May 1, 2008
Cover Story
UNDER ATTACK
If you're a cataloger there's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Paper costs are up. Postal rate hikes come one after another. Fuel costs are through...
Disciplines
The Web Suits Them
Stop, look and listen is good advice when arriving at a railroad crossing. It's also sound thinking when trying to build a relationship with an underserved...
A Slip Between Cup and Lip
March was a busy month for Starbucks. It introduced a new blend, Pike Place Roast, as well as French press and espresso machines to turn out higher-quality...
Avoiding Customer Relationship Manipulation
Recently I received yet another stream of e-mails and phone calls seeking to add value to my relationship with the seller. It quickly became apparent...
Channels
Testing the Waters
The Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation's first direct mail campaign is aimed at persuading former fishing-license holders to renew. In March...
From Start to Finish
Many factors come into play during a mailing piece's development: specifications, pricing and timeliness, to name just a few. But unfortunately, one of...
E-mail Killers Strike Again
Is there anything e-mail related that spammers can't ruin? First they killed graphics; Internet service providers block them. Now they've apparently wrecked...
Coming Soon?
You can watch David Beckham score goals in Los Angeles, but if you want him on your mobile phone reminding you to say goodbye, you'll have to go to Hong...
Tooth in Advertising
For Comfort Dental, the way to cut its teeth on Internet marketing last summer was simple: Start a blog. People are searching for things in a way they...
Features
Get It Together
In business-to-business marketing, the products sold and the buying process are typically complex, requiring not one but a series of touches. DMers grapple...
Op-Ed Columns
Survival
This is not a happy time for catalog marketers. Yes, they got a break on postal rates (as if any rate hike can be called a break). But paper prices are...
Hey You Kids, Get Outta My Column!
Many years ago my husband and I were waiting in line for the Snow White's Scary Adventures ride at Disney World in Orlando, FL. To pass the time we tried...
Somewhere, a Yahoo Marketing Exec Dances on Spitzer's Grave
Four years before he became infamous as Client No. 9, disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's utter lack of integrity was on full display during...
A Futile Tug of War
When I showed this Kyocera ad to another person, the reaction I got was Looks fine to me. And indeed it is moderately acceptable by the standard of yesterday's...
Ad Astra Advertising
It must be nice to be a brand marketer. Brand marketers have all the fun of creating advertising without assuming any of the responsibility for generating...
Articles
Jenny, Pick Up
Remember the '80s? Consumers in Delaware are getting a rude reminder thanks to the number 867-5309 popping up on their caller-ID displays when telemarketers...
Johnny Be Good?
Nearly half of the respondents to a survey from InfoUSAPoll.com think Republican John McCain would be the most small-business-friendly president out of...
Walk on Buy
If you want people to buy more shoes, get them to walk more. That's the idea behind a new point-of-sale poster campaign launched last month by Consolidated...
Watch Your Language!
With apologies to Shakespeare, What's in a wordor a phrase? If you're in business-to-business marketing or telesales, your success or failure often is...
Watching the Watchers
How much spam did you get today? That very question is in itself such a clich it's spam in print. We're assaulted on one side by nonsensical or insulting...
Departments
Letters to the Editor
MISDIRECTED DIRECT MAIL Richard H. Levey's February Loose Cannon column brings to mind an ongoing issue I have with the direct mail I've received. While...
Listline
NEW LISTS TheInsideInvestor.com Some 200,000 postal addresses and 100,000 e-mail addresses were gathered from an online form at TheInsideInvestor.com....
