With the explosion of all the cool new gadgets in social media and mobile marketing, it’s easy to lose sight of the CRM opportunities in each of these new channels. Companies need to identify the right owner for “messaging” - whether it’s through email, mobile SMS, or social media.
Gretchen Scheiman’s article in MediaPost’s Email Insider today is a call to email marketers to use their existing knowledge base to take over the messaging component of these two new channels. It also features a list of critical components marketers will need to kick-start the channels.
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A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending the 32nd Annual Caples Awards. For those of you unfamiliar with this contest, it’s the Grammys of Direct Marketing (I’m reserving the Tonys title for the Echo Awards and Oscars for Cannes Direct…sorry).
As the stories about the award-winning work were presented and the trophies handed out, a co-worker of mine leaned over and asked, “What’s direct about that execution?” It was a good point. Seems like the lines between direct and general are blurring. But one distinction still stands the test of time-when you work in direct marketing you carry a proverbial scarlet letter.
To see what I’m talking about just walk through many agencies, and too often you’ll notice a common theme. The advertising folks and the direct guys are clearly, and in my opinion deliberately, separated. Whether it’s different floors or different corners of the office, when you work in DM are you (unofficially) the ugly stepchild of the agency?
But why? We give brands the same coddling and pampering as the general guys. Why do we seem to suck at positioning our own industry? I mean, we’re direct marketers. We can segment, calculate and rationalize data till the cows come home. Perhaps it’s time we apply all that smart thinking to address our own selfish needs.
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Up on Adweek this week is “Returning Nobility to Sales,” a piece about the industry accepting its role in sales and rising to the defense of great salesmanship.
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Does it border on arrogance to write about the skills it takes to get the best start in a career in direct, while we soldier through the worst job market in decades? When the better part of generation is stranded at the starting gate?
The truth is, the economy will recover, the flow of entry-level jobs will return. We will always need the best to join in our pursuit.
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The most powerful union in Manhattan is not the Teachers Union or the Transit Workers Union. It’s the Dry Cleaners Union. I have reached this conclusion based on the observation that they all seem to close at 7pm, while every other shop in the city, no matter whether it sells coffee, sunglasses or sandbags stays open later. This has never really bothered me until last week when I was asked to go to a meeting in London unexpectedly. On my way home to pack for the trip, I realized I didn’t have many clean shirts and since it was past the 7pm deadline I was going to be stuck with whatever I had in my closet…
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