December 23rd, 2008 | by admin
The Direct Marketing Voice: Santa Might Skip the Homes of These ‘Bad’ Direct Mail Marketers
Nonprofit group ForestEthics recently published its third annual list of ‘Naughty and Nice’ direct marketers. The list focuses on sustainable practices in direct mail/catalog marketing and highlights who’s doing a great job at thinking green and who’s not.
Nova Scotia News: Marketing needs the numbers
Direct marketing has become more popular because it can be measured based on bottom-line impact, using campaign costs. It is time for more firms to use similar metrics to measure both marketing effectiveness and efficiency.
BusinessStrata: Use direct mail to create a brand image
Direct mail can help to create a favourable brand image, claims one industry expert. That is the word according to David Jeffries, writing on a blog on ZDNet.co.uk, who claims that small businesses can use direct mail to help establish and sustain their brand.
AdWeek: Nationwide Insurance Goes Into Play
The client spent more than $180 million in measured media in the first nine months of this year. Nationwide also uses WPP Group’s Wunderman here for direct marketing duties…
December 22nd, 2008 | by Cynthia Fedor
Nonprofit group ForestEthics recently published their third annual list of ‘Naughty and Nice’ direct marketers. The list focuses on sustainable practices in direct mail/catalog marketing and highlights who’s doing a great job at thinking green and who’s not.
The list ranks companies based on four categories:
- Where the materials came from to make the paper
- If the supply chain, from forest to paper mill to printer, is FSC certified
- How much post-consumer recycled material is used to produce direct mail pieces
- Effort taken to reduce overall paper waste and consumption
Patagonia, Williams-Sonoma, Victoria’s Secret and Dell were among the ‘greenest’ direct mail marketers, receiving a prancing reindeer (that’s good) in every category. Companies that earned a lump of coal (that’s bad) in every category included Sears, Neiman Marcus, Eddie Bauer, Capital One, Chase Bank, Citi and American Express. You can see the complete list here.
I don’t understand why some direct marketers are still sending out 100-page catalogs and un-targeted direct mail. With great technologies now available—digital printing on demand, prospecting tools for targeting a precise audience type, eMarketing for companion marketing, etc—there’s no need to waste money or our natural resources.
Direct marketers, don’t be afraid to talk to your vendors, printing and fulfillment houses included. Work together and come up with green, targeted solutions for your advertising and marketing plans that will ultimately save you money and offer a better return on investment. Best of all, you’ll be able to ensure that you won’t be getting a lump of coal in your stocking from Santa next year!
December 22nd, 2008 | by admin
The Direct Marketing Voice: Green Delivery Methods
Many of our customers are consistent in asking us here at QuantumDigital what ‘green’ procedures we implement, especially since direct mail and printing are two of our main services. We have spent time developing our own ‘green’ story – which if you are interested can be found on our green initiative page. I’ll plan to go into more detail of our own efforts in future blogs.
ZDNet: Reimagining direct marketing with a (Twitter) spin
…Companies are salivating over the sales potential of social networks. With Dell racking up US$1 million in sales from Twitter, this is long past the proof of concept stage. Imitation being the highest form of flattery and all that. But Twitter is just a delivery vehicle. The bigger question is whether the suits restrain their basic instincts and not turn into spam-happy pains in the neck.
Digital Response Media: Email marketing ’should be integrated with other channels’
One of the biggest mistakes a company can make in terms of promotional strategy is to limit itself to just using email marketing to reach customers. This is according to Larry Golden, one of the chief executives of RSVP Publications, who explained that it is important to integrate email campaigns with other marketing platforms to maximise success.
ForConstructionPros.com: A Guide to Better Business with Direct Mail Marketing
With more than 99% of American homes now turning to direct mail coupons as part of their everyday shopping pattern, many service businesses have also turned to direct mail as a viable source for creatively increasing their revenue, with a solid direct mail marketing plan. Direct mail can be the most efficient way to promote the name of your rental business and help attract new customers.
December 19th, 2008 | by Jamie Matusek
Many of our customers are consistent in asking us here at
QuantumDigital what ‘green’ procedures we implement, especially since
direct mail and
printing are two of our main services. We have spent time developing our own ‘green’ story – which if you are interested can be found on our
green initiative page. I’ll plan to go into more detail of our own efforts in future blogs.
However, what I’ve decided to do is start sharing what other leading companies/brands have implemented — more of a ‘green’ ideas guide. Many of you may be struggling with the fact that ‘going green’ is a big endeavor both on the bottom line and in resource time. There are companies out there that specialize in consulting on this very topic, but for those of us that don’t have multi-zillion dollar budgets to work from, sometimes just researching what other companies are doing will give you some great insight on what sustainable efforts you can implement for your own organization.
I decided to start with some of our own vendor/partners. UPS takes care of our on-demand printing deliveries. I just came across one of their fact sheets titled,
“UPS Avoids Left Turns to Save Fuel, Reduce Emissions and Improve Safety.” Now this took some planning and serious thought, but how impressive! And this idea has actually turned into measurable results. The fact sheet reports:
In 2007, UPS route planning technology, which minimizes left hand turns:
- shaved nearly 30 million miles off already streamlined delivery routes;
- saved 3 million gallons of gas; and
- reduced emissions by 32,000 metric tons of CO2 – the equivalent of removing 5,300 passenger cars off the road for an entire year.
Impressive statistics. Now think what would happen if we all tried to avoid left hand turns!
This same fact sheet was featured on
groovy green, an information hub for all things sustainable that you may find interesting.
Until my next ‘green’ discovery,
Jamie
December 19th, 2008 | by admin
The Direct Marketing Voice: The Next Wave in Residential Home Sales
We recently received a report from Steve Murray, Editor for REAL Trends, Inc. REAL Trends is a publishing and communications company considered to be a leading source of analysis and information on the residential brokerage industry and has served the real estate industry for 19 years.
WBAL Baltimore: Too Many Catalogues? Get Rid Of Them
“Mailing lists are a big commodity. When you get your name on one of the mailing lists, it gets sold to other companies, and so one catalogue company will sell your name to another catalogue company,” said Attorney General’s Office Spokesman Steven Sakamoto-Wengel. “You can’t totally eliminate it. The Direct Marketing Association has its direct mail preference service that allows you to get out of receiving catalogues and other junk mail,” Sakamoto-Wengel said.
Web Host Industry Review | theWHIR Blogs : Copywriting for Direct Mail – Part 3: Five Motivators
SELL THE OFFER. What does that mean? The offer is the theme of your communication. Begin with it. Restate it. Denote its key benefits. The actual product or service is largely incidental to your sales pitch.
Meadow Free Press: Don’t Overlook The Value Of Email Marketing
If many of your subscribers are new to internet marketing and you build up a good relationship with them, they will trust you and they will look to you for advice. So when you do let them know of a new product good value for money product, they will trust your judgement and you will have a good chance of making the sale.
The Register-Guard: Fit to Print?
It’s a tumultuous and challenging time for the roughly 40 local printers that are still churning out everything from business cards to glossy six-color marketing brochures. Certainly the industry has faced tough times before, but this seems different, several local printers said. Which of the local printers will survive depends not only on how they’re responding to the current economic recession, but also how they’re adapting to those underlying industry forces.
