Talkback: It's time for direct action to emphasise what's different

Not long ago direct marketing was concerned with cost per sale, response rates, premium offers, calls to action, conversion rates and pre-testing. Not top-of-mind awareness, brand personality, unique selling propositions, reach and frequency and market research.

It provided the ability to judge a campaign's success by actually counting the responses, to target small groups of customers accurately and economically and to pre-test offers in real markets, rather than hoping the focus groups were not just being polite.

There was nothing vague, fuzzy or unclear about what direct marketing did best. Brand advertising was there to make friends and direct was there to make sales, or at the very least, sales leads.

But as direct marketing has moved into the mainstream, it has lost a lot of the energy, immediacy and aggression that initially attracted advertisers to it.

If the direct marketers keep focusing on systems, programmes and processes rather than targeting, sales and accountability, direct runs a very real risk of becoming just another communications option in the pursuit of top-of-mind brand awareness.

However, using direct mail for brand advertising has to be just about the most expensive communication method a company could pick. It's hard to justify that kind of cost when you can't quantify how many people took notice of it.

In the past couple of weeks, I've received mailings from hotels, telecommunications companies, finance companies, car dealers, clothing retailers, fast-food operators and electronics manufacturers.

Most didn't ask me to do anything at all, let alone buy something. The two that did weren't offering an incentive to do it any time soon.

How those companies intend to assess the effectiveness of their direct marketing I don't know. I suspect they won't be able to - and after a few more untrackable mail shots, will decide it isn't working. They will return to the less accountable, (and for many companies with well-defined markets) less successful options they were using before.

All for the lack of a simple incentive to redeem the coupon, ring the number, take the test drive, stay at the hotel, book the trip or apply for the credit card.

If the direct marketing industry doesn't start promoting what makes it different to other types of advertising, rather than what they have in common, it will be forced to return to promoting book clubs, wine discounts and real estate deals on Queensland's Gold Coast.

If that happens, advertisers will lose one of the most powerful sales tools available to them - and the direct marketing industry will only have itself to blame.

* Tim Grainger is a director of direct marketing, advertising and sales promotion for Grainger & Associates (www.graingerandassociates.co.nz).