Opinions/Columnists Direct Magazine

Opinions/Columnists

Direct Hit offers insightful commentary by veteran direct marketing journalist Ray Schultz, editorial director of DIRECT magazine. He is the founder of DIRECT Newsline, the industry's first daily online newsletter, and is also the editor of eZine IQ and the CRM Loop.

Better Late
Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
Don Mokrynski did not exactly radiate gratitude when he accepted the DMA List Leaders Award in 2004. It's about bloody time, he said. Then he added: Ben ...

Midterm Report
Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
Direct marketers are not acting they way they're supposed to. Normally they work their house lists during tough economic times, but that's not the case ...

A Nice Story
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
Look elsewhere if you want a dose of midsummer cynicism. This column should be illustrated with a happy face. Exactly 10 years ago this month I was suffering ...

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Loose Cannon

Senior writer Richard H. Levey's popular weekly column Loose Cannon presents an irreverent look at the direct response marketing industry. His beats on DIRECT include database marketing and customer relationship management, and he is the coordinator of the magazine's three annual research survey's.

A Family Affair
Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Richard H. Levey
A recent industry event solicitation highlighted a keynote address by the godfather of CRM. Yes, yes, it was an offer one couldn't refuse, lest one sleep ...

Loose Cannon: WNYC’s Fundraising Lacks Appeal
Aug 24, 2008 11:08 PM, By Richard H. Levey
A recent fundraising drive from New York City’s public radio station shows that when it comes to engaging donors, public broadcasting’s efforts run the gamut of sublime to ridiculous. Consider what WNET, the city’s public television station, did years ago. It ran a clip featuring the members of Monty Python, shot in such a way that the boys appeared naked ...

Loose Cannon: Microsoft's Live Search Ain't Dead-On
Aug 17, 2008 7:42 PM, By Richard H. Levey
When a marketer proposes a shopping scheme that relies on changing consumer behavior, eye-rolling within the trade press becomes almost audible. But if that scheme happens to be the brainchild of Microsoft, even the battle-weariest of us are loath to dismiss it out of hand. These are the circumstances surrounding Live Search, Microsoft’s shopping-focused search engine ...

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Direct from Muldoon

Muldoon & Baer Inc. president Katie Muldoon shares her knowledge of the catalog business in her long-running column Direct From Muldoon. She is a former adjunct assistant professor at the NYU Center for Direct Marketing, and is the author of "The Catalog Strategist's Toolkit."

Communications That Count
Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KATIE MULDOON
THE WAY A CATALOG REACTS TO CUSTOMERS CAN AFFECT ITS whole business. That said, it's a wonder more catalogers don't dedicate far more money to stellar communications. ...

Becoming a Content Provider
Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KATIE MULDOON
We're content providers, Richard D. Beckman, president of Cond Nast Media Group, told The New York Times in August. Mr. Beckman essentially was saying ...

Be Blogged or Be Gone
Sep 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KATIE MULDOON
Catalogers, have you blogged yourselves yet? A recent Non Sequitur comic strip pictured a supposedly typical pick-up scene at a bar, showing a women instantly ...

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Don't Get Him Started

In Defense of Blacklists
Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ken Magill
A recent horrific tragedy horrific tragedy falling miserably short in describing it, but words really do fail on this one should cause marketers to take ...

Obama Should Change His E-mail Manager
Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
For a campaign that's supposed to be so Internet savvy, Barack Obama's sure makes some silly mistakes with its e-mailings. Out of the blue recently, Kathy ...

You Can't Even Say Hello?
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ken Magill
Why is it that so many direct marketers use traditional tactics sure to backfire in e-mail while ignoring old-school practices that most likely will pay ...

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The Makeover Maven

Thomas L. Collins adds a direct marketing edge to mainstream advertising as DIRECT's Makeover Maven. He is currently an independent creative and marketing consultant based in Portland, OR and is the author of four books on marketing. He has also been a DM copywriter, admaker and creative director.

The Citi Takes a Snooze
Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Thomas L. Collins
Citibank started as City Bank of New York in 1812 and is now Citigroup, the world's biggest financial services firm, with pretax profits of over $20 billion. ...

Way Too Clever
Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Thomas L. Collins
Beware the jabberwocky known as the advertising series. Too often what seems like a good campaign idea ends up in muddled ads forced to fit a particular ...

Tiptoeing Toward a Big Idea
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Thomas L. Collins
Those of you who are old enough and fortunate enough will recall that wonderful Danish pianist/humorist Victor Borge. He combined mischievous tricks at ...

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Guest Columnists

Industry leaders share their knowledge on a variety of topics.

A Call for Education
Aug 1, 2005 12:00 PM, BY CHRISTA HEIBEL
TWO YEARS AFTER ITS LAUNCH, more than 60 million people are listed on the Federal Trade Commission's National Do Not Call Registry. That's 60 million ...

Beyond the Traditional
Aug 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Bob Gillen
ONE OF THE GREATEST obstacles to successful direct marketing campaigns is the difficulty of obtaining accurate mail data. Many of these challenges can ...

Podmarketing
Jul 1, 2005 12:00 PM, BY FRANK SALERNO
In his book The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman describes how companies that haven't laid one strand of fiber-optic cable have benefited greatly from the ...

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Pushing the Envelope

DIRECT's executive editor Beth Negus Viveiros writes about the lighter side of direct marketing in Pushing the Envelope. A member of the magazine's editorial staff shince 1995, she offers the perspective of a consumer with a behind the curtains knowledge of the DM world.

All Singing, All Social
Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Beth Negus Viveiros
This summer a supervillain took over the Internet. His weapon of choice? Social marketing. The musical superhero spoof Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog ...

You Know You Want It
Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Beth Negus Viveiros
The Internet is swell. It allows consumers the chance to comparison shop, and save time and money. Exceptwhen it doesn't. C'mon, you know what I'm talking ...

Oh, the Places I Will Go
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Beth Negus Viveiros
I've been out and about a lot recently. Here's a few things that crossed my mental desk in my travels. You want to be my friend? What's in it for me? ...

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Curmudgeon at Large

Herschell Gordon Lewis skewers the foibles of direct marketing copy each month as DIRECT's Curmudgeon at Large. He is the principal of Lewis Enterprises and the author of 28 books, including "Asinine Advertising," "Marketing Mayhem" and "On the Art of Writing Copy."

Branding? OK...If You Own a Cattle Ranch
Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Herschell Gordon Lewis
Among the current hot buzzwords, branding is right up there with metrics and traction. Advertising agencies have pushed the notion of branding as the ...

You Qualify. Everybody Qualifies. That Is
Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Herschell Gordon Lewis
Carol Johnson@bestsettinghost.info sent me an offer I have a hard time refusing: Reduce Your Debt By Up To 70%. Choose Your Own Payment Amount. But it's ...

Nope, Don't Wanna Talk Wid You
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Herschell Gordon Lewis
That was the delightfully friendly (fiendly?) way a telemarketer opened what turned out to be a delightfully short conversation with whoever delightfully ...

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The Delpolito Letter

Gene Del Polito gives readers insight into the United States Postal Service each month in The Del Polito Letter. He is an advocate for those who use mail for business communication and commerce, and the president of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom).

An Urgent Wake-Up Call
Apr 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Gene A. Del Polito
The word is out. The Postal Regulatory Commission has issued a schedule of recommended rates that could very well be the death knell for some of our industry's ...

Is Anyone Listening?
Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
FROM MY EARLIER CAREER AS AN audiologist, I can remember the many corny jokes made about diagnosing and rehabilitating people with hearing disorders. ...

No Serenity Here
Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE Serenity Prayer? It goes like this: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things ...

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Websight

Senior editor Brian Quinton joined DIRECT’s editorial staff in September 2004 and now covers all aspects of e-commerce and online marketing, including e-mail campaigns, search engine marketing, Internet retailing and interactive advertising.

Getting In
Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, BRIAN QUINTON WEBSIGHT
If you have any doubts about how thoroughly geeky I can be and believe me, I can provide testimonials from family and friends please consider the nerd ...

Too Much Togetherness?
Jul 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Brian Quinton
If you lived through the dot-com bubble, you could be excused for thinking you'd slipped through a wormhole in time and landed back in 1999. In rapid-fire succession, a slew of the biggest online ad players announced plans to get a lot bigger by acquiring platforms, technologies or expertise they hadn't had before. ...

Of Monkeys and Men
Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM, BRIAN QUINTON
In early May, researchers from the Yerkes National Primate Research Center found a possible correlation between human speech and the gestures of chimpanzees. ...

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Letters to the Editor

Thoughts and opinions from the readers of DIRECT magazine.

Letters to the Editor
Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM
WHAT IF In his June Loose Cannon column, Richard H. Levey paints an alarming picture of what would happen if The Wall Street Journal became a tabloid! ...

Letters to the Editor
Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM
SAYS DIRECT'S A SELLOUT Why not put a KKK mask on John McCain? Direct's obvious bias toward Democrats could not be more clear. And the photo used in the ...

Letters to the Editor
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM
I agree with Tom Collins' assessment of Kyocera's ad (The Makeover Maven, May). I was nodding with each thing he criticized, almost mouthing Tom's questions ...

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