Direct Response articles from March 2006

Direct Response archives from March 2006

Editorial: Is loyalty priceless?(Editorial)
March 30, 2006... Loyalty. Never something to be taken for granted, it remains one of the most sought-after objectives in marketing. While some in the industry might see loyalty as something easily acquired in the age of club cards, in reality, it remains a...

News Focus: DMA - New chair for DMA awards.
March 30, 2006... The DMA has brought in Heather Westgate, managing director of TDA, to chair its 2006 awards committee. She will aim to encourage a wider range of agencies and clients as well as media and data organisations to take part. 'It is...

News Focus: New Launch - Vast B2B database unveiled.
March 30, 2006... Market Location has launched a new business-to-business database that the company hopes will redraw the B2B data map. The company, which established itself as an independent player in B2B data in October after a management-led buyout from...

News Focus: Acquisition - Ark-H links to B2C firm.(Business to Consumer)(Ark-H acquires Diss Promotional Services)(Brief article)
March 30, 2006... Ark-H, the Bedfordshire-based fulfilment company, has acquired Diss Promotional Services, the fulfilment arm of Bounty UK. The deal will combine Ark-H's B2B experience and Diss's expertise in B2C fulfilment. The acquisition brings more than...

News Focus: Employment - EHS Brann CEO moves on.(Andrew Harris quits as chief executive officer)(Brief article)
March 30, 2006... EHS Brann group chief executive Andrew Harris has quit the agency. Harris left early last month. The agency declined to say how and when it would replace him. Harris started off as financial director at Evans Hunt Scott in 1990,...

News Focus: Utilities - Meter reading by SMS a first.
March 30, 2006... The utilities sector has branched into SMS with a meter-reading service launched by Scottish Power's metering arm, Dataserve UK, and mobile agency Incentivated. The service, which the companies claim is a first for this sector, enables...

News Focus: Royal Mail brands pounds 2m fine from regulator as 'illogical'.
March 30, 2006... Postcomm has ruled that Royal Mail should be fined pounds 2.16m for using its dominant position in door-to-door delivery to gain an advantage over new operators - a move savaged by the postal giant. Postcomm, the postal services regulator,...

News Focus: Events planner.(Calendar)
March 30, 2006... MARCH 16 - B2B Profiling and Analysis Venue: The IDM, Teddington, Middlesex. Contact: marketing@theidm.com 21 - Customer Intelligence: Third IDM Guru Event Venue: To be confirmed (Central London). Contact: marketing@theidm.com 22 - DMA...

News Focus: What's new - Launches.
March 30, 2006... VODAFONE AND GOOGLE Vodafone and Google are joining forces to develop the phone company's interactive mobile search services. Search results will be delivered through Vodafone's data networks and the new service will offer simultaneous...

News Focus: What's new - Contract wins.
March 30, 2006... GYRO INTERNATIONAL The integrated brand communications company Gyro International has been re-commissioned by Tate & Lyle to handle the second phase of its global advertising programme. The campaign will begin in early 2006. ANT...

News Focus: What's new - Name change.
March 30, 2006... NCH Marketing Services NCH Marketing Services, the UK coupon handling house, has changed its name to Valassis - the company that acquired it back in 2003. The US-based marketing solutions company also has a new managing director, Charles...

News Focus: Research - Top supermarkets fail to keep customers loyal.
March 30, 2006... Tesco may be the UK's most popular supermarket brand but it is failing to keep customers loyal, a report from brand market research consultancy Millward Brown has revealed. While 34 per cent of respondents said Tesco was the brand they most...

News Focus: Appointment - WPN adds DRTV head.
March 30, 2006... DM agency Watson Philips Norman (WPN) has hired WWAV head of TV Sandra Money to head a new in-house DRTV production unit. In just three years, WPN has created over 30 DRTV ads and is launching the unit in response to increasing client...

News Focus: Campaigns - Lists4Europe aids business.(D2M)(Euroleads)(MLS)(Brief article)
March 30, 2006... A European list network, Lists4Europe, has launched to help firms with the hard task of sourcing quality lists across Europe. Four independent list companies from the UK, Germany, France and Italy - RSA Direct, D2M, Euroleads, and MLS -...

News Focus: Diary of a doormat.
March 30, 2006... David Atkinson is managing partner at space. He is 37 years old, married, with a two-year-old son. He recently moved to Kingston from Fulham to fall prey to home improvement, car maintenance and childcare calls by phone and door to door. His...

News Focus: Business - Bonnier restructures to bridge European gap.(Bonnier Business Information changes its names to Bisnode AB )(Brief article)
March 30, 2006... Bonnier Business Information has changed its name to Bisnode AB and reorganised itself to better serve international clients. The company will now have five focused business areas: CRM and direct marketing; credit and risk information;...

News Focus: Research - Internet top channel for price quote shopping, says study.
March 30, 2006... The internet is the top consumer choice for researching financial and travel products, but people still prefer to purchase face-to-face, research from Equi=Media has revealed. The direct media firm's Ecommerce Media Monitor Analysis...

News Focus: Leagl Eagle.
March 30, 2006... James Milligan is legal and public affairs adviser at the Direct Marketing Association. This column is not intended to constitute legal advice. For specific legal advice, contact your solicitor. For DMA membership details, contact Sean Moore on...

News Focus: Survey - DM emailers risk spam trap if not on 'safe sender' lists.
March 30, 2006... While email volumes continue to rise, 75 per cent of the most prolific senders risk having their emails treated as spam and losing repeat sales by not asking contacts to add them to their 'safe sender' lists, new research says. Mailing...

Movers: Appointment at Carlson Marketing EMEA.
March 30, 2006... Valerie Popeck, formerly a consultant at Peppers & Rogers Group, has been appointed the new marketing director at Carlson Marketing EMEA, where she will reinforce its new global focus and growth strategy.

Movers: Appointment at Clark McKay and Walpole.
March 30, 2006... Martin Nieri has been promoted from the role of deputy to managing director of Clark McKay and Walpole. He replaces co-founder Janet McKay who will step down and take a break in March. Nieri joined the company in 2001 as group account director....

Movers: Appointment at Valassis.
March 30, 2006... Charles D'Oyly, the former director of partnerships at the Air Miles Travel Company, has joined Valassis as managing director of the UK business.

Movers: Appointment at Mike Colling and Company.
March 30, 2006... Chevy Wall, previously an account data planner at media agency Blue Frog, has joined Mike Colling and Company as account planning manager.

Movers: Appointment at Presky Maves.
March 30, 2006... Phil Bird is set to join Presky Maves as head of art, and partner to creative director Stuart Woodington. Bird helped set up Cold Eye and also Flint Communications, both in partnership with Woodington.

Movers: Appointment at Wegener DM.
March 30, 2006... James Horsburgh, former product manager of segmentation at Acxiom, has been appointed head of product management at Wegener DM.

Opinion: I want service - that's what I want.(mail order business)
March 30, 2006... True confessions from a genuine direct marketing consumer. First, mail order holds no fears for me. Second, I'm a cheapskate. And, third, I've got a short fuse. No longer part of the 'now' generation, wanting everything today, I'm more...

How to ... combat coupon misredemption.(methods to avoid frauds regarding discount coupons use)
March 30, 2006... Coupons can be a great way to motivate consumers - and to generate customer data, says Zoe Eastwell. But there are growing concerns by companies that misredemption is hurting their value. Coupons are successful because they can be used to...

Creative Masterclass On: Brand bespoke.
March 30, 2006... Direct marketing that builds brand is now a given. So what's next? Paul Snoxell and Andy Todd, creative partners of DS-J, ask if brand bespoke suits you. We have recently been judging direct marketing awards and found that the poorest work...

Data Clinic: Ask the experts.
March 30, 2006... This month our panel of data specialists looks at the advantages of using affiliate marketing for online advertising, the importance of segmentation and ways to boost response rates. Q: I work for a financial services company that is...

Data Clinic: Data health check - Amec Oil and Gas.
March 30, 2006... A giant in the global power industry, Amec was having problems standardising data gathered from hundreds of suppliers. THE CASE Amec Oil and Gas is an international project management and services company that provides design, project...

Data Clinic: South West Trains.
March 30, 2006... Long neglected and containing woefully few contacts, the train company's database desperately needed an overhaul. A customer database is a wonderful thing. Or at least it can be, if it has been looked after, regularly cleaned and...

Data Clinic: How to buy ... global classifications.
March 30, 2006... Expanding abroad for new prospects is a worthwhile endeavour, but make sure your provider can deliver a global classification. There are a number of international classifications on the market, all offering ways to analyse global consumers...

Data Clinic: Get connected.(Google Inc.)(Mediatel)(The Guardian)(Brief article)
March 30, 2006... The internet has now become not only a key search resource but the actual place where most of the research programmes we use everyday now sit, says Spencer Stratford. For a media planner/buyer, the internet is a huge asset to the business....

Data Clinic: DataTalk.
March 30, 2006... As email open rates decline sharply with the growth of viruses, spammers, Trojans, and the like, can businesses still rely on the medium as an effective prospecting tool? asks Ed Gorman. Email has always had the potential to be the...

Data Clinic: What I do in data - Sheridan Thompson, client service director, Catalina Marketing.(Interview)
March 30, 2006... Q: How did you arrive in this job? I started with Catalina Marketing as client service manager in 2002, having moved from a purely analytical role at my previous employer. The role at Catalina Marketing was particularly attractive as it...

Data Clinic: What is ... Phishing.
March 30, 2006... Phishing is the term commonly given to shady email techniques used to gather personal (often financial) information from online consumers. It is a form of social engineering, characterised by spammers masquerading as a trustworthy person or...

Data Clinic: A broker's view.
March 30, 2006... Our clients are adapting well to market challenges and we, as their list brokers, could provide a more innovative and different way of working to help them, says Liz Pickering. How many of us brokers or agencies can really say that we are...

Data Clinic: Which list? A round-up of new or updated consumer, business and online lists.
March 30, 2006... NEW LISTS CONSUMER MUSEUM SELECTION Managed by Prospect Swetenhams, this new list contains 30,671 names including 26,370 0-12 month contacts plus 4,301 13-24 month contacts. Names have been collected from a database of Museum...

SMS: Power to hand.(Short Message Service )
March 30, 2006... SMS is a powerful marketing tool - personal, direct and instant, but it can be intrusive. So what is the best way to use it? A total of 36.5 billion text messages will be sent this year in the UK - a whopping three billion a month, or 100...

Call Centres: Reputation rebuilder.
March 30, 2006... As predictive dialling takes a bashing as a result of silent calls, it rests with technology to save the reputation of call centres, says Adam Woods. It is an unfortunate fact that to a significant proportion of the general public, call...

B2B Lists: B2B data hunt.(business-to-business)
March 30, 2006... Amid the pressure of few prospects and low budgets, it is vital that B2B marketers ensure the accuracy of all data gathered. For businesses hitting other businesses with direct marketing campaigns, an ingenious offering backed by stunning...

Address Management: Multi-channel data quality.(data processing)
March 30, 2006... In an increasingly global, multi-channel marketplace, collecting data from abroad and managing that data has its own set of problems. Address management used to be so easy. Especially when companies were only interested in collecting...

Secrets of my Success: Martin Smith, Managing director of Millennium.
March 30, 2006... I don't suppose there can be many more unlikely beginnings to a career in marketing than joining the army from school at the age of 15. The world of a young royal engineer recruit in an army apprenticeship college is about as far removed...