Direct Maketing Online and other News

Spending in the USA on direct marketing is forecast to grow by 6% annually from 2004-09 compared to 2.4% growth from 1999 to 2004. Direct, moreover, accounted for a whopping 47.9% of total ad spending in 2004, up a full point from 1999, according to the DMA.

"Direct marketing lies at the core of marketing today and is the future of marketing tomorrow," the trade group's president-CEO, John A. Greco, said in his kickoff address yesterday morning.

There's no question companies increasingly depend on direct. Karen Menachof, group supervisor at Catalyst Direct in Rochester, N.Y., has seen this trend play out with her Fortune 500 clients. "It's a reallocation of marketing dollars," she said, and "it's going to grow."

Direct marketing online
Shifts are taking place within the discipline. In the next five years, expenditures on Internet marketing (defined as search marketing, banner advertising, cost-per-lead programs and co-registration programs and/or tiered marketing programs including affiliates) along with commercial e-mail are forecast to grow at least three times faster -- at 18% and 19%, respectively -- than other direct media. Spending on Internet marketing is forecast to reach $21.7 billion in 2009, up from $12.6 billion in 2005. Commercial e-mail spending is slated to hit $600 million, up from $300 million

The rise of Direct Marketing

I recently read that the Direct Marketing Association of the USA announced that Direct Marketing expenditure now accounts for 47% of total advertising expenditure and it is expected to grow at about 6% per year. Not only that Direct Marketing using the Internet, e.g. emails, ezines etc. is growing at the rate of 18% per annum.

This represents a major shift in advertising expenditure that when coupled with publicity expenditure seems to point that the future of promotion will be below the line expenditure.

I forsee the growing importance of Trade Marketing in this scenario and the shift of personnel from being sales persons to being sales and marketing professionals.

More and more our sales team will be required to not just sell but also market the products. They will be required to adapt company wide A&P campaigns to customer specific A&P programs.

Is your sales team prepared?

Strategic Marketing in Aruba

Coach Bengo shown at a Strategic Marketing Seminar for Fed-Ex Aruba earlier this year

Al Reis Workshop

It was indeed a pleasure attending the Al Ries and Laura Ries Marketing Workshop for the C L Financial Group, thanks to Kiran Maharaj of C L Communications. The workshop was another big success, following on from their Kotler workshop. All congrats to them for making available to us in TT the premier Marketing thinkers in the world. Keep up the good work guys/gals as we eagerly anticipate another interesting workshop.

Al Ries was truly great and as controversial as his books. He poured scorn on a number of International Marketing Strategies and gave local practitioners hope of going up against the giants.

He and his daughter Laura, dealt with their new book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, I particularly liked his concepts on the Law of Pubilicity and the Law of Divergence (dealt with in my newsletter available on www.coachbengo.com ).

The challenge of these Marketing Gurus is for us to truly attempt to build regional and global brands. I hope it will stimulate a few of our local companies to take up the challenge instead of being content with just dominating the local market. I am always available to help.

Coach Bengo