I can’t get over the irony of the U.S.P.S., an organization known for anything but speed, sponsoring the American team in the Tour de France.
Why are they doing this? I understand the general principle that sponsors, like advertizers, spend their money in hopes of gaining business. But the Postal Service is a near-monopoly. What business do they expect to gain?
What happens the next time they whine about needing to add a penny or two to the cost of a first-class stamp? If they have enough money to spend on the Tour de France, do they really need the rate increase?
a)They’re doing it to try and make more money. Monopoly, nah they’re losing to overnight carriers and e-mail
b)They want you to use their Small Business Solutions, see their website http://www.usps.com
They have a variety of web services I’m sure they would love you to use.
a)They’ll probably get it.
b)My guess is that it’s a drop in the bucket for a company that size and it appears from the website that they are trying to gain foriegn business. This would be a good way to get your name out there.
As a piece on Slate recently mentioned, the current sponsorship agreement runs around $25 million over three years.
Compared to a $2 billion deficit this is a drop in the bucket and they presumably feel it will pay for itself.
What do they hope to accomplish? One is assiciating themselves with speed. As you jibe points out, most people think they are slow (though I think they do a pretty phenomenal job). Having your name mentioned with the Tour de France can probably create some different perceptions. Otherwise it is just an opportunity to remind people of their services.
Sure, they’ve got a monopoly on first-class mail. But they are competing with UPS and FedEx with their Priority Mail, so advertising is still worthwhile.
I’d have to agree with obfusciatrist in feeling that they do a phenomenal job. I’ve dealt with both European and third world postal services. And I’ve run a business for manny years. And, yes, I use courier services (FedEx, UPS, DHL) for certain assignments. But for regular old first-class mail, where does it get better?
My missionary-kid roommate who had lived most of his life in Kenya said it wasn’t unheard of for the mailman to just leave the bag in the bush if he thought he had a decent reason. End of bag of mail. Too bad.
I have the distinct impression that Americans who complain about the USPS haven’t had the opportunity to sample even the services of say, an ex-Iron Curtain country. I’ve heard things…
Also, there are other sponsors of the USPS Pro Cycling Team. You can find a list at their web site (though the graphics don’t seem to work). I didn’t realize that there are actually 22 members of the team.
It seems like the USPS has been sponsoring a team for a while – does anyone know how long?