Close-Up: Live Issue - Is direct mail testing worth the effort?(direct marketing methods)

DM testing has returned in a revamped, sophisticated guise. But is it practical, Claire Billings asks.

No matter how you say it, there are probably few phrases less likely to get agency pulses racing than direct mail testing.

Or so you'd think. In fact, testing is once again becoming a hot topic in direct marketing circles. The process has moved on from the old days of endlessly tweaking small details, such as whether a brown or a white envelope is most likely to induce a recipient to open it, or whether or not to put copy on the outside . This time, it's much more sophisticated.

Steve Aldridge, the creative partner at Partners Andrews Aldridge, explains: 'More savvy consumers mean you need to recognise them through different creative approaches. Now there's a more sophisticated kind of testing, which allows you to ring-fence consumers by their attitude. You can talk to them about certain products and services in one way and the benefits in another.'

Rapier tested its recent Telewest campaign to convince its client to use different formats to talk to different audiences. To sell the cable company's broadband service, the agency developed two mailings. To existing customers, it sent a standard letter, designed to inform them in detail about why they should take the service. But to prospects it sent a more sales-led, loud and colourful leaflet, based on the proposition that installing broadband was easy: all they needed to do was put their feet up and have a cup of tea.

Partners Andrews Aldridge is not alone. Claydon Heeley Jones Mason, which last week won a pitch to handle QVC's customer relationship marketing, is using a testing programme in an attempt to introduce a more sophisticated way of using of its database.

Integration is also playing a part in its comeback. Clients are getting used to all media consistently being tracked and measured, while digital offers real-time testing. Simon Hall, the managing partner at Hall Moore CHI, says: 'Testing died a death when everything went brand response But in our integrated world, all the work has got to work and return on investment is back to being king.'