The strategic partnership Imagitas crafted between the USPS and corporations like Home Depot and Ryder Trucks is a case in point. It started simply enough -- an opportunity to revamp the Postal Service's unassuming "change of address" card. What the people at Imagitas understood was the inherent marketing potential of a document designed to service over 45 million Americans each year - residents of the more than 21 million households who move from one place to another.

The partners' creative juices flowed. "Let's put together a Mover's Guide," they said, "that not only includes a change of address card and additional cards to notify businesses, magazines, and friends of the move, but also helpful information about the best ways to move, moving related products, tips on moving with animals and children, maps, information about voter and vehicle registration, and "how-to's" on everything from fire safety to free health insurance for America's kids."

The entire package -- creative layouts, great information, low-key ads tastefully integrated into the presentation -- would be paid for by advertisers, not taxpayers, and delivered free of charge to USPS. The Postal Service would then distribute the new "Mover's Guide" via an innovative follow-up process designed and administered by Imagitas.

It turned out to be an offer no agency or advertiser could refuse. After due consideration by agency and corporate lawyers, public relations departments, creative consultants, and assorted experts inside and outside the government, everyone agreed that individual needs could be met in ways that demonstrated the willingness of American business to partner with government agencies committed to serving the public.

The achievements of this collaboration soon caught the attention of officials at Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR). And, it wasn't long after that NPR singled out the Postal Service as the 1,000th recipient of the Vice President's prestigious Hammer Award for the creative and innovative work it had done with Imagitas to deliver government services to the public.

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USPS Says "Welcome Home" in a New Way

The strategic partnership Imagitas crafted between the USPS and corporations like Home Depot and Ryder Trucks is a case in point. It started simply enough -- an opportunity to revamp the Postal Service's unassuming "change of address" card. What the people at Imagitas understood was the inherent marketing potential of a document designed to service over 45 million Americans each year - residents of the more than 21 million households who move from one place to another.

The partners' creative juices flowed. "Let's put together a Mover's Guide," they said, "that not only includes a change of address card and additional cards to notify businesses, magazines, and friends of the move, but also helpful information about the best ways to move, moving related products, tips on moving with animals and children, maps, information about voter and vehicle registration, and "how-to's" on everything from fire safety to free health insurance for America's kids."

The entire package -- creative layouts, great information, low-key ads tastefully integrated into the presentation -- would be paid for by advertisers, not taxpayers, and delivered free of charge to USPS. The Postal Service would then distribute the new "Mover's Guide" via an innovative follow-up process designed and administered by Imagitas.