Royal Mail Prepares For Festive Parcel Boom

As Royal Mail gears up for the Christmas rush, the Company is launching a TV advert reminding consumers and business customers of the many ways they can send and return parcels this festive season.

“Postage That Fits Around You” highlights Royal Mail’s Click & Drop service. Available online and via mobile app, the service enables marketplace sellers and consumers to pay online and print labels at home or at a Royal Mail Customer Service Point, with the flexibility to drop parcels at 14,000 locations around the UK.

The thirty-second advert, which was developed by MBA, features a woman in winter clothing walking to post a parcel in one of the Company’s 1,400 parcel postboxes at dusk. Set to a backdrop of ‘Stop This Flame’ by British artist Celeste, the sky is a majestic shade of red, as birds are seen neatly sat in a line on a cable.

As a voiceover explains the various ways that customers can use the Click & Drop service, the birds launch into the sky, flexing into beautiful shapes. They twist and turn into a laptop, tablet and phone, followed by the outline of a printer, as it is clarified that customers can buy postage online and print labels at home.

The camera then returns to the marketplace seller dropping off her parcels, as the voiceover details the thousands of drop-off point options available to customers.

As well as driving awareness of Click & Drop and the recently launched Parcel Collect service, the campaign aims to encourages customers to get ahead of the traditional Christmas rush – both by shopping online, and by sending parcels and letters to family and friends early.

Christmas is typically the busiest time of the year for parcel deliveries, but this Christmas is expected to outstrip prior years’ festive peaks as more people are likely to shop online and send gifts to one another. Royal Mail reported a 34% year-on-year increase in parcel volumes between April and August reflecting an increase in online shopping during the pandemic and associated lockdown.

Media planning and buying for the campaign was by Havas Media Group.

Natalie Thomas, Marketing & Digital Director at Royal Mail, said: ““Responding to consumer and SME demand in parcel delivery is an absolute priority for us, and this has become even more significant given that so many of us are spending more time at home now. We’re delighted to be raising awareness of both the Click & Drop and Parcel Collect services in this way, and we hope it will encourage many more consumers and SMEs to take advantage of these fast, easy-to-use services.”

James Middlehurst, Managing Partner at MBA, said: “We are very proud and excited to have developed such a breakthrough creative approach for Royal Mail, supporting all the work which has run so far, building awareness and driving take up of this brilliant service. The TV is beautiful and is sure to stand out at this key time of year.”

Andrew Darby, Managing Partner, Havas Media Group, said: “Following five great years of working with Royal Mail, we are proud to be launching a Christmas TV ad as part of the brand campaign for Click&Drop. Our TV activity will further amplify the profile of the proposition and play a key role within our audience-first plans by outlining the benefits the service can play to aid SME’s and consumers at this important time.

Preparing to deliver Christmas

More than 500 years old, Royal Mail has always played a central role in delivering Christmas to families across the UK and around the world, and this year will be no different. The company commences preparations for Christmas up to a year in advance.

Royal Mail has recently announced its annual Christmas recruitment campaign and will hire around 33,000 temporary workers to help 115,000 permanent postmen and women sort the Christmas post.

Temporary staff, many of whom return year after year, will help sort parcels, card and letters at one of over 14,000 sites across the UK. This year they will also be supporting Royal Mail’s dedicated COVID-19 testing kit collection team.

The Company has also acquired additional temporary sort centres, with two located in Northampton and Milton Keynes. These will join a nationwide network of sites dedicated to sorting parcels to help meet Christmas demand.

Temporary parcel sort centres have been used for around 10 years to process a significant proportion of seasonal parcels and help manage volumes. This year the company has decided to expand its existing portfolio of seasonal sites in order to help manage the accelerated growth in parcel volumes.

Royal Mail is also making it easier than ever to send and receive items this Christmas. New in-flight delivery options make it more convenient for customers to manage when and how they receive parcels at home. And the new Parcel Collect service means postmen and women can now also collect parcels from customers’ doorsteps while delivering items on their daily round.

Latest Recommended Posting Dates for Christmas

The UK latest recommended posting dates for Christmas 2020 are as follows: