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...
Many retailers have got their act together when it comes to extending their reach from the High Street into customers’ homes. If my family’s collective inbox is anything to go by we seem to have most of the big retail names emailing us on a regular basis, with offers in various shapes and sizes. Some...
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’ve recently come back from a couple of days in the north, where I had breakfast, lunch and dinner with most of our agency partners in that part of the world. As ever, leaving the London smog and arriving in Manchester, I get a real buzz from the sense of community you get when talking to media agencies...
This week I was at an industry event chatting with a couple of old mates – one from a traditional media background who now works on the client side, and one from a media agency – about the use of data in our industry. While my agency friend, perhaps unsurprisingly, was up to speed with most of the huge...
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...
His Lordship, his Mandyness of somewhere near Hull, is a busy little business secretary, isn't he? Not content with telling Gordon which side to put his parting, he is also contemplating bailing out Jaguar and Land Rover (but not Woolies), whilst musing that it would be a fine idea to sell off 49...
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...
