Monday, April 22, 2024
USPS is reinventing Mr. ZIP for a new generation
The effort is helping the Postal Service build its brand — and generate revenue
Mr. ZIP is back.
The Postal Service is giving the beloved character new life through children’s products that aim to expand the appeal of the USPS brand.
“Our vision is that Mr. ZIP becomes a beloved character to today’s children, and they grow up remembering him and having an affinity for mail and the Postal Service,” said Amity Kirby, the organization’s licensing and creative manager.
USPS isn’t producing the Mr. ZIP products itself.
Instead, the organization is licensing Mr. ZIP to companies that pay the Postal Service a fee to use the character.
This has allowed USPS to enter the world of licensed entertainment characters, the most lucrative segment of the licensing market.
Retail sales from products featuring licensed characters — such as T-shirts bearing Barbie’s likeness or toys based on the M&M mascots — generated $129.9 billion in 2021, according to Licensing International, the industry’s largest trade group.
The Postal Service has successfully licensed its brand for other products, including Vans sneakers and the Great American Mail Race board game. Revenue from licensing has grown almost 500 percent during the past seven years.
So far, Mr. ZIP’s reinvention as a licensed character is off to a good start.
The first new product featuring the character — a children’s book called “Mr. ZIP’s Windy Day” — was published last fall and proved so successful, four more books are in the works.
Sales were also strong for a series of licensed plush toys featuring Mr. ZIP and his new cast of supporting characters, including B. Franklin — an eagle named for Benjamin Franklin.
Additional licensed Mr. ZIP products are planned — and Kirby and her team are taking care to ensure the character remains true to his essence.
The Post Office Department adopted Mr. ZIP as a mascot in the 1960s to help introduce the nation to the ZIP Code.
In his new iteration, Mr. ZIP remains a teacher of sorts, helping kids learn how to be good members of their community.
He’s also been given a bit of a makeover, including a modern postal uniform and a more relaxed smile.
“We asked ourselves: How do we make him more relatable for audiences in 2024?” said Alicia Marlatt, the Postal Service’s creative art manager.
USPS is carefully choosing the companies it works with, including top publishers and toymakers in the children’s market.
Kirby and her team are also taking care to ensure Mr. ZIP reflects well on the Postal Service.
In “Mr. ZIP’s Windy Day,” for example, some mail gets blown out of the character’s hand but he steadfastly collects each piece so he can resume his deliveries.
“We are the first line of defense for brand protection, so that is a huge component of licensing and it’s very important to us,” Kirby said.
Heroes
Down on the farm
This carrier responded to a customer who fell in a barn
Rural Carrier Associate Hayden Dale was delivering mail recently in Wilmington, OH, when he heard shouts coming from a barn.
Dale found a customer on the barn floor who had fallen off a ladder, hitting his head and sustaining other injuries.
Dale ran to the man’s residence to alert his wife, who called 911 while the Postal Service employee went back and comforted him until paramedics arrived.
The customer was treated for injuries that included a broken ankle.
He later wrote to the Wilmington Post Office to praise Dale:
“Hayden got me the help I needed. It was a complete selfless act of kindness that he didn’t have to do. I am forever grateful.”
Employees featured in “Heroes” receive letters of commendation through the Postmaster General Heroes’ Program. The nomination form is available on Blue.
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered April 14-20
Taxes, fake websites and heroic employees made news
Last week, Link reported on people who continue to mail their tax returns each year.
Among them: Tim Qiu, a USPS acting integrated operating plan specialist who recently used Certified Mail for his return.
“I’m very happy that the Post Office can provide this secure service,” he said.
We also reminded you to beware of fraudulent websites that pose a cybersecurity threat to the Postal Service, including fake versions of LiteBlue; we shared a link to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s latest congressional testimony; and we previewed the latest issue of The Eagle magazine, which looks at next-generation delivery vehicles.
Our “On the Job” and “Off the Clock” columns took the week off, but it was business as usual for our other regular features.
“People” introduced you to Chris Royall, a Wilkesboro, NC, letter carrier who was recently named man of the year by a business on his route, while “Heroes” showcased two letter carriers: Ian McMartin of Ware, ME, who rescued a skydiver in distress, and Terralen Lofton of Lafayette, LA, who alerted a customer to a fire in the person’s home.
“I’m just grateful and I thank God that I was able to not only save the house, but also save a life,” Lofton told a local TV station.