July 23 2013

United States Postal Service

Masters of Branding 2013 Thesis
Thomas Calabrese / Sarah Conroy / Janavi Kothari / Catalina Torres

A History of Innovations

1792
U.S. Post Office Department

1832
Innovating Transport

1847
Innovating Commerce

1863
Connecting Every Home

1901
Innovating Transport

1918
Innovating Transport

1950s
Creating Communities

1959
Missile Mail

1963
Innovating Distribution

1966
Innovating Automation

But then, they did...

1970
Postal Strike

1970
Postal Reorganization Act

1971
United States Postal Service

1973
Federal Express Transforms Delivery

1980s
Fax Transforms Business

1990s
Email & Internet Transform Communication

Meanwhile, at the post office

Post Offices

Long Lines

Unmaintained

Confusing Forms

Deteriorating

Junk Mail

Going Postal

2006
Postal Accountability & Enhancement Act

$5.5 billion
Annual retiree health benefits mandate

$41 BILLION
NET LOSSES

$2.8
-5

$3.8 $5.1 $8.5 $5.1

-10

-15

$15.9
-20 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

$10 BILLION
REVENUE
$ Billions

$75
75

$75

72

69

$68 $67

66

$65

$65

63

60 2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

NON-RELEVANT

SERVICES
29% Non-Mail Services

Mail Services

71%

MAIL VOLUME

250

DECLINE
Pieces in Billions

230

212
210

203

190

177 171
170

168 160

150 2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

DAILY NUMBER OF

15000

MESSAGES
SENT IN USA (2012)
11250 7500

13 B

6B

3750

239 M
0 email text social

63 M
letters (USPS)

Consequences

Public Bailout Privatization We are left with a brand which is ubiquitous and dated. Extinction

Where do we go from here?

 NEITHER SNOW NOR RAIN NOR HEAT NOR GLOOM OF NIGHT STAYS THESE COURIERS FROM THE SWIFT COMPLETION OF THEIR APPOINTED ROUNDS

Tactile

Community

Security

Omnipresent

Access

Historical

Where are we today?

Financial Institutions Fail

Social Media

Housing Bubble Burst

Environmental Concerns

Millennial Generation

Collaborative Consumption

Collaborative Consumption

Where is the opportunity?

The need for personal connection and community.

Opportunity
USPS interacts with every single American home and business on a daily basis.

Access is becoming more important than ownership.

Opportunity
USPS has an infrastructure that gives people access to goods & services across America.

Security, privacy and trust are the biggest concerns that arise from collaborative consumption.

Opportunity
Federal laws protecting the sanctity of US mail make it a trusted, secure & reliable brand.

Tactile

Security

Omnipresent

Community

Historical

Access

Tactile

Security

Omnipresent

Community

Historical

Access

Universal Service Obligation

USPS Model

Economic Trends

Cultural Trends

Mail dominant service model

Current 29% Non-Mail Services

Mail Services

71%

Flexible service model

Proposed 29% Mail Services

Non-Mail Services

71%

USPS Model

Flexible service model

Proposed 29% Letters

Money Packages Identity

71%

People

Our job is to make your world bigger To enable connections To support your dreams To build a stronger nation

We are the USPS Connecting the nation one person at a time.

What if this supported everything that we did?

Internet for All

Communications

Express Priority First Class

1 Day 2 Days 4 Days

Look & Feel

Dated

Rigid

Limiting

Name

Postal
Of or pertaining to the post office or mail service

Progressive
Moving forward; advancing; a movement toward a goal; growth; onward, forward

Name

United States Progressive Services