Philatelic Services
In 2003 China Post sold 1.83 billion philatelic stamps and 40 million philatelic items, decreasing by 24.9% and 10.7% compared with the previous year respectively. The philatelic departments at all levels improved their operational philosophies and marketing strategies considerably, and the extensive operational mode was preliminarily transformed. Marketing Campaigns with Local Themes. Taking the opportunities of issuing stamps with local themes, postal bureaus at all levels actively held first-day issue campaigns. They organized various marketing activities on the occasion of major local or national events and developed exquisite philatelic products targeted at special customer groups, which has achieved sound social and economic benefits.
Promoting the Personalized Stamp Services. The personalized stamp business has greatly promoted the development of philatelic business and achieved sound economic returns. In May 2003, the State Post Bureau set up the examination and approval group in charge of the management of the business nationwide. All the provinces took the business as a new growth point, held training programs, enhanced promotional activities, formulated management rules, adopted incentives and launched door-to-door marketing activities. They actively collected information about the activities of various organizations to develop personalized stamps for them. In 2003, 9.3 million versions of personalized stamps were developed across the country, achieving a revenue of almost RMB 360 million yuan.
Providing Quality Services for Big Customers. In 2003, the philatelic departments adopted a manager responsibility system for big customers, established database for those customers and formulated relevant service rules. They recruited special marketing personnel targeted at the big customers, developed a stable customer base, expanded the group stamp consumption market, thus promoting the development and sales of customized philatelic items.
Developing Annual Stamp Albums for Enterprise. The annual stamp album business focused on enterprise images. China Post launched the “consultant” marketing activities and sold the albums directly to consumers. It developed altogether 1.5 million annual stamp albums for enterprises, accounting for 38% of the total albums.