Direct Response articles from November 2007

Direct Response archives from November 2007

Editorial: Testing new ground.(Editorial)
November 15, 2007... It is no big secret that good companies evolve and that they constantly need to try new routes to market if they are to thrive or even survive. The trick is knowing what direction to take when plotting a new course as a marketer. One of...

Quote of the Month.
November 15, 2007... And don't they look like they've wandered in from an episode of Prison Break' - Paul Ross, Connect Awards presenter, p9, on one of the category award winners

News Focus: DLG to build on core remit.
November 15, 2007... The chief executive of lifestyle data supplier DLG said the company plans to stick with its core data provision business, despite securing a bigger acquisition war chest through a refinancing deal that gave its management team majority control....

News Focus: DMA tracks mobile marketing's progress.
November 15, 2007... The Direct Marketing Association has made a move to put mobile marketing on the map with its Mobile Marketing Insight Study, a report with quarterly benchmarks that chart the medium's progress. The report, put out by the DMA Mobile...

News Focus: Movers - Appointment at Occam.
November 15, 2007... James Bagan has been named as Occam's new managing director, following Scott Logie's move to the role of strategy director earlier this year. Bagan has previously worked for QAS and Harte-Hanks

News Focus: Movers - Appointment at Barclaycard Business.
November 15, 2007... Peter Jones has been hired by Barclaycard Business to be its head of relationship management, responsible for a team of 70. Jones was previously vice-president of international customer experience and engagement marketing at American Express

News Focus: Movers - Appointment at Publicis Dialog.
November 15, 2007... Publicis Dialog has named Mark Buckingham, formerly Craik Jones Mitchell Voelkel's creative director, as its new creative director

News Focus: Movers - Appointment at Experian.
November 15, 2007... Experian has appointed Mark Tarleton and Simon Poyser as new sales directors for its Integrated Marketing business' financial services and information, communications and entertainment sectors respectively

News Focus: Movers - Appointment at Ai.
November 15, 2007... Simon Wright has been appointed as the new operations director at Ai. Before joining Ai, he worked as client services delivery manager at Acxiom

News Focus: Movers - Appointment at Times Media Enterprise.
November 15, 2007... Caroline Radford has become head of Times Media Enterprise, after moving from her role as commercial enterprise manager at Associated Newspapers. She will be responsible for managing commercial relationships, digital CRM and data

News Focus: Movers - Appointment at Carlson Marketing.
November 15, 2007... Guy Culshaw has been named as Carlson Marketing's head of planning He joins from EHS Brann, where he was business planning director.

News Focus: Movers - Appointment at Granby Marketing Services.
November 15, 2007... Granby Marketing Services has appointed Stewart Oxley as sales and marketing director. He joins from Diss Promotional Services

News Focus: Social sites show potential.
November 15, 2007... Online social networking is emerging as an opportunity for marketers seeking more direct relationships with consumers, as two of the most popular sites recently opened more of users' personal data to advertisers. In November, UK market...

News Focus: What's new - Launches.(Open Road Media)(dunnhumby)(Times Newspapers)(Brief article)
November 15, 2007... OPEN ROAD MEDIA - Open Road Media has launched a new direct marketing route to reach 17- to 24-year-olds. The company will be able to mail a book of promotional vouchers from top brand names to first-time drivers who have passed their test...

News Focus: Events Planner.
November 15, 2007... November 20 Effective Mobile Marketing Venue: Business Design Centre, London Contact: whannah.lang@dma.org.uk 22 Effective B2B Email Marketing Venue: The Institute of Direct Marketing, Teddington, Middlesex Contact: www.theidm.com...

News Focus: Legal Eagle.(Data Protection Act)
November 15, 2007... 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...

News Focus: Royal Mail pushes packs that appeal to the senses.
November 15, 2007... Royal Mail is promoting new approaches to direct mail to convince marketers of the benefits of post in the face of declining volumes in its letters business. The postal service has announced a partnership with BRAND Sense to promote...

News Focus: DMA includes 'green' award.
November 15, 2007... The Direct Marketing Association unveiled a new Green Initiative category as it announced finalists for the 2007 DMA Awards. The category has been introduced to recognise environmental best practice, with Royal Mail and Greentomatocars...

News Focus: Bad search strategies are costing business.(Survey)(Brief article)
November 15, 2007... Major brands risk losing new business by failing to balance paid and natural search online, a new report from search conversion specialist Tamar claims. Tamar assessed the presence of 60 top retail, travel and finance brands on the first...

News Focus: IDM summit targets ethnicity.
November 15, 2007... The next Institute of Direct Marketing Data Council summit will focus on the thorny issue of ethnicity. The one-day event, to be held in London next February, boasts a range of speakers on various aspects of targeting customers and...

News Focus: What's New - Diary of a Doormat - Adam Whittaker, chief executive; Reardon Smith Whittaker.
November 15, 2007... Adam Whittaker is chief executive of Reardon Smith Whittaker. He lives in west London with his wife Sam and their children, Zac, five and Madeleine, nearly two. Returning from our late-summer holiday, ours was a lighter than usual postbag....

News Special: Connect Awards Ceremony - The Big Night.
November 15, 2007... It was a night of revelry, networking and honours as the first Connect Awards brought the entire supply side of the direct marketing industry together for one big party. Inc Direct carried off the top prize, Supplier of the Year, at the...

Opinion: Tangled in the net while shopping.
November 15, 2007... Opinion is divided as to whether I'm an individual of superior and discriminating taste, or just a weirdo with obscure interests. Either way, the internet has opened up a cornucopia of suppliers, and exposed me to the good, the indifferent...

How to... appeal to consumers' inner desires.
November 15, 2007... Emotional triggers and even genetic factors influence consumer behaviour. If you identify with how consumers think, you will be able to target your brand more effectively, says John Hallward. Marketers around the globe spend hundreds...

Creative Masterclass on... Automotive direct mail.
November 15, 2007... Car ads often swamp drivers with too much information. Try to concentrate on what makes your car special for your target audience, writes Bob Nash. You know what it's like - the first brief comes in for your new automotive client and...

Data Clinic: Ask the experts.
November 15, 2007... This month, our panel of data specialists advises how to choose the right variables for data analysis, build on existing customer data and maximise the efficiency of a contact centre. Is it worth using different and perhaps more obscure...

Data Clinic: Case Study - Littlewoods.(Company overview)(Case study)
November 15, 2007... Backed by a high-profile ad campaign, the mail-order firm is boosting customer volumes by developing a specialised prospect database to refine its targeting, says Holly Wright. The evolution of Littlewoods from a betting firm founded in...

Data Clinic: DataTalk.(regulation on UK firms)
November 15, 2007... UK organisations must take drastic steps to address the crisis in customer confidence and avert government intervention by overhauling the way they handle data, says David Arrowsmith. FIRST: Black Monday saw a run on a bank in one of the...

Data Clinic: What I do in data - Angee Walls, executive director, UK retail sales at Catalina Marketing.(Interview)(Brief article)
November 15, 2007... HOW DID YOU ARRIVE IN THIS JOB? I worked for several supermarket chains in the US, where I was a customer of Catalina Marketing. I first joined Catalina in 2003 as a retail sales director supporting our Albertsons business. I have...

Data Clinic: What is...? A spam trap.(email address harvesting )(Brief article)
November 15, 2007... Address harvesting is a major problem in email broadcasting, particularly with addresses obtained by web spiders - automated search mechanisms. The resulting 'unpermissioned' lists carry addresses starting with 'sales@', 'info@' and so on....

Data Clinic: Technique - Maximising your data with a prospect pool.
November 15, 2007... Prospect pools are a highly effective way of reaching the best customers - as long as you source data that is relevant to your product or service and avoid extraneous selections that water down your targeting, writes Jed Mooney. Prospect...

Data Clinic: A manager's view.(Column)
November 15, 2007... Poor standards and an increasingly unsatisfactory service provided by some list managers and owners is marring the industry's reputation By Sue Dyer. I am sure some list managers and owners take pride in delivering high levels of customer...

Data Clinic: Which list? A round-up of new or updated consumer, business and online lists.(Buyers guide)
November 15, 2007... New lists Consumer Dibor Mail Order This file comprises 80,000 buyers of the company's furniture and accessories for the home who have an average order value of pounds 120 Shoppers are mainly well-off, professional women who are...

Method: Introduction - Best practice makes perfect.
November 15, 2007... Marketing can be a complicated business. But sometimes marketers can make a campaign too complicated for its own good and it becomes time to revisit the fundamentals. With DM Method: Strategies and Techniques for Direct Marketers, we...

Method: Sponsor's statement - Aiming to supply the envelopes used by mailers.
November 15, 2007... Dobson & Crowther are the UK 's largest manufacturer of litho printed envelopes, producing in excess of half a billion envelopes a year for the direct mail industry, and we are also the market leader for the production of horticultural seed...

Method: Steps to... Capitalising on digital print.
November 15, 2007... The key to making your marketing communications relevant is to get to know your customers, what they want and when they want it - then use digital tools to reach them. There is a lot of buzz about digital print out there at the moment....

Method: Steps to... De-junking direct mail.
November 15, 2007... To a certain extent, direct mail will always be at risk of being labelled 'junk'. However, as Jared Read explains, creativity can turn around its fortunes, and it doesn't have to cost the earth. Last summer's tabloid backlash against 'junk...

Method: Sponsor's statement: Integrating email into the mix is no easy matter.
November 15, 2007... Over the past decade email marketing has developed into one of the most effective communication channels available to businesses. By the end of last year email volume surpassed that of direct mail, which indicates the importance of email in...

Method: Steps to... Avoiding emails that annoy people.
November 15, 2007... Ill-conceived email can be a real turn-off for consumers and damage your brand's reputation, says Andrew Robinson. Here are the pitfalls to avoid when sending marketing messages electronically. There is no doubt that, in many circles,...

Method: Steps to... Creating lifecycle campaigns.
November 15, 2007... A highly effective way of using email for marketing communications is to create timed and sequenced communications, triggered by events and customer behaviour, writes Mike Weston. Email marketers are facing a paradox: while customers are...

Method: Sponsor's statement - Building brand experience with high-quality service.(Brief article)
November 15, 2007... Telemarketing, surely one of the least glamorous but most fruitful direct marketing channels, has seen another great year. Growth has continued across the medium, but it has not simply been a matter of 'more of the same', with ever larger teams...

Method: Steps to... Finding the right contact centre partner.
November 15, 2007... How consumers experience a brand when communicating with a contact centre depends crucially on the attitude and knowledge of the agents representing it, writes Neville Upton. Contact centres are often the first point of contact between...

Method: Steps to... Getting more from outbound communications.
November 15, 2007... When a contact centre calls a customer, there is an opportunity not only to impart information about a product or service, but also to elicit useful personal information, says Jeff Ingvaldson. Contact centres are now being used much more...

Method: Sponsor's statement - Using the right data is not just for the big players.(Brief article)
November 15, 2007... The Office of National Statistics report for the 2007 United Kingdom business by employee size shows that of the 1,669,740 businesses registered for VAT, 1,578,525 employ between one and 19 employees. All businesses generate sales by...

Method: Steps to... Targeting the right consumers.
November 15, 2007... The level of insight and analysis employed is key to data-led direct marketing campaigns. With clear objectives, planning and testing, the optimum results can be gained, writes Lucy Spooner. Identifying, targeting and interacting with the...

Method: Steps to... Planning efficient retention programmes.
November 15, 2007... With consumers displaying little brand loyalty due to the saturation of market choice, retention methods are essential for extending customer lifetime and boosting profitability. Looking after loyal customers and growing their value by...

Method: Sponsor's statement - Over-targeting of direct mail hampers evolution.
November 15, 2007... The direct mail industry is almost unrecognisable compared with 12 months ago. Environmental concerns, anti-junk mail sentiments and recent postal problems have all played their part, forcing direct marketers to rethink their approach. ...

Method: Steps to... Finding the best B2B data.
November 15, 2007... Depth or reach? Response-driven or compiled? The choices when it comes to planning a B2B campaign are immense. So how do you find the best data for you? Zina Manda has some ideas. Before you make a single call to a broker or list owner, you...

Method: Steps to... Managing your prospect relationships.
November 15, 2007... CRM is all well and good, but managing prospects effectively that can make a real difference to your bottom line. Careful research, analysis and planning is essential, says Simon Lawrence. While many firms focus time and budgets on customer...

Method: Sponsor's statement - A simple view on data quality: he who cares wins.
November 15, 2007... If you don't believe the quality of your data impacts your direct marketing success, stop reading now. Reliable, integrated and accurate data is a universally recognised imperative for successful direct marketing campaigns. However,...

Method: Steps to... Finding the right data-quality solution.
November 15, 2007... Inaccurate data causes wastage of resources and revenue, not to mention damage to brand image when communications are ill targeted Martin Doyle suggests tailoring a solution to your needs. Regardless of the size or type of business, all...

Method: Steps to... Managing your customer data in-house.
November 15, 2007... DIY data management gives full control to those who know and care most about it. Take care to select the best data-management solution by carefully analysing the options, says Steve Tootill. Whatever data you have, managing it in-house is a...

Back to basics.
November 15, 2007... Email has been around too long for businesses using it as a marketing tool not to get it right. It's time to go back to first principles, says Adam Woods. There cannot be too many excuses left for those companies that fail to pursue a...

Supersized address management.
November 15, 2007... The sector is now offering better international, anti-fraud and profiling solutions. Address management is such a fundamental part of a rigorous approach to data quality that in many instances, it's taken for granted. Especially so when a...

Response services: List showcase - Weighing up value-added services.(Brief article)
November 15, 2007... Your broker/manager has expertise in data and current market status and can provide you with invaluable planning and strategy advice. EDM Media operations director Lisa Neville says a good broker can help you: - analyse objectives and...

Secrets of my success: Martin Boddy, Founding partner, Jaywing.
November 15, 2007... My first big break came with my band, Safety in Numbers, at the age of 15. The dream of being a rock star had become real. We were signed and going places. I was the keyboard player, all floppy hair and testosterone. But then it fell apart...