Yolanda Noble

A friend of mine recently received a statement from his energy supplier, which featured a personalized advertising message. He was suitably impressed and, knowing I work in the direct communications business, told me so. Obviously, I agreed that this emerging advertising channel was a good way of getting messages across to customers. I then asked him if he ever received bills or statements addressed to other people. He said, "No," but his daughter, who had moved into a new flat a year ago, was still receiving bank statements for the previous owner. As I told him, advertising on bills and statements will work effectively only if customer data standards are significantly improved.

Advertising on bills and statements is on the rise and is poised for meteoric growth, according to various analysts. The notion of using bills, statements and other statutory customer correspondence as an advertising medium has gained much currency over the last three or four years. The process has...