Direct Response articles from September 2003

Direct Response archives from September 2003

EDITORIAL: It could happen here.(Editorial)
September 12, 2003... In Greek mythology the Hydra was a many-headed serpent with the body of a hound. As each head was cut off, two, rather annoyingly, would grow back. The tale came back to me recently as I spent time in the US looking after my sister's...

NEWS FOCUS: Awards - Bumper entries for Smart Awards.(a discussion of thie year's Direct Response Smart Awards)
September 12, 2003... This year's Direct Response Smart Awards have defied the current economic downturn, drawing a record number of entries. The Awards, headline sponsored by the International Direct Marketing Fair in association with Anton Group, is the only...

NEWS FOCUS: B2B Data - DMA to meet minister for talks on B2B preference service.(Minister for E-Commerce Stephen Timms invites the DMA to put its case in opposition to the DTI's controversial proposal to allow corporate access to the DMA-run TPS)(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... The Minister for E-Commerce, Stephen Timms, has invited the DMA to put its case in opposition to the DTI's controversial proposal to allow corporate access to the DMA-run TPS (Telephone Preference Service). The move is being seen as the...

NEWS FOCUS: Events Planner.(Calendar)
September 12, 2003... SEPTEMBER 9-11 - National Direct Marketing Show - Venue: NEC, Birmingham. See: www.ndmshow.co.uk 16-17 - Call Centre Expo 2003 - Venue: NEC, Birmingham. See: www.callcentre-expo.com 25 - Marketing Direct Data 2003 - Venue:...

NEWS FOCUS: Recycling - Print protest at waste plan.(the direct mail industry faces a call for more recyclint)(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Printers have criticised proposals that will lead to a massive increase in the recycling of direct mail. Leading figures in direct mail print said elements of the Producer Responsibility for Direct Mail and Promotions Waste scheme, agreed...

NEWS FOCUS: What's new.(marketing industry news briefs)
September 12, 2003... CLIENTS - CRM Hyundai Car has appointed Carlson Marketing Group as its UK CRM agency. The US division of the agency already handles the CRM programme for Hyundai Motor America. Carlson will work on data planning, analysis, customer...

NEWS FOCUS: Diary of a doormat.(direct mail has its benefits)(Brief Article)(Column)
September 12, 2003... Julia Corkhill is sales director at Washington Envelopes, a bulk manufacturer of bespoke envelopes. This rather discerning doormat is located in a flat in Sunderland welcomes over 70 items of mail in an average month. I must confess to...

NEWS FOCUS: Pan European Campaigns - Suppliers to take heat out of overseas campaigns.
September 12, 2003... Diverse postal and regulatory jurisdictions are just two of the obstacles facing clients conducting international DM campaigns. It's a complexity that suppliers are aiming to overcome. Last month data service providers Experian and AZ...

NEWS FOCUS: Cold-calling - Mortgage sellers face telesales ban.(the Financial Services Authority seeks to ban cold-calling by mortgage providers)(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... The Financial Services Authority (FSA) looks set to ban cold-calling by mortgage providers, despite protests from the direct marketing industry. Regulations due to come into effect in October 2004 require companies to have pre-existing...

OPINION: What a rough old trade this can be.
September 12, 2003... The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), the ad agencies' trade union, wants to attract more direct marketing members. Cue Fred Astaire and the three witches from Macbeth: there may be trouble ahead. A few DM agencies are...

How to conduct your prospecting via e-mail.
September 12, 2003... Can e-mail marketing provide profiled and qualified B2B leads as well as build loyalty? David Clark has some advice to marketers on how best to use e-mail for B2B lead generation. In a survey of B2B marketers conducted by my company...

Legal eagle.(Interview)
September 12, 2003... Outsourced telemarketing in India, the Information Commissioner's simpler data project and financial services DM are discussed by James Milligan. Q: My company is thinking of outsourcing some of its telemarketing activities to India....

CREATIVE MASTERCLASS: Creative masterclass on ... Why words, words, words, needn't mean bin, bin, bin.
September 12, 2003... Sometimes it's a long journey from the envelope to the order form. Rick Sear explains how to ensure you don't lose the reader along the way. Recently, a number of ad agency creative directors proclaimed that long copy is six-feet under,...

CASE STUDY: Martell Cognac - Racing cert, Online gamble proves a winner.(Martell Cognac enhances its Grand National sponsorship)
September 12, 2003... Martell Cognac needed to enhance its Grand National sponsorship in order to translate branding into sales. Clive Walker reports. Sports sponsorship is big business, but simply linking a brand name to a major event isn't enough to generate...

DATA CLINIC: Ask the experts.(advice on data problems, including geodemographic profiling, CRM, tracking consumer behavior, and ROI)
September 12, 2003... Leading database specialists answer readers' real-life data problems. This month they advise on geodemographic profiling, CRM, tracking consumer behaviour and ROI. We're a supermarket chain about to diversify into selling financial...

DATA CLINIC: Get connected.(a discussion of several Web sites that can help with relationship marketing and new media)(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... Web research is crucial for his doctorate, but Mark Cripps likes to get away from it all with some lighter reading from the world of relationship marketing and new media. On top of my day-job I'm studying for a doctorate on the nature of...

DATA CLINIC: How to buy ... campaign tools.(a checklist for purchasing campaign management tools)
September 12, 2003... With several campaign management tools on the market, how do you go about selecting the right one? Ian Hitt has devised a checklist to help choose. Effective marketing depends on your ability to control, co-ordinate and target your...

DATA CLINIC: DataTalk.
September 12, 2003... Suppliers are all-too often not up to the job of delivering flexible data services, says David Cole, who argues that their inadequacies are holding back the development of the direct marketing industry. Companies seeking to enhance their...

DATA CLINIC: What I do in data.(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 12, 2003... How did you arrive in this job? My first job was in software development for Arthur Andersen's consulting division (now Accenture). I then worked in database marketing at the PH Group and then went to LBM. What's your role at LBM?...

DATA CLINIC: What is Event-driven marketing.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2003... This concept boosts customer loyalty by providing the right offer to the right person, at the right time through the right channel. It is made up of a series of events and triggers. An 'event' is an incident caused by at least one...

DATA CLINIC: Data Health Check.
September 12, 2003... Sainsbury's Bank Disparate data sources gave the retailer no consistent access to its financial customers. The solution was a relational database called BASIL. The case In 1997 Sainsbury's became one of the first food retailers to...

DATA CLINIC: Case study - Shearings Holidays.
September 12, 2003... The north west-based travel operator successfully used segmentation to get a grip on its largely under-utilised customer base. Shearings Holidays is a long-established travel company that started life as a coach operator a century ago. These...

DATA CLINIC: Technique - Using data analysis to predict customer behaviour.
September 12, 2003... Predicting customer behaviour can help you to get maximum value from your customers and target new ones like them, says Matt Carter. The key to predictive analytics is getting hold of the right customer data. Some companies have millions...

DATA CLINIC: Software guide - Business Intelligence.
September 12, 2003... Our expert panel of specialists have sifted through the wealth of software products on the market to bring you this comprehensive digest, complete with handy jargon buster. Chris Duncan; Technical director, Alchemetrics Martin Doyle;...

DATA CLINIC: A broker's view.
September 12, 2003... Who is responsible for gone-aways? Nicola MacRobbie argues that list owners should do their share to improve the quality of lists and boost the industry's image. The problem of gone-aways has been a serious issue for the direct marketing...

WHICH LIST?: A round-up of new or updated consumer, business and online lists.
September 12, 2003... NEW LISTS - CONSUMER CT Woman Catalogue CT Woman catalogue, a new offering from the founders of Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts, has released its list of 40,000 professional, 35-year-old-plus females - of which 70 per cent have an income of...

SUPPRESSION: Suppress to impress.(direct mail)
September 12, 2003... The suppression industry is awash with products, but what is the best file to apply, and when? Once upon a time there was a single gone-away suppression file and just one deceased file. The suppression industry has since mushroomed and...

NDMS PREVIEW: On with the show.(National Direct Marketing Show)
September 12, 2003... This year's National Direct Marketing Show offers a wealth of seminars and added-value events, and promises advice and marketing solutions accessible to experts and novices alike. The National Direct Marketing Show (NDMS) runs from 9 to...

DIRECT MAIL: Compelling letters.(Excerpt)
September 12, 2003... It's not enough just to get consumers to open a direct mail piece - they have to read the letter inside. This selection from the DMA's recently published book, 26 Compelling Letters, shows you how LETTER TO COLD PROSPECTS: FIRST DIRECT...

CALL CENTRE EXPO: Call to action.
September 12, 2003... The range of products, services and advice on offer at Call Centre Expo makes the Birmingham event much more than a niche show. When Suffolk-based call centre Prolog needed to replenish its quota of agents this year, it eschewed the...

SECRETS OF MY SUCCESS: Richard Cole - UK sales and customer management director, Egg.
September 12, 2003... Life's one big text book when you're at school and university, and the lessons don't often translate into the real world. Luckily I had some balance between theory and practice in the run-up to my first job: graduate trainee at Prudential....