---

---

---

---

---

Direct Marketing

Organization Plugs Lower Manhattan as Shoppers’ Paradise

Since 2002, nearly 100 new stores and restaurants have opened up in Lower Manhattan - and the New York Downtown Alliance is doing their best to promote the area as a premier destination for holiday shopping.

The organization - along with Farago Design of New York - is spreading the theme of “Downtown for the Holiday” via billboards, email newsletters, promotional mailers (pdf), and devoted Continue Reading »

Higher Ad Spend, Bigger Profits for CPG Brands

Procter & Gamble, Kraft, and Kellogg have been charging more for packaged foods not only because commodities cost more this summer but because the CPG giants have been spending more on advertising campaigns, Brandweek reports.

But the marketing efforts of all three seem to have paid off:

P&G had strong sales of beauty products (+12%) and those for fabric, home, and baby/family care (both up...
Continue Reading »

DMA Lays Off Staffers, Execs

The Direct Marketing Association has laid off scores of employees, including executives, in the days following its annual conference, DMA08 Conference & Exhibition, held in Las Vegas, reports BtoB.

The goal of the layoffs is “to ride out the current economic situation, ensuring we remain strong and capable of continuing to provide outstanding service to our members and customers well into the...
Continue Reading »

Retail CMOs Make AdAge ‘Power Player’ List

Four retail “honchos” made it on this week’s Ad Age “Power Players” list, which ranks the 30 biggest players in marketing and advertising in terms of budget and innovative style.

At No. 16, Wal-Mart’s Stephen Quinn wields an ad budget of $1.1 billion and has taken advantage of the downturned economy to target price-conscious shoppers with ad campaigns that emphasize Wal-Mart’s value-for-money...
Continue Reading »

DMAchoice Give Choice to Consumers, Helps Marketers Target Them

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) announced the launch of newly expanded consumer-choice portal site, DMAchoice.org, which allows consumers to choose what commercial communications they receive in their mail and email boxes.

Using a web-based account, consumers can opt out of mailings that they would prefer not to receive, but can also opt in to get commercial mail they do not currently...
Continue Reading »

Retail Drives Online Ad Spend in First Half

Retail advertisers accounted for the plurality of internet ad spending in the first half of 2008, as they had in the year-earlier period, according to newly released data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC).

• Retail accounted for 21% of internet advertising revenues, $2.4 billion, in the first half; that’s down from the 24% ($2.4 billion) reported in...
  Continue Reading »

Neiman Marcus Cuts Back on 90 Million Mail Catalogs

A sign that the internet is gaining traction in the direct marketing segment: Neiman Marcus announced plans to pare down on mail catalogs in fiscal 2009, reports Internet Retailer.

Internet sales at the traditional fashion retailer have grown rapidly over the past three years, comprising 75.5% of direct revenue in fiscal 2008, up from 62.1% in 2006. Total number of customers, average order...
Continue Reading »

DM Profitability Growth Despite Revenue Decline in Q2

Direct-marketing business performance in the second quarter declined overall from the year-earlier quarter, despite growth in profitability, according to the Q2 Quarterly Business Review (QBR) issued by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

The QBR Revenue Index vs. same quarter last year (SQLY) for Q2 was 47 - a one point decline from Q1’s 48.

In the QBR Index, scores below 50 represent a...
Continue Reading »

Product Sampling Boosts Awareness, Sales, Purchase Propensity - ASAP

Product sampling reaches 70 million consumers every quarter, and one-third of customers who try a sample will buy the sampled product in the same shopping trip, according to the Product Sampling Study by Arbitron and Edison Media Research, reports MediaBuyerPlanner.

Sampling also secures considerable results in both brand awareness and loyalty, according to Arbitron. More than half - 58% - of...
Continue Reading »

Canadians Interested in Online Coupons for Life’s Necessities

Online Canadians are interested in downloading coupons or money-off-deals from the internet, in particular for items that might be considered life necessities, according to a new study released by Ipsos Reid examining online coupons.

Over half of survey respondents stated that they would be “extremely likely” or “very likely” to download a coupon for gasoline (58%) or groceries (54%) - two...
Continue Reading »