Shock, horror...someone has been selling mobile contract data, allegedly owned by T Mobile, onto other network providers. Brokers, those despicable middle-men working in the dark shadows of the marketing world, are implicated in the scandal. Poor T Mobile customers have been 'cold-called' (a...
Two recent news items have got me thinking this week. Firstly, the collapse of the infamous mobile telephone directory, using bought in data, and secondly the ASA rapping Virgin Media over the fingers for not using goneaway suppression. Both cases represent a certain naivety on the part of both organisations...
All industries evolve. Things change, develop, improve. Direct Marketing is no different to any other sector, and the major change of the last ten years has been the growth of information technology. Is this a good thing? For me, the jury is still out. The first mailshot I organised, circa 1985, involved...
Good grief, when are we ever going to learn? Your starter for ten, why is the direct marketing industry hated by the consumer? Because we have allowed their data to be treated with disdain and disrespect, that's why. Spam, junk, confetti tactics, poor targeting...you name it, and someone calling...
I have always believed in the direct approach, and that public relations face to face is one of the most powerful tools DM in building a brand. For a football club, desperate to sell merchandise as well as tickets, the chance to meet 120 football mad kids in a secure environment, when it would cost little...
Happy New Year, one and all. On New Years eve, just before the witching hour, I downloaded my first song. Previous to this momentous moment, I had stuck to the old ways, in other words, buying CD's...although I still call them albums of course. I do not own an iPod. And I was quite happy letting...
Just when the muse has left me, and I am wondering where the next blog will come from, another survey hits the streets. This one, from Experian, has some shocking statistics about duplicate mailings. Apparently, some scandalous B2B marketers are still de-duping by hand! Others - now sit down, because...
Following several recent conversations, I feel inspired to remind everyone of the facts behind business data. This is not a criticism, but it is a realistic view, because I sometimes think that with all the smoke and mirrors we use, we can forget what we are working with here. Data quality is relative...
By heck, this is bad. I know we don't want to admit it, but for the time being marketing is about as dead as an estate agents inbox. It is one of business life's true truisms, that when recession bites marketers are driven out of the city. If one in ten of people are going to lose their jobs...
Two pieces of news hit me when I logged on tonight. One is Richard Thomas saying that boards ought to take more responsibility for data rather than leaving it to the IT boys, and the other was some piece of nonsense about data misuse being on the increase. Good grief, talk about shutting the stable door...
