I arrived in NYC on March 8th to find it was 20 degrees. I have to tell you I don’t miss that cold weather. I used to live in Long Island, Mineola…but it’s very nice to visit. The purpose of my trip? To attend the DMC luncheon and lecture. The list of panelists included Richard Shaw, President and CEO of Shaw Wunderman; Rob Mason, brand manager on Johnnie Walker; Kevin Dean, VP of product marketing for Equifax and last but not least Stefanie Pont Managing Partner at Pont Media Direct, List Leader of the year, Current Chair of the DMA List and Database council, and world-class list broker.
The topic of the day was “What Mass Marketers Can Teach Us About Direct”. For me two points stood out. Firstly, were the strategies on how to sell direct response to mass marketers as well the growing need for DMers to use mass marketing techniques to track their conversions. For example, the transition of bringing the direct mail metrics and email marketing metrics together will lead to a better response and more cost effective campaigns. “It is very hard to sell metrics to someone who is used to mass marketing. You know that you’re going to loose money on the acquisition, but the blessing of direct marketing is that you can show up with results,” said Stefanie Pont. The multi-channel campaign model will become more critical as postal rates increase for the direct marketer going for brand recognition and internet advertising becomes a more cost effective way to track conversions.
After the luncheon I went to the Hotel for a quick change and then I met up with Stefanie at “Asia de Cuba.” I had mixed feeling about Asian and Cuban food mixed together, but it was the most amazing meal I’ve had in a long time. I asked Stefanie about how she was able to make such an impact on the industry. She shared a few secrets and gave me a few pointers. I would tell you, but then I would have to kill you. Later I met up with a few clients at Buddha bar. “Don’t jump on the Buddha”.
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