Howard Draft Advises National Postal Forum Attendees on How to Capitalize on
Direct Mail Trends
CHICAGO, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Speaking to the country's leading mail
professionals at the National Postal Forum in Washington D.C. today, marketing
icon Howard Draft challenged attendees to accept and capitalize on three
universal truths about Direct Mail -- truths he says build businesses. Howard
Draft is CEO of Draft, the global marketing services agency whose clients
include some of the country's largest users of direct mail, such as Verizon,
Bank of America, and the United States Postal Service.
"It used to be 'The customer is King,'" said Draft. "Well, nowadays the
customer is a dictator."
"Consumers have -- and are wielding -- unprecedented control over their
relationships with marketers," explained Draft. "TiVo and other personal
video recorders allow them to skip right over ad messages. Call screening, do-
not-call registries, and call-blocking keep dinnertime phone calls away. And
Internet SPAM laws, pop-up blockers and customized browser pages limit Web
marketing."
"In just a few short years, consumers have gone from switching TV channels
to switching all media channels on and off at will. We see it. The country's
largest advertisers see it. That's why so many of them are shifting their
marketing dollars to direct mail."
Three Universal Truths
To demonstrate why direct mail packs such a "powerful punch" in today's
marketing landscape, Draft identified what he feels are three universal truths
about Direct Mail:
1. Invitation beats intrusion: Consumers have made it abundantly clear
that the best way to capture their attention and loyalty is through
invitation, not intrusion. Direct Mail is inviting, not intrusive. Over half
of all adults say they prefer to receive advertising and promotional material
through the mail, according to the Direct Marketing Association. With mail,
consumers decide when they want to take in information, on their schedule.
2. The Internet is not direct mail's enemy: Mail and the Web create a
powerful bond with the consumer-stronger than either can do separately. Almost
1/3 of people surveyed said they respond to direct mail by going online,
according to the DMA. And the USPS reports that almost a quarter of
respondents said they visited a website specifically because they received
mail from that retailer. Pointing to the growth in online catalog sales as
well as the increase in high speed internet subscribers resulting in more
shoppers enjoying faster, easier buying experiences, Draft argued that "within
5 to 10 years, these two media will dominate the landscape, specifically
because of their special relationship to each other and because other media
will continue to fade in power."
3. "Mail moments" are powerful: In today's world, the "mail moment"
(that time people take each day to go through their mail) makes a connection
like no other. "People are starved for something real," said Draft. "Because
of the digital world most of us live in, people are hungry for something
permanent. People are open, eager, and waiting to get some tangible form of
communication in their hands." Meanwhile, direct marketers, aided by database
mining and segmentation, are better than ever at choosing who should get their
message. The challenge to marketers is to leverage people's need for mail in
the digital world and to own mail moments from the beginning (when an offer is
made) to the end (when it is delivered).
Looking forward, Draft pointed to the expanding use of direct mail by
small businesses, pharmaceutical firms, business-to-business marketers,
multicultural marketers, and emerging markets, all of which will drive direct
mail usage.
Draft, who served as jury president at this year's Lions Direct
competition at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, also noted that
the industry is far from realizing direct mail's potential from a creative
standpoint. Citing successful campaigns from around the world for both large
and small marketers, and across multiple categories, he called upon the
audience to raise creative standards on all their efforts.
Among the industry statistics Draft shared with the audience:
* According to the DMA, direct mail is still the No. 1 marketing method
used by marketers
* Mail is still the preferred method of contact for the vast majority of
consumers, according to the DMA
* 74 percent of all households expect to get direct mail every day,
according to the USPS
* Likewise, the USPS says that 59 percent of people expect to receive
catalogs every day
* 57 percent of people fully anticipate that their next trip to the store
or mall will be affected by what they get in their mailbox, according
to the USPS
"If consumers open their mailbox and there's nothing there, there's a good
chance they are going to be disappointed," Draft said. "Marketers almost owe
it to them to send something."
Draft feels direct mail fills a very real void. "If we accept this,
believe it and capitalize on it, then clearly this opens direct mail's future
up to countless possibilities."
To download a copy of the PowerPoint presentation, please visit this link:
http://extranet.draftworldwide.com/Addresses/NPF_2004/HD_PowerPoint.ppt
To download a copy of the speech as a PDF, please visit this link:
http://extranet.draftworldwide.com/Addresses/NPF_2004/HD_Speech.pdf
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