Opinion: Perspective - Direct marketing in the ascendancy at Interpublic.(Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. planning of Draft Inc. and FPC merger)

It could become a defining moment for the direct marketing industry.

Yes, the reports that Interpublic is considering bringing Draft and FCB together, with Draft on top, are important.

The story, which broke in the US press last week and is still unconfirmed, indicates a hitherto unheard-of status for direct marketing within a holding company. In the US, FCB was until relatively recently the biggest and one of the most famous advertising brands. However, things have soured, so now it's the eighth-biggest, but nevertheless, we're still talking about more than dollars 200 million in US revenues.

The trouble is, so is Draft. According to AdAge estimates, its US revenues increased in 2005 by 12 per cent to dollars 224 million.

Status and financial success are usually linked and while that of Draft is on the up, FCB's has hit a downward curve.

Around the world, the direct marketing industry has proven its ability to chug forward, irrespective of ever-more cautious marketing budgets Indeed, while the recent downturn has spread insecurity among advertising agencies, it has exposed the resilience of direct. This proposed merger is testimony to that shift in emphasis.

I call it a merger, but it's unlikely that's what it will be. First, IPG has a clumsy history of mergers: look at Lowe and Lintas. They were brought together and then fell off a cliff. It is more likely that the two groups will become much more closely aligned, perhaps both reporting to the same boss.