The Mail Division of La Poste Group has included in its strategic plan to make the Mail a player in the Internet and the Internet a new dimension of the Mail. Mail activities, which are already competing with the Internet, are particularly affected by the crisis: La Poste anticipates a 30% drop in mail volume by 2015 and is experiencing a real change.
The search for additional sources of revenue, in addition to the projects already identified, is a key element in establishing the Courier as a major and sustainable Internet player. This implies that the programme should include an approach aimed at identifying, qualifying and implementing new opportunities. The ambition is to generate breakthrough ideas and launch experimentation with new services. This objective requires a posture of listening and continuous monitoring, particularly technological, to be reactive in the field of innovation in uses. This 1st edition of the Crossroads of Possibilities was initiated to meet this ambition, in partnership with the Fing.
There are many themes of innovation and vast digital territories, making it necessary to choose relevant development paths for the Mail, capitalising on existing assets and its legitimacy.
Digital Confidence
The Internet of trust is today more a concept than a market based on the principle that trust is a major lever for the development of exchanges or transactions in all their forms on the Internet. The legitimacy of La Poste as a trusted brand and institution truly reinforces this approach.
Bridges" between the physical and digital worlds
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The transition from physical to digital and vice versa is a differentiating asset for the Mail, as few players are capable of offering such services. At the frontier between the physical and digital worlds, the Mail occupies a prime position and must develop it.
The projects selected in this Crossroads of Possibilities are all relevant initiatives aimed at developing solutions and uses in these two areas.
Sharing the culture of innovation
The Carrefours des Possibles detect and highlight innovative uses of digital technologies. It is a privileged space and time to imagine the future in a position of openness and serendipity. The aim of the Crossroads of Possibilities is to encourage a new form of partnership dialogue between key accounts and young innovative companies.
Operating according to a process of meetings and coaching of innovators, the Carrefours des Possibles result in public presentations of usage scenarios, facilitating benevolent and creative exchanges with users and partners. To date, more than 2,500 innovators have applied and 890 projects have been selected. Organized in regional networks for 10 years in France (13 regions), they are developing in Europe and Africa.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship is an essential step in the open innovation process. It is a voluntary action, both on the part of La Poste Group employees and project sponsors; the sponsor being in a position to promote the project within La Poste Group.
Mentoring is a high value-added approach that enables La Poste group to better understand and integrate external innovation. Similarly, this approach can be promoted to project leaders. Sponsors provide their support, business knowledge and strategic vision to the sponsored projects. The dialogue was rebuilt in a reciprocal relationship.
The 9 final projects selected benefited from this support by staff from different departments (DAIC, DSI, DI, DIDES). The pairs, trained in this way, met during working sessions to further develop the projects so that they are in line with La Poste Group's strategic objectives.
Nine innovative scenarios selected for 2012
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- Altercode / Enabling optimal accessibility of information www.idova.fr
- Eway-Solutions / Digiposte: the virtual office of the company creator www.eway-solutions.com
- KMB360 / The documentary hub of La Poste's e-services www.kmbpartners.com/my-own-desktop
- Mobi Master / The first game to make our phone our hero! www.mobinlife.com
- My Feel Back / Mobile, a new channel for contextualized, real-time customer data www.myfeelback.com
- Print to mobile / ID Center, mobile solutions www.idcenter.ch
- R'Mes / Increased mail www.novedia-consulting.com
- Révad / Innovative home services platform www.revad.fr
- Smartsy / Capture, create and smartsyfy the real - Smartphone application that will change the everyday life of objects www.smartsy.com
La Fing
La Fing promotes and networks innovative projects and those who carry them. It supports or helps transforming projects to emerge. Through its events, notably the Carrefour des Possibles, it promotes more than 200 innovative projects per year. La Fing is also involved in the experimentation of transformative projects, such as the "Green Watch". In France, the Fing federates and leads an unparalleled network of major companies and start-ups, laboratories and universities, designers and creators, territories and public decision-makers.
La Poste Group
Since 1 January 2011, La Poste has lost its last (historical) monopoly, that of the delivery of mail weighing less than 20 grams. The development of the Internet and the complete opening up of the market therefore force La Poste to adopt new strategies. Reinventing mail also means focusing on growth markets: business and corporate relations (87 % of La Poste's mail market) and commercial communication (prospectuses or mailings). In order to increase its leadership in these markets, La Poste has already put its faith in the Internet: since March 2011, with Digiposte, private individuals have been able to benefit from a digital letterbox, an electronic safe and a secure lifelong archiving system for administrative documents.
Within the La Poste group (287 000 employees, turnover of EUR 20,5 billion), mail alone accounts for EUR 11,5 billion in turnover and 150 000 employees. 16.5 billion items are distributed each year (including 1.3 billion newspapers), to which must be added 9.5 billion catalogues and leaflets.
(Sources: Denis Pansu, Aymeric Raoult, Fatou Dutour, Fabienne Guibé / Groupe La Poste / Carrefour des Possibles / La Fing)
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