Today I received an email from Larry Chase called "Top Ten Marketing Trends for the Next Ten Years." Larry really knows his stuff. His predictions are very similar to what the more high-brow prognosticators like Forrester and Gartner have been saying, but Larry's analysis is free.
Of particular interest to me was Trend # 10 ...
Direct Marketers Will Take Over the Internet:
"There are two types of direct marketers on the Net. Those who started out as online marketers have come across the language and practices of DM without realizing it. They talk of response rates by way of clickthroughs, cost per lead, cost per sale, and so on. This group would do well to study the DM masters who have written extensively on the subject over the past 80 years.
Then there are the traditional direct marketers, some of whom get it, and some of whom are still riveted on the shriveling response rates of print mailings and catalogs and on ever-increasing postage costs. The irony here is that traditional direct marketing folks are the ones who understand human nature best. Because of their extensive experience, they can smell what will work and what won't. It's baked into their genes now. This group would do well to look at the Net as the incredible opportunity it is, rather than focusing on what was. What was is not coming back.
The good news for traditional DM'ers is that the Internet has not repealed the laws of human nature. So while the tools of DM are changing, the underlying principles that have driven DM since the time of Ben Franklin are still exactly the same."
Wow. Well said, Larry!
As a multichannel marketing headhunter, I know that Larry is 100% correct. I make hundreds (yes, really) of calls per week throughout the AMA, DMA and Shop.org communities, and everything I have ever learned about direct mail, copywriting, catalog circulation, and list management has helped me understand new media and multichannel marketing. There's not a single idea from DM that can't be applied to the online realm. Furthermore, there's a mentality among DM'ers that "there's nothing as devastating to an opinion as a number."
The fact is, understanding print DM is like understanding how to hand-code in HTML (versus using a WYSIWYG editor like Dreamweaver). It's old-school and requires an in-depth understanding of the basic foundations of the craft. Candidates who cut their teeth in DM almost always see the internet as a means to an end -- rather than as an end unto itself.
I wish I could say the same about the more technologically advanced candidates.
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Q: Need the number of an executive recruiter who "gets it?"
A: Download Harry's contact info for future reference.
