Oct 18, 2005
Making Money from Inserts
Inserts yield over $60,000 a year
for the Mass. Turnpike Authority
By George Linkletter
Inserts are a phenomenal success story at the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. In just over three years, the MTA has gone from zero revenue from inserts to more than $60,000 a year. Its capacity for enclosing inserts is booked months in advance. And the agency is examining how to include marketing messages on the statement itself to generate still more revenue.
How did the MTA achieve its success? By adhering to a plan that emphasized commitment, responsibility and creativity.
The commitment came from the very top of the organization. Matthew J. Amorello, chairman of the MTA, instructed all employees to explore every available option to generate ‘non-toll’ revenue. The goal was to offset the need for toll increases and still retain the ability to invest and upgrade infrastructure. A substantial amount of non-recurring revenue came from the sale of surplus property. But the need to generate a recurring revenue stream was a key priority, too.
Responsibility came next and was achieved when accountability for the broad task of business development (including generating revenue from monthly statements) was centralized with a small team headed by Steve Jacques. Prior to his role as MTA’s director of business development, Jacques served for more than 15 years in marketing with the Coca-Cola Co.
Creativity emerged from the willingness of the MTA to try almost anything in the effort to generate non-toll revenue. For example, the MTA signed Citizens Bank as a corporate sponsor of its Fast-Lane electronic toll collection service. The sponsorship yields $1.3 million over three years. The funds are used for beautification projects along the turnpike.
Steady income
The use of pre-printed marketing messages was another profitable innovation. The inserts are enclosed with the monthly statements sent to about 160,000 users of the Fast-Lane service. Every month at least two inserts and very often three are enclosed with each statement. Since every 1,000 inserts generates from $15.00 to $25.00, each monthly mailing can yield from $5,000 to $12,000 in non-toll revenue for the MTA.
As might be expected, Jacques is pleased with the financial results his team has achieved. The insert marketers are clearly satisfied as well since many are enclosing insert messages on a repeat basis. But Jacques is careful not to ‘kill to goose that laid the golden and stresses the need for both creativity and quality when managing an insert program.
“It is important not to enclose too many inserts,” he says, “both to avoid extra charges for postage and to give each enclosure exclusivity. We also make sure the insert messages are not competitive, and are from reputable firms. And we are constantly searching for new and highly-targeted messages to give our statement mailings a fresh and customized look.”
# # #
Want to share an insert success story? Contact: georgeol@ntplx.net.