Direct Mail Outlook: Still Best Marketing Value

"Those are often contradictory goals, but we have been able to make it happen," Jaeger states. "One result is that we have set new annual records for direct mail production and mail savings, and expect that trend to continue into the new year."

The 1,000-pound gorilla in the mailroom is Quad/Graphics' pending acquisition of Baltimore-based Vertis Inc. Given the sensitivity of the $258.5 million deal—which includes legal disputes by unsecured creditors involving Vertis' Chapter 11 status that are ultimately unrelated to Quad—the public company has chosen not to comment at this juncture.