Reaching Local Residents

For any local council, keeping the residents of your Local Government Area (LGA) informed of the latest news and developments is vital. Delivering information efficiently and effectively can be challenging – something that Tandridge District Council in Surrey were finding.

brief

Deliver a well read and important council wide magazine to all homes in the district.

The Challenges

Council boundaries are not the same as postal ones. The client’s use of Royal Mail a single distribution solution (Royal Mail) only meant that there was a significant over delivery to neighbouring councils. Royal Mail will only deliver to full postcode sectors, so thousands of non-Tandridge homes were receiving the magazine, meaning wasted copies, a larger print run and high costs.

Our Solutions

We applied our SmartExtra approach, combing delivery methods to balance cost and coverage.
A three-tiered approach was then prepared for distribution.

Postcode sectors that belong entirely to Tandridge are covered using Royal Mail’s Door to Door service.

In split postcode sectors, our SMART mapping software is used to create delivery routes that target only Tandridge properties. Deliveries are then made by our network of trusted distributors.

Direct mail is used to target postcode sectors that contain small numbers of homes belonging to Tandridge Council that would otherwise be missed.

impact

Distribution cost reduction

Printing cost savings

Distribution cost was reduced by 10% by removing the over delivery.
A greater saving was that the print run was reduced by 10,000 copies (20%), delivering significant cost savings.

testimonial

“We have been very satisfied with the service SDS has provided. Delivering in an area which has a complex mix of urban and rural properties can be difficult, but SDS works hard to resolve any issues quickly and to improve the delivery service each time. We have not found another company that provides such good service for a competitive price.”

Tandridge Council, Communications Manager

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