Sep 13, 2012

Direct Marketing Club of NY

Posted by Wendy Weber

I attended today’s meeting of the Direct Marketing Club of NY, held at the Yale Club.

The topic was “Direct Mail is Hot…again.”  Three accomplished marketing veterans discussed how direct mail has won a place in their multichannel campaign strategies, delivering impressive ROI.  They were:  Michele Fitzpatrick (SVP Strategy & Insight at The Agency Inside Harte-Hanks), Linda Gharib (SVP Digital Marketing at Citibank) and Dave Rosenbluth (VP Marketing at Gerber Life Insurance):

There was a lively discussion about the difficulty determining which channel should be assigned the credit for the customer transaction…Michele Fitzpatrick said that  “last touch” is the worst way to measure channel attribution!

Integrated marketing today is all about engaging the customer in the channels he or she chooses to interact with for a specific brand.  Marketers should plan and execute on how the consumer wants to be recognized across interaction points.  “With today’s marketing focus on digital channels, like mobile and social media marketing, it may seem that direct mail is less important.  However, leading brands continue to use direct mail for strategic purposes with great success.”

I’m not sure I would characterize direct mail as “hot”.  But I would agree that it can be a valuable marketing channel.  These speakers gave a compelling presentation, which was enjoyed by a record breaking attendance.

 

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