Portland, Ore. - Feb. 5, 2002 -
Zairmail, Inc.
today announced that it would power a direct mail service for Office Depot,
Inc. (NYSE:ODP), the world’s largest seller of office supplies. The service,
called Office Depot Express Direct, will be located on Office Depot’s website at
http://www.officedepot.com/BusinessServices/partners/zairmail
and will be powered using mail-on-demand software and Internet infrastructure created by Zairmail. It allows businesses to send targeted direct mail pieces such as letters, postcards or flyers at the push of
a button.
Direct mail is the most effective advertising medium available, returning $10 for every dollar
spent, according to the Direct Marketing Association. Historically, it has been most commonly utilized by medium and
large businesses that have the time and expertise to manage elaborate direct
mail campaigns. Zairmail, the first company to facilitate the convergence between the
Internet and postal mail on a large scale, has been an innovator in bringing the advantages
of direct mail to smaller businesses due to Zairmail’s unique ability to send postal mail quickly
and easily via the Internet.
Office Depot Express Direct allows the Company’s small business customers to launch entire
direct mail campaigns online. Now businesses can send hundreds or thousands of letters, postcards or flyers
straight from their PC in just 15 minutes. This compares to
the three weeks or more required by traditional direct mail processes. Zairmail’s nationwide
network of printing facilities ensures that the mail is printed and delivered
to recipients in the fastest manner possible, often overnight. As an added bonus, the service
is less expensive than doing it yourself due to the tremendous economies of scale.
“Office Depot is pleased to offer Office Depot Express Direct, a cutting-edge service that
enables our small business customers to conduct sophisticated mailings with a
click of a button,” said Monica Luechtefeld, Executive Vice President of
E-Commerce. “The launch of Office Depot Express Direct on our Web site underscores
our commitment to providing our small business customers with the tools and services they need to help
them work smarter not harder. It’s simple to use, but most of all
extremely cost effective.”
“Office Depot is a terrific partner in bringing
the power of direct mail to businesses of any size, even very small
businesses,” said Wilson Zehr, CEO of Zairmail. “Together we can demonstrate how traditional postal mail combined
with the power of the Internet can be a fabulous marketing tool that is highly
cost-effective for any business.”
About Zairmail
Zairmail is the first company to enable large-scale
convergence between the Internet and postal mail. Through its Web site
(http://www.zairmail.com), Zairmail offers fast and convenient solutions for
conducting direct mail campaigns and electronic-to-postal mail correspondence.
Zairmail's proprietary software, strategic partnerships and geographically
distributed printing network all combine to create a service that can rapidly
deliver postal messages -- often overnight. Zairmail is a member of the U.S.
Direct Marketing Association, the Canadian Direct Marketing Association, the
Mail Advertising Services Association, and the
American Electronics Association. Zairmail's corporate headquarters is located
at 2800 NW 29th Avenue, Portland, OR 97210.
About Office Depot
No one sells more
office products to more customers in more countries than Office Depot. As of
September 29, 2001, Office Depot operated 846 office supply superstores in the
United States and Canada, in addition to a national business-to-business
delivery network supported by 25 delivery centers, more than 60 local sales
offices and eight regional call centers. Furthermore, the Company had
operations in 15 countries outside of the United States and Canada, including
28 office supply stores in France and seven in Japan that are owned and
operated by the Company; and 101 additional office supply stores under joint
venture and licensing agreements operating under the Office Depot name in five
foreign countries.
The Company also
operates an award-winning U.S. Office Depot brand Web site at
www.officedepot.com where customers can access Office Depot’s low competitive
prices seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. The Company also operates
thirteen other Web sites, under the Office Depot and Viking Office Products
names, in the U.S. and eight international countries including: Austria,
Australia, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the United
Kingdom.
Office Depot’s
common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and
is included in the S&P 500 Index. Office Depot is an Official Sponsor of
the U.S. 2002 and 2004 Olympic Team, 2002 Olympic Winter Games and the 2002
Paralympic Winter Games.
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