Push the envelope for marketing success: a new book on direct mail offers advice on the next generation of marketing - advice - Book Review

Art Business News, Oct, 2002 by Murray Raphel

If you were granted three wishes to improve your direct marketing, you'd probably ask for a way to dramatically reduce the cost, a way to do it faster and a way to improve your response.

Welcome to e-mail which is:

[1] Cost efficient (No money is spent for printing, production and postage.)

[2] Lightning fast (You can plan, develop, create and have results from an e-mail campaign in a fraction of the time it takes to create a direct mailer.)

[3] The most responsive medium. (An e-mail campaign for H&R Block averaged a 35 percent response).

The Future of Direct Marketing

Rosenspan has made five predictions for the direction of direct marketing:

[1] The people will have the power. For example, today's car customers use the Internet to first find the dealer's price and the mark-up and then can even order online.

[2] It will be harder to win new customers. Loyalty programs are not enough. The best companies learn as much as possible about their existing customers and make it very hard for them to leave.

[3] It's not how big you are; it's how fast. Remember the old ads that said, "Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery." Now, FedEx promises "absolutely, positively overnight."

[4] The Internet will get larger, faster and easier. It will change how people access information.

[5] All marketing will become direct marketing. Mass advertising will continue to erode and more targeted, relevant and personalized marketing will eventually replace it.

This is just a small sample of the advice in Rosenspan's 397-page book. Included are many of his award-winning campaigns with descriptions of why he did what he did and a valuable "Creative Strategy Form" for you to complete before creating your next mailing. This makes you focus on what you want to happen and makes you think about the steps to take to achieve that result.

Rosenspan's book sells for $49.95. Art Business News readers can have it for $29.95 plus $6 postage and handling. To order, call Rosenspan's assistant, Jodi Maffiloi, at (617) 559-0999, fax (617) 559-0996 or e-mail Jodimaff@aol.com.

Murray Raphel is one of the nation's leading marketing experts and author of several business books. Contact him at Raphel Marketing at (802) 751-8802 or E-mail info@raphel.com.