Opinions/Columns
Opinions/Columns
advertisement
Loose Cannon: Cosi Fan Tutte
In this festive-yet-reflective holiday period, I thought it would be nice to offer thanks -- and perhaps a nice basket of fruit and chocolate -- to the lawmakers who save direct marketers from their baser instincts. But what can one say about legislators who regulate DMers while practicing their own brand of bait-and-switch fundraising? That would be most of them, for what it's worth. ...
Pushing The Envelope: Marketing in Red Sox Nation
When Sam Kennedy spoke at the MIT Sloan CMO Summit in Cambridge, MA recently, he realized quickly that he was preaching to the choir. Not only were his comments received warmly, but his organization's name -- the Boston Red Sox -- was the only one mentioned that day to receive spontaneous applause. ...
Loose Cannon: From ChoicePoint to Flash Point
Nearly two months ago, I wrote about movie rental chain Blockbuster Inc.'s plan to eliminate late fees [Loose Cannon: Blockbuster Bets: Will Customers Lose?, Direct Newsline, Dec. 19, 2004]. I suggested that Blockbuster would end up regretting its actions, as the company had not -- to my mind -- been forthcoming about some of the charges consumers would face. ...
Pushing the Envelope: TV Mis-Guide
The new programming season has started—and sadly, Hollywood executives continue to think viewers are more interested in lawyers, doctors and forensic specialists than list brokers, database managers and copywriters. Fools....
The $1.7 Billion Man
Politicians are now debating the questions of who did what during the Vietnam War, and who has done the most for veterans. The first answer may well be...
To Do or Not to Do
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do something. I was reminded of this truism recently by a news story about how Johnny Cash's...
GoldenPalace.com's Losing Streak
It's every marketing event planner's nightmare: Organize a big, attention-grabbing promotion for your client, and be upstaged by an even bigger incident...
Opt-in Is Just a Start
Mass marketers are beginning to talk like direct marketers. A case in point is Procter & Gamble. Jim Stengel, marketing chief at P&G, told the advertising...
Congress: Say No to Just Say No
The Just say no approach to drug abuse during the Reagan years would seem to aptly characterize the course some have taken in the postal reform debate....
Slamming the Spam Scams
We not only are cooking the goose that should be laying golden eggs. We're throwing out the breasts and thighs and keeping the fat. The wishbone? It's...
PR for Novices
The reporter was heated up. He pointed out that we had written about a technological breakthrough that would result in a wholesale invasion of privacy....
Need a Marketing Concept? No Problem Hire a Celebrity
The ad is for a financial brokerage house. The illustration is a color photo of the actor Sam Waterston a head and shoulders mug shot looking at the camera....
Mucho Grande Spending
People are spending too much money to get my attention. And not in a good way, either. No one proffering shiny, sparkly baubles has darkened my doorstep....
Funky Catalog Formats That Work: Katie Muldoon
Catalogs with attention-getting formats have been reaching my mailbox with increasing frequency. Everything from teeny books to giant ones, multi-stepped...
An Unusual Career Opp: Failure
Turning failure to advantage is a strength that marketing professionals come by quite naturally. Marketing involves risk-taking and courting the potential...
Mailers, Get Involved in Reform
This is the year it's finally supposed to happen Congress is going to get serious about postal reform and pass meaningful legislation. But what will the...
Flyers: Finger Taliban, Win Prizes!
To: The Customers of Fli-Rite Airlines From: Mortimer Snerd, Chairman/CEO Re: Government flyer database program As many of you are aware, the government...
Loose Cannon: Visions of Joanna (Part 2)
Last week I presented the first half of a tarot card reading Joanna, a staff psychic at New Orleans-based Bottom of the Cup Tea Room, did on behalf of...
Our New Master
Those who were there will never forget the day Bob Wientzen was named DMA president. Despite the best investigative efforts of the trade media, nobody...
Holiday Leftovers
I know it's February. You've got visions of hearts and flowers (and maybe flower orders flowing in) dancing in your head. But at this writing, I've still...
Are You Burying Your Head in the Sand?
Everybody's doing it.This is the best way to manage the extreme work pressure I'm under to get the catalog out on deadline.It gives me a huge burst of...
How to Lose a Decades-Old Customer
It was such a nice gesture. Time magazine offered to send a friend a free year's subscription with my renewal sub. As I had grown up reading Time, I had...
Shake, Prattle and Droll
I've reached a milestone. Well, make that millstone. I just saw the 10,000th illustration in an ad or mailing of two people shaking hands. I have to admire...
State of the Union
There was big news just as we were going to press: The capture of Saddam Hussein. The stock market rallied briefly on the news that the tyrant was in...
My Blue Heaven
This issue, we continue our annual look at holiday catalogs. I should stress that this is a highly scientific review of the catalog industry's end-of-2003...
