For bpost employees, the move to the Multi Tower marks the beginning of a new chapter. This brand new office tower, located a stone's throw away from the old bpost building, offers a magnificent view of Brussels and has a spectacular roof terrace. It is also a completely CO2-neutral building. We were able to meet Katrien Merckx and Tatjana Raman in the brand new offices. The smell of paint is still in the air, and on the table is their brand new book: 'De power van post'.

Ladies, who are you and what do you do when you are not writing books?

Katrien Merckx: "My name is Katrien and I started at bpost about five and a half years ago as Relationship & Sales Manager Communication Agencies. I already had a lot of experience in the media, especially at Medialaan/Roularta. I was involved in a wide range of media, from radio, television and press to digital. When I was given the opportunity to set up bpost's own media agency and build a network from scratch within the creative agencies, I didn't hesitate for a second."

"I was already aware of the considerable impact of paper mailings compared to other channels. It's not illogical: the consumer reads your message much more consciously, they take the time to sit and look at it... You don't sit down to watch an advert on TV, do you? (laughs)."

Tatjana Raman: "I am Head of Media Intelligence and I started working here at about the same time. Unlike Katrien, I focus more on advertisers than on agencies. I also had some media experience. If you had told me 10 years ago that I would one day work for bpost, I wouldn't have believed you because I was in a sector with much 'sexier' flexible jobs. But in those media companies, salespeople like me were a dime a dozen. Here I was given the opportunity to lead the media team and make a real impact."

"For a few years now, we have also been giving lectures for the marketers of tomorrow, but also for people working in agencies. Because even today's teachers are not always familiar with 'traditional' media. This book is an extension of that: in fact, it could perfectly serve as a textbook in a college!"

It's true, you wrote a book together. How did you get the idea?

Katrien: "Tatjana and I had already done a lot of research on paper mailing, and we often laughed and said to each other that we should write a book about it! We also sometimes give presentations at events, and at the BAM Marketing Congress I was contacted by a literary agent who believed in our idea and presented it to Lannoo Campus. And this is the result (laughs)."

Tatjana: "Fortunately, Katrien and I turned out to be a perfect match. Katrien is more of an extroverted dreamer and I'm more of an introverted realist. So we are totally different and we immediately decided that we would each write from our own point of view. Of course, we reread each other's parts. We each submitted a chapter as a test to the editor... and they didn't notice the difference. So that simplified the writing process significantly: otherwise the book still wouldn't have been written, I think!"

Did your bpost colleagues welcome the book with enthusiasm?

Katrien: "We wrote the book in our spare time and under our own name. Of course, we asked the question, but everyone was directly OK with it and they supported us wholeheartedly. They also have a vested interest, so we didn't have to go to a lot of trouble to convince everyone. Of course we also have our own experience as sales promoters: we both had jobs in sales (laughs). In the meantime, an article about us has also appeared in our internal employee magazine, and we regularly receive positive feedback from our colleagues."

Tatjana: "When you are passionate and you have a company that supports you and gives you the freedom you need, you see that a lot is possible. And as an employer, when two colleagues want to write a book about your product after their working hours and it is so well received: well, I think you can only be satisfied, right (laughs)?"