Direct Mail Services: Business is Booming

[title]Direct Mail Services: Business is Booming[/title]

Medical Marketing & Media has released the results of its 1986 Direct Mail Services Survey. Based on information from 27 participating firms, it reports information on company size, age, business breakdown, and available lists. Respondents also were asked to provide data on business growth or decline in 1986 as well as forecasts for 1987. Of those surveyed, 77% reported gross revenues were up in 1986, with increases from 4% to 200% and an average of 48%. Every survey participant predicts business will increase in 1987 with an average expansion forecast of 47.5%. Some reasons for the positive outlook toward direct mail services and business growth include: 1. expanded software business, 2. increased demand for letter personalization, 3. computer-tailored letters and direct mail pieces, and 4. greater interest in medical marketing research and consulting. More than half of those responding are concentrated in the northeastern US, with 5 located in the Chicago area. An overview of the services offered by surveyed firms is included.

Full text: Medical Marketing and Media, Jul 1987Internet Marketing Tools

Finserv’s New Owners Liked Its Direct-Mail Ties

[title]Finserv’s New Owners Liked Its Direct-Mail Ties[/title]

When William “Jack” McCarthy and Christopher Beaupre were considering the purchase of Schenectady-based Finserv Computer Corp., they looked carefully at the company. They noticed the company’s powerful mainframe computer, its steady customer base, its talented employees — and its involvement in direct-mail marketing, a lucrative business line that is well developed in the Capital Region. “This area — upstate New York, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and western Massachusetts — is a hotbed of mail-order business,” said McCarthy, who, along with Beaupre, recently purchased Finserv from founder Creighton Brittell for an undisclosed sum. (excerpt)

Full text: Capital District Business Review, Mar 16, 1987

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Drayton Bird’s 30-Point Checklist for Effective Creative Work

[title]Drayton Bird’s 30-Point Checklist for Effective Creative Work[/title]

Drayton Bird, vice-chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Direct, has developed a 30-point checklist for creative work. A sampling of his guidelines includes: 1. Never lose sight of the deadline of a project. 2. Form a mental picture of the prospect including likes, dislikes, hopes, and needs. 3. Break up long copy with subheads, tables, or numbered points. 4. Make certain the copy is reader-oriented, not writer-oriented. 5. Do a complete selling job by delineating all the reasons for buying the product offered. 6. Define the benefits of the product/service properly, showing how it is better than alternatives. 7. End paragraphs with questions to be answered in following paragraphs, thus maintaining reader interest. 8. Use ordinary, conversational language. 9. Use testimonials and scientific proof to build conviction. 10. Back up written copy with pictures.

Full text: Direct Marketing, Nov 1987
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OPPORTUNITIES UNLIMITED

[title]OPPORTUNITIES UNLIMITED[/title]

Opportunities Unlimited is an $8-million mail order company with 46 employees. Its product line consists of about 5,000 stock-keeping units, and its customer base is 72,000, with 30% having purchased in the last 3 months. It has a list of 100,000 names of people who have inquired or have been referred, have been sent literature, and those who were customers but have not ordered in the past 24 months. Dan Smith, marketing and merchandising manager for Opportunities Unlimited, says that the company needs more growth and needs to keep up-to-date with technology. He insists that the key to an increased growth rate is through enlarging the customer base more quickly, which can be done by additional prospect mailings. Smith plans on a 20% growth rate and expects a 250% increase to $20 million in 5 years. However, Opportunities Unlimited’s founder, Irv Smith, is worried that the small response rate to mailings could cause the company to lose earnings. A team of advertisers, called in to help resolve the conflict, analyzed 3 possible courses of action for the company. Analysis of the 3 models shows that the key to success lies in finding the correct ratio of rented lists to buyers.

Full text: Direct Marketing, Feb 1988
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