|
|
Article: The hard sell goes soft: everyone thinks direct mail is a second rate way to advertise, but if companies put some real effort in maybe people would pay attention.(Column)
- Article from:
- Design Week
- Article date:
- February 19, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Centaur Communications Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
A few years ago direct mail had such an image problem that it reinvented itself as 'relationship marketing'. Which reminds me of the joke about a certain David Bottomshuffle making the inevitable trip to Somerset House to get his name changed. 'And what would you like your new name to be, sir?' asks the clerk behind the desk, barely able to contain a snigger. 'Nobby Bottomshuffle,' he replies.
Of course, any real improvements need to come from within. Slapping a new identity on to an underperforming medium to disguise its shortcomings is about as effective as Germolene on a gaping shark wound. The real problem with direct mail is that it doesn't really know what ...