The captains of the catalog industry faced the national and trade press at the DMA show Tuesday afternoon to calm fears about mail security.
Their central message: In spite of anthrax, the mail will stay open. And, direct mail is safe.
“The likelihood of having a dispersion of anthrax through a direct mail campaign is very, very unlikely,” said H. Robert Wientzen, DMA president and CEO.
That’s because commercial mail is separated from First Class before it even hits mail centers, said members of a panel that included representatives of the nation’s biggest catalogers Fingerhut, J. Jill Group, Newport News and Lands’ End.
“We believe postal mail is safe, a safe way to shop and we’re looking forward to a good Christmas,” said Michael Sherman of Fingerhut.
All the catalogers concurred, saying their expectations for the quarter hadn’t slipped. Saying they have seen in October how Christmas response is shaping up, panelists pointed to a DMA survey of catalogs that said response seems to be holding its own.
“We feel holiday results are on target,” said Gordon Cooke of J. Jill.
“We have seen no reaction to people’s response to catalogs that would indicate concerns about anthrax,” said George Ittner of Newport News.
Consumers, realizing that, continue to order, panelists said.
Only three pieces of mail has been involved in introducing anthrax into the mailstream, Wientzen said.
How concerned is Wientzen about anthrax now possibly having been discovered at people’s homes? “We don’t know enough about those,” he told an audience that included the New York Times, CNN and the Wall Street Journal.
“We are concerned about the deaths, of course, but 40 people died on the highways last month and we’re not drastically changing our driving habits,” Wientzen said.
Some panelists said they had evaluated or beefed up security at their facilities, sending e-mail to announce a catalog is on the way by mail and taking a closer look at temporary workers. They also take care to prominently display their return address and contact information on the outer envelope or label.
Will anthrax change mail and how much catalogs rely on it?
“There’s no substitute to ink and paper,” Wientzen said. “This industry needs the postal service and this country needs the post office.”
“We won’t bail on the postal service,” said Fingerhut’s Sherman.
The Internet has not taken the place of catalogs, said panelists, even when a catalog is published on the Web site. “We do 25% of our business online and this has remained constant,” said J. Jill’s Cooke.
The postal service will need to appeal to Congress for more cash, all panelists said. Increased security efforts, including the purchase of eight irradiation machines to kill anthrax germs in the mail, will cost billions.
PMG Potter said mailers shouldn’t have to pay for extra security measures, said Jerry Cerasale of the DMA.
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