re:direct is a conversation platform about direct marketing: reasserting its importance, reinvigorating it creatively, and reinventing it for the modern age.

David Ogilvy placed a high value of not just guessing at would work, but knowing what would work. He insisted on direct response being an integral part of the agency he built. We believe it’s time for a second coming, so we’re tasking talent across Ogilvy and the marketing community to explore and tackle some key questions:

Boundaries and attribution

1/What’s direct and what isn’t? Where does search fit in? Brand advertising? What about the elasticity between direct and other channels? Is any investment that indirectly drives direct ‘direct?’

Creative

2/What does good look like? What is great direct in the modern age? What is the role for the idea? What are the best examples of response? How does it connect to brand experience?

Decision Making

3/What persuades people now? How can we embrace advances in behavior and decision-making? How does it affect strategy and creative development? How do we need to change? What are the key developments in cognitive science and behavioral economics that marketers should be aware of? What is the future of offers in the digital age?

Analytics

4/How do we reconnect the data and the idea? How can analytics inspire creative? How can creative inspire analytics? How do we ensure that creative optimization doesn’t destroy story telling?

Loyalty

5/How do brands stay bonded with their most valuable fans? How should loyalty programs adapt for the Gen Y generation? How do we evolve the CRM model to tap new networks and behaviors?

Media

6/How does the new media environment change how we create work? With technology rapidly driving improvements in creative performance, how can creatives stay ahead of the game? What is the future of proven DR formats like DRTV, mail and direct response print? How will direct response video work on the web? How will print become interactive? How will email streams not bore people to death? What is the role of unpaid media in CRM?

Please join us in this conversation.

re:direct is a conversation which will be here, in-person, with clients, though publication, and most importantly, through new work created by OgilvyOne and the industry. Everything is at stake. Everything is on the table. (yes, including the word “direct.”)

Bookmark us, add us to your feed, follow us on twitter. Tell your creative teams, tell all your teams. There’s a lot to talk about and we need a lot of heads and hearts to make it interesting.

To contact re:direct email: marcus.oliver@ogilvy.com