Category Archives: Blog With BEB

PRC Approves Rate Hike effective Apr 26

April 26th Rate HikeThe Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) has issued orders approving some of the price changes proposed earlier by the Postal Service. After its review of the USPS filing, discussion of the input from commenters, and its own analysis, the PRC found that “the planned” prices for First-Class Mail do not violate the price cap.

The PRC has also approved the price increase for competitive products (proposed on January 26), except for some rates associated with products whose transfer from “market dominant” to “competitive” remain under review.

Rate increases will take effect on April 26, 2015. You can view the new rates by clicking below:

STANDARD NONPROFIT LETTERS AND FLATS

STANDARD LETTERS AND FLAT | FIRST CLASS LETTERS & POSTCARDS

Downtown Houston Permit Holders

BEB MAIL POOCHIf you currently hold a mailing permit number that is issued from the Downtown Houston Post Office, you will need to make some changes.

As closure of the Downtown Post Office completes, all permit numbers issued from there must be re-issued from the North Houston office.

To make the transition, you are required to re-apply (at no additional charge) for a North Houston permit number. However, North Houston may not be able to assign the same number you were given from the Downtown Post Office. If the number issued from Downtown is not currently taken by another mailer in North Houston, you will be assigned the same number. Otherwise, you will be issued a new number.

This process must be completed no later than June 15, 2015
Inventory of items already printed with the Houston permit information will be accepted throughout the balance of this year. If you currently use a permit with the verbiage “Houston”; when creating new inventory, you will need to use the verbiage, “N. Houston” going forward. A sample for your review is below.
EXAMPLE INIDICA

You can see detailed standards for mailing permit verbiage by clicking here or you can contact the North Houston Post Office at 713-226-3032.

If you need additional information or assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us at 713-528-5568.

BEB Takes Platinum Award

2015-02-01 AVA DIGITAL AWARD BEB WINS PLATINUMPlatinum is the highest honor received within the AVA Digital Award annual competition. It recognizes outstanding achievement by creative professionals involved in the concept, direction, design and production of media that is part of the evolution of digital communication. Our winning entry was for the use of QR Codes in our annual company interactive calendars.

The competition this year received over 2,500 entries from across the globe. The AVA Digital Awards is sponsored and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP). This international organization consists of several thousand production, marketing, advertising and free-lance professionals. We thank all of our valued clients and partners for continued opportunities to serve them!

You can see our winning entry by clicking here.

2015 Awards Season

BEB Awards SeasonThis time of year is always hectic for us.  We are involved with several industry organizations and January is the start of the awards competition season for many.

The competitions are a great way to support our local and national associations and gives us a chance to see the latest trends within the industry.

 

Today we submitted two pieces into the Printing Industries of the Gulf Coast (PIGC) Graphic 2014 HERMES Platinum StatueExcellence Awards.  One entry is a direct mail piece we created for a local nonprofit to solicit enrollment in the ACA; the other is our BEB Interactive Calendar!  Winners will be announced in March, so keep your fingers crossed for us!

We’ve also entered our interactive calendar into the 2015 AVA Digital Awards for our use of QR Codes.  Winners will be announced on February 2nd and you can see our online submission by clicking here.

We’re also working on our essay questions for the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Awards of Excellence competition.  Entries are due by February 10th, and the entire company has submitted answers so we can submit an entry where everyone has contributed to the process!

Rounding out this year’s attempts will be the 2015 Hermes Awards and the coveted Houston AMA Crystal Awards.  It’s a busy time in the Marketing Department at BEB!

 

FB

BEB Marketing for Small Business FACEBOOK 2.0 SURVEY

Thank you for participating in our Facebook 2.0 Class!  Please, tell us what you think!  Your input is so important to us.  Click onto the graphic above or here to complete a survey today.  You may submit your survey anonymously.

USPS Files Market Dominant Price Change

Blog with BEB 2015-01-15 USPS Postal Rate Increase RequestToday the U.S. Postal Service filed a request with the PRC (Postal Regulatory Commission) for a rate adjustment (1.966%) based on the CPI (Consumer Price Index). The request for increase applies to only “market-dominant products”, which includes Standard Mail, the primary postage used by marketers.
The USPS has requested that the increase take effect on April 26 and estimates that it will generate an additional $900 million on an annualized basis. The USPS estimates that an additional $400 million will be contributed to the fiscal year 2015, if the PRC agrees to meet the proposed implementation date.
The case also includes a separate pricing structure for Standard Mail run through the FSS (Flats Sequencing System). The request removes FSS pricing for carrier route, high density, or high density plus categories. Instead, a five-digit carrier route pallet rate will be created. An estimated 2.465% rate increase is predicted for Standard Flats.
Forever stamps will remain unchanged (49 cents), International letters will increase to $1.20 (a 5 cent increase), and postcard rates increase to 35 cents (a 1 cent rate hike).
We will keep you abreast of the outcome of this filing as it becomes available.

New Congress Against 5-Day Delivery

PostalReporter.com published a great blog with details about H.Res. 12, calling for the USPS to do what is needed to continue delivering mail 6-days a week.  Check out the blog and more details on the Resolution by clicking here.