Direct Response articles from April 2004

Direct Response archives from April 2004

Editorial: New kids in data land.(Editorial)
April 30, 2004... Lifestyle data once caused a targeting revolution way back in the 1980s, when it became the must-have for acquisitive clients. But its plentiful supply made it something of a commodity in the new millennium. It seems there's a new data kid...

News Focus: E-Marketing - ICO drives war on SMS law-breakers.(Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS))
April 30, 2004... The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has called on the direct marketing industry to act as 'whistle-blowers' on text messaging companies that are breaking new regulations on e-marketing. Thomas told the DMA's fifth annual Data...

News Focus: Direct Marketing Association - DR unveils DMA newsletter ..(Haymarket Business Publications)(Brief Article)
April 30, 2004... Haymarket Business Publications, publishers of Direct Response, and the Direct Marketing Association, Europe's largest trade association in the marketing and communications sector, have joined forces in a unique publishing venture. From...

News Focus: Events ... and goes 'live' at the Marketing Direct Forum.
April 30, 2004... Delegates to the Marketing Direct Forum, the networking event for senior marketers hosted by Direct Response sister title Marketing Direct, will experience live versions of familiar elements from the magazine. The first ten client...

News Focus: Charities - ChildLine spring-cleans DM.(Brief Article)
April 30, 2004... ChildLine, the telephone helpline charity for children, has appointed a new head of direct marketing to boost donor acquisition and improve development strategy. Matt Parkes, who joins from overseas development charity CAFOD, will work...

News Focus: Events planner.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
April 30, 2004... APRIL 2004 29 The DMA Excellence 2004 Awards Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel, Portland Square, London. To attend, contact Rita Courtney at rita@dma.org.uk. MAY 20 IDM Masterclass: Professor Don Schultz on 'Making brand and marketing...

News Focus: What's new.
April 30, 2004... Customer management MoonRiver Group Customer management consultancy MoonRiver Group has acquired Bristol-based Direct Excellence, which specialises in customer service performance benchmarking. The move follows MoonRiver's acquisition...

News Focus: Diary of a Doormat.(direct mail)
April 30, 2004... Russell Abbott is managing director of WDPA Communications. He lives in Maidenhead's nappy valley with his wife and three young boys. When not repairing broken windows he rather enjoys fulfilling his potential as an amateur restaurant critic...

News Focus: Direct Mail - DM sees subtle rise for volume and costs in 2003.(Brief Article)
April 30, 2004... Direct mail volume and expenditure experienced only a moderate increase in the last quarter of 2003, according to latest figures from DMIS. Between October and December, volume rose by 1.5 per cent to 1.314 million items, with expenditure...

News Focus: Home Shopping - John Lewis to launch niche catalogues.(Brief Article)
April 30, 2004... Retail giant John Lewis is combining its largest-ever mail order catalogue with small niche publications to capitalise on the growing home shopping market. John Lewis' main bi-annual catalogue is mailed to its core home shoppers and...

Opinion: Marketing is shifting into neutral.
April 30, 2004... How the world has moved on. We've had 'integrated marketing' for some time. Now the talk is about true 'media neutral' solutions. A great concept. So how do I break the news? It's as if you're driving at night in a city you don't know,...

How to ... make integration work for your campaign.(Cross-media integration as a marketing tool)
April 30, 2004... Cross-media integration as a marketing tool is a simple idea but also a precise art. Anna Dobson provides a guide to the concept and ways in which its application can strengthen your campaign. Integration has been at the front of marketers'...

Legal Eagle.
April 30, 2004... The FSA will introduce rules on mortgages later this year. James Milligan presents these changes as well as outlining current rules on home shopping. Q: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is introducing new rules on mortgages. Do you...

Creative Masterclass: Creative masterclass on ... copy writing for beginners.
April 30, 2004... Staring at a blank screen, just waiting for inspiration? It doesn't have to be this way. Jon Vinton explains the rules of writing great copy. Probably the most difficult aspect of getting started when writing copy is actually... getting...

Data Clinic: Ask the experts.(promoting health clubs)
April 30, 2004... Our panel of data specialists this month covers how to promote health club customer retention by gathering data and how acquisition is not necessarily a long-term strategy. I manage a chain of personal health centres and want to promote...

Data Clinic: Get connected.(CD Consultancy)(Brief Article)
April 30, 2004... Tim Banks of The CD Consultancy, a newly launched company uses the web to help solve problems for clients, run a virtual DM campaign and find his way to meetings. Having launched in November, we are busy working with our clients to help...

Data Clinic: How to buy ... transactional data.
April 30, 2004... With literally thousands of transactional lists on the market, Victoria Mattlinson presents a guide to sorting the good from the bad, the fact from the fiction. Transactional data, by definition, is compiled from consumers who have a...

Data Clinic: DataTalk.
April 30, 2004... Clean data fuels good business, but many organisations take it for granted. Martin Doyle of DQ Global believes the way to move data up the corporate food chain is to recognise it as an asset. According to management guru Peter Drucker,...

Data Clinic: What I do in data.(Interview)
April 30, 2004... Q: How did you arrive in this job? Alchemetrics is where I started my career. I've progressed through the ranks from analyst to production and then into systems development - that is, building client systems from databases to data extract...

Data Clinic: What is ... Statistical significance?(Brief Article)
April 30, 2004... Statistical significance measures the effect of taking a small sample of data rather than a larger one. So statistical significance is very relevant when you have a few pieces of data, for example, 10-100 records, but becomes irrelevant when...

Data Clinic: Data Health Check.(Co-op Group's database got a much-needed spring clean)(Brief Article)
April 30, 2004... The Co-op Group After a company merger, years of expansion and with a growing pool of members, Co-op's database got a much-needed spring clean, reports Christina Papas. The case The Co-operative Group has been hailed as the people's...

Data Clinic: Technique - How to analyse a transactional database.
April 30, 2004... To harness the right kind of customers and then target them with relevant products, a transactional database is key. Giles Pavey provides a guide to uncovering profitable secrets locked in that database through analysis. Modern business...

Data Clinic: Case Study - Manchester United FC.
April 30, 2004... To make the most of United's huge fan base, an ambitious membership scheme was created. It may not win this year's Premiership, but Manchester United can comfort itself with the thought that it is probably the most popular football club in...

Data Clinic: A manager's view.
April 30, 2004... List owners are crying out for a more proactive approach to sales and marketing but, says Jeremy Saul, list managers are too behind the times to notice. List managers are data experts. But many are not demonstrating and using their data...

Which list? A round-up of new or updated consumer, business and online lists.
April 30, 2004... NEW LISTS Consumer Consumer DNA Prospect Swetenhams has introduced the Consumer Decisions Needs and Attributes (DNA) list to the market, which combines consumer and business information to create a profile of buying attitudes of...

Contact Centres: Outward bound.
April 30, 2004... Selling via the telephone has a poor reputation, thanks to the intrusion factor and the problem of silent calls. But companies can be successful using outbound telemarketing, as Christina Papas discovers. Outbound telemarketing sales...

Lists: Hidden classics.(Collin Street Bakery, how direct marketed to ex-pat customers overseas)
April 30, 2004... An ability to look beyond the face value of niche lists to identify their hidden worth is the answer to a shortage in the supply of fresh lists. What have fruitcake lovers and well-healed ex-pats got in common? Very little you would...

Home Shopping & Fulfilment: Direct to the door.
April 30, 2004... Online and mail order sales are soaring, but customers aren't at home to receive the goods. Rob McLuhan reports on some new delivery innovations. The shift to online sales took a decisive turn last Christmas, soaring by 70 per cent...

Secrets of my success: Paul Kitcatt, Creative partner, Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw.
April 30, 2004... I realised soon after I became a copywriter that the inspiration for great creative work will rarely be found in a client's brief. As excellent as their brief may be, it's only the starting point. What you must do if you want to produce...

DMA Forum: DMA View on ... Green issues top the agenda.(Direct Marketing Association)
April 30, 2004... To say the environment is top of the agenda for the DMA is something of an understatement. Last year it signed an agreement with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) which laid out the most ambitious recycling targets...

DMA Forum: Comment - As criticism continues, can direct mail ever lose its junk mail tag?(Brief Article)
April 30, 2004... As an industry we face constant criticism - be it from the Government, the press or the general public. In my experience of working within the direct marketing industry one sector that continually attracts the bulk of this criticism is direct...

DMA Forum: Bulletin Board.(Direct Marketing Association)(Calendar)
April 30, 2004... Legislation The DMA has expressed concern about how the national data protection commissioners of the Member States of the EU have interpreted the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive. The commissioners have suggested that a...