Should Branding Drive Direct Marketing Creative?

Jul 14

In some refreshingly frank language, H. Gordon Lewis, expert copywriter and author of 31 books as well as David Lewis, President and CEO of Merkle commented on this very question in the October 29, 2007 issue of DM News.

You can find these comments online on www.dmnews.com under the title “Does brand have a place in today’s DM?”

Here are some things they wrote.

H. Gordon Lewis excerpts:

“I have no problem with brand advertising, but would argue the same amount of money can be used to generate more revenue and loyalty than brand.
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If you have a budget of half a million dollars, how much do you want to spend on selling something and how much do you spend to build an image? A lot of people use brand marketing as a crutch. My position is looking at the bottom line. In direct marketing, we build lists of customers who buy product and that is gold. Anything else is false gold or some kind of alloy.”

David Williams excerpts:

“I think both camps have lost focus on what is truly important --- [that is, to develop] multimedia strategies and programs that enhance the value of relationships with consumers over time.
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The challenge today is not about which approach is better; it is figuring out how to create an effective blend of universal, unique offers and messages delivered through multiple media at the right time to drive results.”

The editor of the magazine made this assessment of these two articles.

“… Williams just beats him to the punch with an argument that speaks to longer-term relationship… just as direct focuses and amplifies branding, branding can drive direct.”

Do you think branding can drive direct as stated by the editor? Do branders give you sway on creating “unique offers” designed to drive results as stated by David Williams? Do you think direct marketers have missed the point in the discussion? Is this really a case of just missing the point?

Ted Grigg

Ted Grigg is a direct response strategist who helps growth-focused companies reduce risk by identifying weak assumptions before they become costly mistakes.

Over the course of his career, Ted has evaluated several hundred million dollars in direct response testing across direct mail, digital, print, television, telephone, and other channels. His work combines direct response strategy, acquisition economics, customer analysis, creative evaluation, offer development, and disciplined testing.

Ted has worked on both the client and agency sides of the business. That experience gives him a practical understanding of the pressures facing executives, marketing teams, agencies, and service providers—and of the problems that arise when activity, media volume, or creative preference replaces a clear economic objective.

His consulting work helps organizations examine such questions as:

Are acquisition goals economically realistic?
Is the allowable Cost Per Sale supported by customer value?
Are targeting, offers, creative, media, and response paths working together?
Are tests structured to produce reliable business decisions?
Are unproven assumptions being treated as facts?
Is the organization measuring sales outcomes rather than convenient proxies?

Ted’s experience includes the development of direct mail and multichannel acquisition programs for insurance, healthcare, financial services, technology, nonprofit, manufacturing, retail, transportation, communications, government, and business-to-business organizations.

For a national direct-to-consumer insurance company, he developed a direct mail format that defeated established controls and helped expand the productive use of compiled prospect lists from less than 10 percent to more than 30 percent of total direct mail circulation within one year. He also planned Medicare lead-generation programs for more than 60 regional and national HMO and PPO organizations, with some programs exceeding sales projections by as much as 60 percent.

Ted founded Wyse Direct, a direct marketing division of Wyse Advertising in Cleveland, where he developed acquisition programs and helped launch a new technology product for Seiko Instruments by generating a predictable flow of qualified sales leads for its national sales organization. As vice president of new business development for the Grizzard Agency, he helped broaden the agency’s strategic capabilities and pursue new commercial and fundraising opportunities.

He is the author of The HMO/PPO Marketing Plan—A Step-by-Step Guide, published by Executive Enterprises, and has written numerous articles and conducted webinars on direct response strategy, testing, creative development, and marketing economics.

Ted earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Abilene Christian University and completed two years of graduate study at Texas Tech University. He is the founder of DMCG, LLC.

http://www.dmcgresults.com

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