In September 2009, Ramesh Ratan left his position as COO at The DMA (Direct Marketing Association) to become President of Pitney Bowes’ Document Messaging Technologies (DMT). We were curious about this transition, especially in light of the recent departure from The DMA of John Greco, its Executive Director.  WhatTheyThink spoke with Ramesh to gain insight into the transition, what attracted him to Pitney Bowes, and his views on the future of our industry.

WTT:  Ramesh, can you tell us why you decided to leave the DMA for this position at Pitney Bowes?

RR:  My background has been in a blend of marketing and technology going back to the 1980s and Bell Labs.  One of the things I have always been interested in, even after I joined the DMA, is trying to figure out what company will create the next major movement. Today, people are struggling with the convergence of television, computers, desktops, laptops, mobile, and there is a migration of dollars away from traditional advertising media to one-to-one communications using a variety of media.  Some people say that the USPS is going away and direct mail is dead.  I think those predictions are overblown.  It is part of human nature to value tactile experiences in the form of touching paper, fabric, etc.  Exercising the physical senses is a very important part of how people communicate.  Consumers are always going to value some form of tactile experience, although online will certainly be part of the mix.  The future is all about the integrated communications experience, and although many companies are doing well figuring out the digital and mobile experiences, almost no one can do all of that as well as merge it with physical communications like mail, packages and parcels.  Pitney Bowes, in my mind, and DMT in particular, is one of the only places I see the ability to bring the bits and the atoms together.  It wasn’t even a choice.  I felt like I had spent my whole career in working toward coming to Pitney Bowes.