Live From Fast Forward: for AICR, Downturn Came Earlier

The American Institute for Cancer Research may have seen the economic downturn coming before many other marketers.

So said Kelly Browning, executive vice president of the nonprofit direct marketer, as well as chairman of the Direct Marketing Association, at the DMA’s Fast Forward conference Monday in New York.

He said his organization was experiencing softer than usual response as early as 2007 despite the AICR’s attempts to find new names to whom to mail.

He did not reveal specifics.

He noted that at the time, there were few indications in the economy overall that a slowdown was coming, let alone one of the magnitude .of the current one.

The recession began officially in July, 2008 he said.

“To say it’s been a challenging year is an understatement,” he said.

Browning also predicted that when the economy emerges from this recession, conditions may not come back to exactly as they had been before.