~ by Jörg Schneider, International Sales Director, and Christoph Scholze, International Sales Manager, at Deutsche Post Adress GmbH & Co. KG.

Let's start taking the plane to London, Great Britain's capital and a multicultural hub. The good news: They speak English. The even better news: They have one of the most sophisticated address cleaning and updating systems in Europe. The bad news: It's also the most complicated and confusing, with more than 16 different NCOA and suppression files, for which the quality varies significantly, and over 40 data services bureaus. So you need a good knowledge what files to use for which purpose.

Let's take the train through the Eurotunnel to France. We're heading to the south, Libourne near Bordeaux - heart of the famous wine and headquarter of the French charade, the NCOA file from La Poste. It might take two to three days to get your data cleansed and updated. But the quality is fine, like the wine.

~ by Charles Prescott, Consultant & Editor of The Prescott Report

In the United States, we are used to efficient, reliable, consistent and predictable services from the USPS. Sure, the USPS is in a dire state, what with tumbling direct mail volumes and , catalogs and magazines going digital and ceasing to print and mail. But the system is remarkably efficient and reasonably priced, and actually quite innovative within the boundaries set by Congress and the Postal Regulatory Commission.

Diversity in postal systems-just a business. Europe ends the monopoly

Life is different is many other countries. The postal service in many places is a moribund, expensive, or basically ineffective and nearly useless government bureaucracy. In much of Latin America, more mail is carried by private postal operators than by the government monopoly carriers. In most countries, this is de jure illegal, but the government will not take legal action to stop it because it, too, relies on the private carriers.

~ book review by Marty Shaw, Global-Z Sales & Business Development

As marketers build their brands, the ever-present question lingering is "What's next?". Bob Gilbreath helps answer this question in his book, The Next Evolution of Marketing: Connect with Your Customers by Marketing with Meaning. He lays out his ideas about a marketing strategy he calls "meaningful marketing." It was a thought-provoking book that I recommend any marketer read.

Bob Gilbreath, Chief Marketing Strategist at Bridge Worldwide, reminds us that the average consumer has close to 3,000 ads impressions daily. He challenges marketers to no longer "spray and pray" their marketing message hits its mark, but rather provide "intelligent interruption", offering marketing messages when and where consumers want to receive them.

We're very pleased to introduce you to the most recent addition to the Global-Z team; Aniko Balzer. Aniko has taken on the responsibilities as Global-Z's Office Manager, the oh-so-important role of helping assure all of our customers are happy, both the Global-Z team members as well as you, our valuable clients and prospective clients.

Aniko is a native of Hungary and grew up in Eger, a historic town in a wine region in the northeast part of the country. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Education and a Master's Degree in Human Resource Management. Aniko started her career in Education where she spent five years teaching languages at private and public schools in Hungary. Since 1996 Aniko has been working in the field of HR Management; first she worked as an executive search consultant, then she moved over to the corporate side of HRM.