Letters to the Editor

[Re: Loose Cannon: Dance: 10; Looks: 3, Direct Newsline, Dec. 4, 2006 (directmag.com/loosecannon/loose-cannon-dance-looks-120306/)]:

Canada Post has launched an excellent program, but [the Loose Cannon column] is kind of like attacking the Nova Scotia Air Force — big guns on a weak target. Could Campbell’s Soup red have been mistakenly intended to be the red of the Canadian national flag? PMS Red #185 is a rich fire truckCanadian red, but somebody could have mixed up the numbers and ordered the wrong color.

These catalogs of catalogs have been successful both in print and online, so Canadian Post was using a well-regarded program.

Fred Morath
Fred Morath Direct Marketing
Natick, MA

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I am sure the advertisers didn’t think [of the catalog as] more than a “Get your ad pages in” ad piece.

Do you have a site where we can see a lookbook™?

Herbert Poll
Advertising Dept.
B&H Photo-Video
New York City

(Richard H. Levey responds: The Web site doesn’t have quite the same impact as the piece — it’s actually somewhat less offensive — but the URL for the catalog is www.the-lookbook.ca.)

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Your column on Canada Post’s misguided lookbook — a holiday book without a look — underscores the value of good creative, a factor which successful mailers never under-estimate.

When the legendary Bill End (of LL Bean, Lands’ End and his own Cornerstone Company fame) spoke at the Hudson Valley DMA’s recent Meet the Masters event, he tackled this very subject. Sharing the “secret” behind Lands’ End success, he stated: “From their covers to their copywriting, design, and formatting of themed books, they do an exceptional job of romancing the product.”

He also said the catalog was notable for repackaging its offerings with seasonal slants throughout the year, making merchandise look fresh and timely.

Sage advice … Thanks for giving quality creative a platform in Loose Cannon.

Lauretta Harris
Write Communications Inc.
Scarsdale, NY

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Richard, you have just delved into bottomless well of stupidities when you delve into the well of fiascos from Canada Post. They range from an overly packaged Swiss-like army knife as an enticement to encourage American mailers, to outrageous discounts plans for sample test mailings but no advice on what to do with the results. This is the same group that can have an overpaid employee sit beside a ringing telephone and ignore it. All the while convinced that answering the phone is not his job. That kind of certainty is rampant throughout Canada Post.

Clamber into the back areas of the great Canada Post and you’ll find various meetings in progress. “Important meetings.” Meetings where people discuss various projects they can get underway to enhance the fortunes of Canada Post. Some very good and workable ideas come out of those meetings only to be turned over to committees to be gutted and “blandisized” beyond belief.

The catalogue you described is a good example of how badly it can go wrong. The civil service mentality practiced in Canada will suck the life and enterprise out of any individual. So, please don’t fault the employees of Canada Post. It’s not their fault. It’s the system that turns them into the collection of “village idiots” they appear to be.

Making and registering “lookbook ™” is an example of how bad things can go. It’s an example of one of these committees trying to legitimize their stealing an idea from an outside group. With Bush’s unwavering certainty that he is right, on everything, stands him in good stead for a future job at Canada Post.

I have given up on seeing anything good come out of Canada Post. But, they do provide ample fodder for ridicule.

Albert Saxon
Saxon Marketing
Springfield, MA