Direct marketing is not only vast, it’s ever changing in all its facets—direct sales, direct mail, direct response. Likewise, direct marketing agencies tend to differ from traditional advertising agencies in strategy, organization, and clientele. Take a look at some of the Web sites below and answer the questions that follow for each site.
Direct Marketing Organizations
■ Canadian Marketing Association (CMA): www.the-cma.org
■ Direct Marketing Association (DMA): www.the-dma.org
■ Direct Marketing News: www.dmnews.com
■ Give to Get Marketing: www.givetogetmarketing.com
■ Direct Response Forum, Inc.: www.directresponse.org
■ Electronic Retailing Association: http://retailing.org
■ Direct Marketing Association of Southern California: www.ladma.org
■ Federation of European Direct Marketing: www.fedma.org
a. What group sponsors the site? Who is the intended audience(s)?
b. What is the size, scope, and purpose of the organization?
c. What benefits does the organization provide to individual members or subscribers? To the overall advertising and direct marketing communities?
d. How important do you believe this organization is to the direct marketing industry? Why?
Direct Marketing Firms
■ Select five of the following direct marketing firms, visit their Web sites, and answer the questions that follow.
■ AGA Catalog Marketing & Design: www.aganet.com
■ Acxiom Digital: www.acxiomdigital.com
■ Exposed Brick: www.exposedbrick.com
■ GEICO: www.geico.com
■ Harte-Hanks: www.harte-hanks.com
■ DDB Seattle: www.hunt.DDBdirect.com
■ Response Marketing Group (RMG): www.800response.com
■ Wunderman: www.wunderman.com
a. Who is the intended audience of the site?
b. How does the agency position itself (i.e., creativedriven, strategy (account)-driven, media-driven, etc.)?
c. What is your overall impression of the agency and its work? Why?