On Magazines and Mailers

By Matt McLernon

On my ride to work today I grabbed yesterday’s mail and rifled through the handfuls of junk mailers I receive on a daily basis. I dislike junk mail as much as the next guy and am probably as lazy doing something about it. But when it makes the postal worker cram in my prized issues of Wired and break Netflix movies because of my lunchbox-sized mailbox, I’ll declare a digital war.

I get a sense of nostalgia when I get something legitimate in the mail (read: non-bill, non-junk), that often prevents me from switching to entirely digital. For example, how can you compare a three-line email from your mom to a card reminding you to come home for a visit. But when I saw a Barnes & Noble announcement that offers single issues of thousands of magazines in print or download, I “saw the light” that savvy content providers like magazines or Netflix aren’t just going digital because the cool kids are. They’re realizing that consumers specifically want the convenience that digital offers, and must be willing to expand formats and in some cases, loosen control, to earn revenue.

The same holds true for a junk-mail management site I was sent called ProQuo.com. After entering some personal info (that is littered across the web to begin with), an interactive dashboard pops up with every catalogue, credit card and mailer company that has your info – with the option to cancel. While some of these require printing and mailing the cancellation (read: lame), the ability to detox my mailbox is highly promising. Even more – the site has a list of catalogues that you can sign up for, allowing the site to direct traffic to select vendors and possibly even gain a profit.

Maybe someday I’ll take back my mailbox. If not, maybe the next renter of my apartment will enjoy a dozen subscriptions to Omaha Steaks.