Hosted by Deutsche Post DHL, the Philatelic Forum was held in conjunction with the launch of the German EUROPA stamp at the exhibition International Briefmarkenmesse in Essen.  The host, Mr. Helmut Dallei, Head of Deutsche Post Philately (Germany) warmly welcomed the delegates to the forum and brought insights on the Philatelic Market in Germany.  Each year, 52 stamps of various themes are issued in Germany under the advisory of the Federal Minister of Finance.  The German stamp market is one of the biggest in Europe, and whilst the traditional collectors are declining and number of occasional collectors who are drawn to specific themes are growing.  Mr. Dallei spoke deeply about how Deutsche Post is keeping Philately alive through modern communication means.  “Accessibility and ease of purchase is a key factor for consumers” said Mr. Dallei.

When we talk about innovation, it is hard not to talk about mobile technology.  The increasing uses of mobile technology, both smartphones and tablets have a huge impact on the postal business.  Mr. Markku Penttinen, Development Director of Itella (Finland) presented the complex and growing consumer mobile behaviour in Europe which includes the use of mobile apps, videos and promotions. Participants also learnt more about the purchasing behaviour of consumers using smartphones. “Smartphones are an invention which has been around less than 20 years but the growth and development of its usage is tremendous.  We must keep up with the times and understand how customers interface with smartphones to be able to reach them” says Mr. Penttinen.  More and more postal operators have invested in smartphone technology for this very reason.

Mr. Glendon Martinez, Managing Director for the World Online Philatelic Agency (WOPA) in Gibraltar and guest speaker presented WOPA and its activities in mainly helping postal operators to sell stamps in countries don’t have a reach. They were working on a new website which launched in mid-July and hope that more postal operators will consider to join WOPA.

Another innovative development is in the area of QR Codes and Infrared stamps.  Mrs. Stela Prislan Fujs, Corporate Marketing and Development of Hrvatska Posta (Croatia) spoke about the usage of QR Codes and Infrared stamps with hidden images embedded in stamps at the Croatian Post, as a concrete example of a new technology application on philately. 

In line with Mrs. Prislan Fujs, Mr. Peter De Fre, Manager Segment Marketing from bpost (Belgium) talked about the importance of both innovative design and promotion to raise awareness and change the public’s “dusty” perception of the philatelic industry.  Special issues can leverage from this raised awareness.  Promotion and awareness can be a good mix of applying the latest printing technology to an innovative design to finding an innovative location to launch the stamp attracting publicity.  Mr. De Fre proceeded to give concrete examples from bpost in recent years of how this was done in Belgium.  Hence, working with the Marketing and Communication teams is essential.  It was also mentioned that despite the aging populating, it young persons have an emotional link to letters. 

In line with Mrs. Prislan Fujs, Mr. Peter De Fre, Manager Segment Marketing from bpost (Belgium) talked about the importance of both innovative design and promotion to raise awareness and change the public’s “dusty” perception of the philatelic industry.  Special issues can leverage from this raised awareness.  Promotion and awareness can be a good mix of applying the latest printing technology to an innovative design to finding an innovative location to launch the stamp attracting publicity.  Mr. De Fre proceeded to give concrete examples from bpost in recent years of how this was done in Belgium.  Hence, working with the Marketing and Communication teams is essential.  It was also mentioned that despite the aging populating, it young persons have an emotional link to letters. 

Participants also had the pleasure to get to know the latest stamp printing techniques from another guest speaker, Ms Karine Zaworski, from Cartor Security Printing.  Cartor is a familiar name amongst the philately group.  In line with the theme, Ms. Zaworski spoke about the latest printing application trends showcasing the most innovative cases including the use of exotic materials in stamps. 

Leveraging on the core business, Mrs. Anita Häggblom, Chair of the Stamps and Philately working group from Ǻland Post had the opportunity to present the innovative Ǻland Auctions, their web-based auction house.  This profitable innovative initiative launched last year, now auctions letters, postcards, coins, bank notes and other collectibles in addition to stamps.  Auctions are held three times a year and are deemed to continue to grow.

From a proprietary system to leveraging a social network platform, Mr. Arjan Jochems, Marketing Manager from PostNL spoke about the latest developments in the infamous Facebook and more importantly, how Facebook with its wide reach can help promote stamps sales to new customers. 

Looking towards the future, Mrs. Häggblom also presented the upcoming EUROPA stamps competition, its themes and in particular, the preparations for the 2016 EUROPA competition theme “Think Green”.  She explained why this theme was chosen and the uniqueness it presents.  Discussion ensued with participants regarding the theme and the participants inputs were taken into account for further steps leading up to next years.