The UPS Store on Monday introduced Blu, its first brand character. Blu, a friendly woman wearing a blue The UPS Store polo and black pants, is part of a larger national, multiyear campaign set to run on television, digital, social and print channels. The effort is aimed at small business owners and spotlights the retailer’s services, such as printing, shipping and mailboxes. The effort follows a recent pivot by United Parcel Service, the parent company of The UPS Store, to focus on premium services. In early 2025, it announced it was reducing deliveries for Amazon by over 50%. The reduction in volume led to a broad restructuring of the company’s network, including the elimination of 48,000 jobs that year, with an additional reduction of 30,000 positions planned for 2026.

More softness in adult nonfiction in the second quarter and slowing sales in adult fiction combined to drop unit sales of print books just over 1% in the first six…

Marketers are really starting to look at how millennials respond to marketing. In a recent study conducted by DigitasLBi, Razorfish, Tumblr, and Yahoo, millennials will have a cumulative $1.4 trillion in spending power by 2020. Therefore marketers need to be paying attention to this group of people. Since they are known as digital natives many people have felt that direct mail was not a good way to reach them. However, this has shown itself to be untrue, millennials like getting mail. How can direct mail appeal to millennials? Authenticity: All the messaging and imagery on your direct mail pieces need to be authentic and in sync with your brand. Accessibility: How easy is it for someone to reach you? How many ways to respond to your direct mail are there? Human Appeal: Create a sense of connection with each individual with not only personalization but through emotion. Social Awareness: Show case all the good things your company is doing for social causes. Technology: Since this group is very digital savvy, make sure that you are including technology in your direct mail.