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Even with recent industry consolidations over the past few years and a looming recession, insert marketing is holding its own and some parts of it seem to be growing a bit.

The field--largely occupied by small family businesses--has gotten a bit smaller. Earlier this year, for example, Singer Direct was acquired by Omnicom Media Group, while Mokrynskidirect and Millard Group were snapped up by InfoUSA (Direct, Sep. 1, 2006).

Despite all that, the Direct Marketing Association was able to hold its Fifth Annual Insert Marketing Day Tuesday in New York City. And there are signs that the insert field is growing.

For example, use of inserts has grown among catalogers, online marketers and some larger corporations that had not previously used the medium, according to an informal poll of insert media brokers and managers.

One area that’s seen some growth is catalog blow-ins and bind-ins, especially among some upscale catalogers.

First you had Omaha Steaks and then when everybody saw Sharper Image get in there-before their problems-they were using inserts very effectively," said Leon Henry, chairman of Hartsdale, NY-based Leon Henry Inc.

He added: "The big development is distribution through catalog blow-ins and bind-ins," he said, noting that about 25% of his firm’s programs now are catalog bind-in and blow-ins.

In addition, a broader range of companies are making use of insert media new than did, say, five years ago, said Rob Stanton, vice president of business development for Stanton Direct Marketing, Elmira, NY.

"It used to be strictly direct response types of companies and now we’re seeing retailers and even some well known larger brand marketers, he says. "There’s much more of a mix in he past five years."

One longstanding problem: precise growth numbers are hard to come by because the definition of insert media remains so amorphous.

"Nobody really seems to know how large the industry is," said Stanton. "The Direct Marketing Association for a while wanted to break out the economic impact of insert media but they haven’t and it’s always been lumped under another category. So unless somebody has some information tht we’re not aware of we really haven’t been able to put a dollar amount on the growth from one year to the next."