Direct Marketing

For the calendar year-to-date (CYTD) period ending September 30, 2010, the number of digital coupon events increased by 59.9 percent versus the same period in 2009 across key websites tracked by Marx, a Kantar Media solution.

In the wake of recent research indicating coupons distributed via FSI (free standing inserts) in newspapers rose 8.4 percent for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2010 compared to the year before, Coupons.com today issued new data that shows digital coupons grew 100 percent during the same peri

The shopper experience study currently underway by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research revealed in their recent newsletter, The Checkout, that 60 percent of shoppers look for coupons before entering a store.

While global ad spend has softened in many sectors, one format, the direct response ad, or infomercial, has seen a remarkable 18% growth in total units in the U.S. since 2007 according to Nielsen. In total, direct response comprises 14% of all TV advertising, a figure that may continue to grow as blankets with sleeves, super absorbent towels and language learning CDs gain a mixture of mainstream awareness and web virality.

For those who work in the trenches of Hispanic advertising, you know most Hispanic communications programs are direct response in nature. The biggest ad spenders in the U.S. Hispanic market (auto, retail, telecom and food / beverage) confirm this, as I discussed in greater detail earlier. However, it's important to keep in mind that while the "goal" of most of Hispanic advertising is direct response in nature, most Hispanic media spending does not go into performance media platforms like Direct Response TV (DRTV), direct mail and telemarketing.

For some time, I've been guilty of speaking in terms of Direct Response (DR) and Brand as if they were black and white. Left and right. Obama and McCain. You get the idea.