Royal Mail has said that all machine sorted mail from September 2011 will feature the mark” Delivered by Royal Mail.”

The Royal Mail are saying the mark is recognition of the “dedication” and “fantastic job” done by postal workers.

Royal Mail is expecting that around 60% of all letters it delivers will have the mark printed on the envelope. Items that are sorted by hand will not carry the mark.

Members of the direct mail industry are very unhappy about this new development as it would impact on the creativity of mail packs and could also impact negatively on response rates. This could then in the longer term lead to a reduction in mail volumes. Something the Royal Mail are unlikely to want to see happen, when mail volumes are already under pressure from the price increases.

Potentially the new “branding” will interfere with the mailers own branding on the envelope and negatively detract from it.