Direct Marketing

In the morning as I wake up and check my email, I see a promotional advertisement in my inbox – and I actually welcome it! Why? Nandos boldly procliams “Cricket with hot chicks is all about four play!” This is some thing that can be interesting I muse, planning a GT with my friends at Nandos. The reasons why I did not perceive this email as Spam were that:

a. Nandos is a service of interest to me and,

b. They've provided an “Opt out” option – I can back out any time.

This goes on to show the sophistication in Direct Marketing today – becoming more personalized, permission marketing with improved targeting so that the message goes only to those who would want to see it i.e the Target audience. This may be attributed to databases with more accurate and detailed customer information, reducing waste.

Introduction to Direct Marketing

Ozair Hanafi, Managing Driector of Orient Direct, a McCann-Erickson company, defines the discipline as such:

· "Direct Marketing is any marketing activity which creates and sustains a measurable direct relationship between you and your prospect or customer.

· "Direct Marketing is based on a strategy of one to one.

· "It is not just a medium like Direct Mail. It is not just a channel of distribution like Mail Order. It is these and more. It is a way of marketing, it is a method of Marketing.

· "Direct Marketing empowers you to capture and capitalise on customers and adds profits to almost any business large or small.

· "The most important word in Direct Marketing is 'measurable'. For if response can not be measured; if cost and income cannot be weighed and assessed, it's not direct marketing!

· "Direct Marketing is the best way to win and maintain customers." [1]

Thus direct marketing enables the company to create an ongoing relationship with the customer. Ozair Hanafi puts it thus,

Through Direct Marketing we generate a dialogue between our prospect...