Direct Media List Management

The 34th annual Direct Media Client Conference and Co-op held last week in White Plains, N.Y., offered attendees some timely perspective on how catalogers are approaching, and trying to survive, an uncertain economy. Ed Mallin, president of infoUSA’s Services Group, seemed to sum up the theme of the conference best when he said the shift to the digital world is “the most dramatic shift … and it’s not going away.” Mailers need to acknowledge and understand how the Web is changing their businesses, and adapt to the new realities of the Web world. Below are the most noteworthy takeaway pointers from the

“Bring it on!” I thought. Last year, when I presided over our Catalog Success 200 for a first go-round, I was warned that this chart had something of a controversial history during its prior four years. I prepared myself for a torrent of e-mails and phone calls after we published that issue, but to my surprise, we got next to none; only several compliments. Years ago, an editorial director at a company I once worked for said something I’ll never forget: “I love getting hate mail, and hate getting complimentary mail.” I’d have welcomed “hate” mail about our chart, but that’s never our intent

B-to-B catalogers’ prospecting list strategy has never been more important. Why? “You have a universe of shrinking names,” says Kim Lowenthal, executive vice president at American List Counsel. “To put it simply, the volume of business names is less than before.” Plain and simple, fewer names for prospecting can slow sales growth. And many mailers trace sluggish sales to list universes that shrank years before they felt the decline on their top lines. To meet your file growth goals, you’ll probably need to use several prospect list selection techniques and strategies. And by selecting the best lists from a variety of sources, you

CONSUMER Design Toscano This file comprises 196,977 24-month buyers of replica European sculptures, architectural artifacts, hand-carved furniture, suits of armor, garden sculptures, jewelry, angel-themed items, framed art and other gifts from Design Toscano. The buyers in this catalog’s file have an average age of 40 and an average household income of $75,000. The file is selectable by product category purchased and amount of purchase. The base list price is $115/M. Belardi/Ostroy ALC, (212) 924-1300, www.belardiostroyalc.com. Epiclear Epiclear is an all-natural, acne treatment product. The list consists of 52,729 buyers. The average unit of sale is $40. The base list price is $105/M. Impulse Media, (203)

The Canadian dollar’s strength makes marketing by catalog to Canadians a prime expansion opportunity for U.S. catalogers these days. For many, it’s a logical way to grow, provided the prospecting universe is sufficient for the offer. Mailing and distributing merchandise into Canada has become almost seamless thanks to services such as the one offered by Canada Post Borderfree. Here’s what you can expect, and how you can get started test marketing and building a Canadian housefile as part of your overall circulation strategy. Sizing Up the Market There are approximately 33 million people and 12.5 million consumer households in Canada. Similar to the

Which data models are worthwhile? What are the best predictors? Which metrics work? A panel of catalogers and list pros provided simple tactics to help mailers improve the quality of their databases at the “Trick Out Your Data and Kick Up Your Revenue” session held during the List Vision conference earlier this month in New York. Following are their tips: * Look for predictors within your customer data. For instance, Don Austin, director of client strategy for May Development Services, the nonprofit arm of list firm Direct Media, discussed a women’s apparel catalog for whom merchandise was a good predictor of lifetime value. Customers whose

Anything is negotiable when it comes to list rentals, according to list professionals such as Karen Mayhew, vice president, consumer list management, at Direct Media. “Today, there’s not really anything that’s out of the question,” she explains. Mayhew’s colleague on the list brokerage side at Direct Media, Linda Huntoon, executive vice president, agrees. “If you can think of something that will help a mailer use a file and can explain it to the manager and [list] owner, you can probably test it.” Other list professionals also see an upswing in list negotiations. Dennis Bissig, group vice president/brokerage, Mokrynski & Associates, says: “There are a