In the spirit of The Buggles hit “Video Killed the Radio Star” being the first video to kick off MTV’s launch in August of 1981, I will offer the official first post of the DMA’s Insert Media Council Blog.
The intent of this project is to provide an interactive hub to exchange ideas about this medium. Any Council member is free to author and post information, opinions, and current industry news as they feel inspired. For those who like the instant gratification of getting their “word” out, this is the place. Anyone from the general public will be able to read these posts and reply with comments. Over the course of time, not only can this become a vast resource for people new to the medium, but it may enlighten council members on what others in the marketing industry think about Insert Media.
If you plan to be involved, please review the Terms and Conditions. This is an open forum, but there are some common-sense limitations.
What types of topics are suitable? The answer: anything relevant to the industry.
Like many industries, we have our challenges. The cost of paper, freight, and other services are rising, which take a bit out of a mailer’s ROI. Clearly these are factors that we can’t control, but we can share strategies to combat such pressures.
This is the place for that sharing.
On the other hand, there are things that we can control. Some major industry advertisers are squeezing brokers and managers to a break point while pushing material delivery to the fifty-ninth second of the eleventh hour. Individually, we can decide whether a business proposition is viable. Collectivity, we should realize that the ground we give-up to be competitive may never be gained back, only to work longer and harder for less.
This is the place for that discussion.
It has been exciting to see is the influx of new mailers showing interest in the medium - including, some well-known names. Not only does this speed-up the ol’ growth curve, but gives Insert Media more credibility. Oddly, Insert Media is starting to benefit from the popularity of search-engine marketing. One huge contingent of new Insert Media testers is of online marketers, who have seen SEM costs sky-rocket. Insert Media, being cost-effective and scalable, is often this group’s first foray in off-line advertising.
This is the place to educate these new prospects.
This is also a unique industry, in that: our competitors are business partners, a well. This is one of the few businesses where one can lose a prospective management property, only to turn around a buy that media space for a client, therefore, still making revenue from that lost prospect. This uncommon competitive relationship has created a consortium that has been very effective in policing itself by “outing” unethical mailers and program owners. This dynamic has also influenced our industry work in the mutual interest of general awareness. The great majority of council members have given hours of service to increase this awareness because they know what it can return to their individual businesses.
This is the place to perpetuate that awareness.
…use it with good faith and responsibility.
Posted by Rob Stanton,
Stanton Direct Marketing, Inc
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