Opinions/Columnists Direct Magazine

Opinions/Columnists

Direct Hit offers insightful commentary by veteran direct marketing journalist Ray Schultz, editorial director of DIRECT magazine. He is the founder of DIRECT Newsline, the industry's first daily online newsletter, and is also the editor of eZine IQ and the CRM Loop.

A Nice Story
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
Look elsewhere if you want a dose of midsummer cynicism. This column should be illustrated with a happy face. Exactly 10 years ago this month I was suffering ...

Twin Troubles
Jun 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
If there are two things direct marketers dread, it's economic downturns and elections. This year we have both, and you can catch up on them in Direct. ...

Survival
May 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
This is not a happy time for catalog marketers. Yes, they got a break on postal rates (as if any rate hike can be called a break). But paper prices are ...

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Loose Cannon

Senior writer Richard H. Levey's popular weekly column Loose Cannon presents an irreverent look at the direct response marketing industry. His beats on DIRECT include database marketing and customer relationship management, and he is the coordinator of the magazine's three annual research survey's.

Loose Cannon: A Loaf Of Bread And Ow
Jul 7, 2008 1:27 AM, By Richard H. Levey
Success, it is said, has a thousand parents. Failure is an orphan. But when a consumer-focused mail campaign generates a 0.0625% response rate – 30 responses on a 48,000-postcard effort – the words “failure” and “orphan” somehow fall short. “Travesty” is a good start. And “forsaken foundling” is an appropriate counterpart. ...

Loose Cannon: Missed It By That Much
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Richard H. Levey
Here's a riddle: What do children's fears of being eaten by bears, a survey of unfaithful wives and socially disruptive snoring have in common (aside from having nothing to do with direct marketing)? Answer: They're all subjects of press releases sent to Direct magazine. ...

A Million Little Direct Mail Pieces: A Memoir
Jun 22, 2008 11:23 PM, By Richard H. Levey
The average citizen does not wake up in the morning, hell-bent on becoming a direct marketing reporter. My own path was a circuitous one, and I offer what I hope is an inspirational tale of my transformation from a lad without focus into the direct marketing chronicler I am today. In setting down these memoirs, I join the ranks of James Frey, Margaret B. Jones and JT LeRoy, and it is in their spirit that I tell my story. Although I did not know it at the time, the experiences that led to my life in direct marketing journalism began with my service within the U.S. War Department during World War II. ...

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Direct from Muldoon

Muldoon & Baer Inc. president Katie Muldoon shares her knowledge of the catalog business in her long-running column Direct From Muldoon. She is a former adjunct assistant professor at the NYU Center for Direct Marketing, and is the author of "The Catalog Strategist's Toolkit."

Communications That Count
Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KATIE MULDOON
THE WAY A CATALOG REACTS TO CUSTOMERS CAN AFFECT ITS whole business. That said, it's a wonder more catalogers don't dedicate far more money to stellar communications. ...

Becoming a Content Provider
Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KATIE MULDOON
We're content providers, Richard D. Beckman, president of Cond Nast Media Group, told The New York Times in August. Mr. Beckman essentially was saying ...

Be Blogged or Be Gone
Sep 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KATIE MULDOON
Catalogers, have you blogged yourselves yet? A recent Non Sequitur comic strip pictured a supposedly typical pick-up scene at a bar, showing a women instantly ...

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Don't Get Him Started

You Can't Even Say Hello?
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ken Magill
Why is it that so many direct marketers use traditional tactics sure to backfire in e-mail while ignoring old-school practices that most likely will pay ...

Somewhere, a Yahoo Marketing Exec Dances on Spitzer's Grave
May 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ken Magill
Four years before he became infamous as Client No. 9, disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's utter lack of integrity was on full display during ...

Nobody Left to Blame
Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
It happened again last month: Another JupiterResearch e-mail buyer's guide, another round of press releases from all the service providers congratulating ...

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The Makeover Maven

Thomas L. Collins adds a direct marketing edge to mainstream advertising as DIRECT's Makeover Maven. He is currently an independent creative and marketing consultant based in Portland, OR and is the author of four books on marketing. He has also been a DM copywriter, admaker and creative director.

Tiptoeing Toward a Big Idea
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Thomas L. Collins
Those of you who are old enough and fortunate enough will recall that wonderful Danish pianist/humorist Victor Borge. He combined mischievous tricks at ...

Roses Are Red But This Ad Is Blue
Jun 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Thomas L. Collins
The Subject Was Roses. That was the title of the popular Frank Gilroy play and the movie by the same name. It's also the focus of this issue's column. ...

A Futile Tug of War
May 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Thomas L. Collins
When I showed this Kyocera ad to another person, the reaction I got was Looks fine to me. And indeed it is moderately acceptable by the standard of yesterday's ...

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Guest Columnists

Industry leaders share their knowledge on a variety of topics.

A Call for Education
Aug 1, 2005 12:00 PM, BY CHRISTA HEIBEL
TWO YEARS AFTER ITS LAUNCH, more than 60 million people are listed on the Federal Trade Commission's National Do Not Call Registry. That's 60 million ...

Beyond the Traditional
Aug 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Bob Gillen
ONE OF THE GREATEST obstacles to successful direct marketing campaigns is the difficulty of obtaining accurate mail data. Many of these challenges can ...

Podmarketing
Jul 1, 2005 12:00 PM, BY FRANK SALERNO
In his book The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman describes how companies that haven't laid one strand of fiber-optic cable have benefited greatly from the ...

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Pushing the Envelope

DIRECT's executive editor Beth Negus Viveiros writes about the lighter side of direct marketing in Pushing the Envelope. A member of the magazine's editorial staff shince 1995, she offers the perspective of a consumer with a behind the curtains knowledge of the DM world.

Fishy But in a Good Way
Feb 1, 2008 12:00 PM, BETH NEGUS VIVEIROS
I've come to the realization that I have no right to be impatient with my toddler sons' short attention spans mainly because I'm not sure if my own is ...

Ho-Ho or Ho-Hum?
Jan 1, 2008 12:00 PM, BETH NEGUS VIVEIROS
Up on the laptop, Click, click, click. Some missives inspired sales, While the others didn't stick. The holiday party season is upon us. This year impress your guests with gourmet delights from GourmetFoodMall ...

And the Winners Are
Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM, BETH NEGUS VIVEIROS
As I type this, the lights have just flickered out in my jack-o'-lantern, which means it's time to pore over the holiday catalogs. Between Labor Day and ...

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Curmudgeon at Large

Herschell Gordon Lewis skewers the foibles of direct marketing copy each month as DIRECT's Curmudgeon at Large. He is the principal of Lewis Enterprises and the author of 28 books, including "Asinine Advertising," "Marketing Mayhem" and "On the Art of Writing Copy."

Nope, Don't Wanna Talk Wid You
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Herschell Gordon Lewis
That was the delightfully friendly (fiendly?) way a telemarketer opened what turned out to be a delightfully short conversation with whoever delightfully ...

Sorry We Screwed You Up. So Here's 10 Bucks
Jun 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Herschell Gordon Lewis
John Talbott isn't a fan of what he calls apology marketing. He isn't a fan of Budget Rent a Car. So he finds the two fanless items in combo, not once ...

Watching the Watchers
May 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Hershcell Gordon Lewis
How much spam did you get today? That very question is in itself such a clich it's spam in print. We're assaulted on one side by nonsensical or insulting ...

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The Delpolito Letter

Gene Del Polito gives readers insight into the United States Postal Service each month in The Del Polito Letter. He is an advocate for those who use mail for business communication and commerce, and the president of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom).

An Urgent Wake-Up Call
Apr 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Gene A. Del Polito
The word is out. The Postal Regulatory Commission has issued a schedule of recommended rates that could very well be the death knell for some of our industry's ...

Is Anyone Listening?
Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
FROM MY EARLIER CAREER AS AN audiologist, I can remember the many corny jokes made about diagnosing and rehabilitating people with hearing disorders. ...

No Serenity Here
Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM, GENE A. DEL POLITO
HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE Serenity Prayer? It goes like this: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things ...

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Websight

Senior editor Brian Quinton joined DIRECT’s editorial staff in September 2004 and now covers all aspects of e-commerce and online marketing, including e-mail campaigns, search engine marketing, Internet retailing and interactive advertising.

Getting In
Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, BRIAN QUINTON WEBSIGHT
If you have any doubts about how thoroughly geeky I can be and believe me, I can provide testimonials from family and friends please consider the nerd ...

Too Much Togetherness?
Jul 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Brian Quinton
If you lived through the dot-com bubble, you could be excused for thinking you'd slipped through a wormhole in time and landed back in 1999. In rapid-fire succession, a slew of the biggest online ad players announced plans to get a lot bigger by acquiring platforms, technologies or expertise they hadn't had before. ...

Of Monkeys and Men
Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM, BRIAN QUINTON
In early May, researchers from the Yerkes National Primate Research Center found a possible correlation between human speech and the gestures of chimpanzees. ...

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Letters to the Editor

Thoughts and opinions from the readers of DIRECT magazine.

Letters to the Editor
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM
I agree with Tom Collins' assessment of Kyocera's ad (The Makeover Maven, May). I was nodding with each thing he criticized, almost mouthing Tom's questions ...

Letters to the Editor
Jun 9, 2008 7:01 PM
Readers weigh in on Loose Cannon: One Casino Would Rather Switch Than Fight, Direct Newsline, Monday, June 09, 2008 with a horrendous pun, an informed history of casino marketing, and a generous, if self-serving, invitation. ...

Letters to the Editor
Jun 2, 2008 7:37 PM
Letters in response to Loose Cannon: Two Young Men Meet The Wizard From Oz, Direct Newsline, Monday, June 02, 2008 ...

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