Though the Internet is viewed by some printers as a competitor in the communications field, the direct mail segment is thriving as a strong component of advertisers’ integrated, multimedia marketing programs. Getting print and electronic channels to work together requires careful targeting, personalization, and tight delivery scheduling. Timing is crucial, because mailings may be synchronized with TV and radio ads, in-store promotional campaigns, and even Internet-based offerings and events. For direct marketers, the challenge is to get printed pieces deeply enough into the U.S. Postal Service system, and close enough to the customer, to ensure that the materials are in the hands of consumers at the right moment.

Such carefully implemented direct mail programs are the core business of IWCO Direct, Chanhassen, MN (www.iwco.com). Already a major player in the field, the company added significantly to its ability to produce and deliver for clients with its July 12 acquisition of Fala Direct Marketing Inc., headquartered in Melville, Long Island, NY. Now working as one company, IWCO and the former Fala both offer high-volume web printing and related production capacity along with a broad geographic reach. The combined firm will employ a total of about 1,800 people at four sites, making it one of the largest privately-owned direct mail producers in the U.S.

“The bottom line is that the acquisition enhances our postal strategy by adding proximity to the population centers in the New York/mid-Atlantic corridor,” Jim Andersen, IWCO’s president and CEO said in an interview. He estimated that about 23% of the U.S. residents live in this region. “With Fala, we can provide an integrated direct mail solution and a postal strategy that is an enormous benefit to our customers. We can bypass the bulk mail centers and enter the system deeper into the postal stream more efficiently, with less cost and less mail handling. It reduces postage costs and cycle time, and that’s what direct marketers are all interested in.”