RICHARD GIBSON examines
the UK’s economic situation.
Fall in love with email
What recession
means for DM
Think about
Direct control
The next thing you should ask
Before starting this column, I looked back at an article I'd written
customers as
yourself is whether you have
for DMIlast July. Then, inflation was rising and, despite the
direct control over your email
slowing of the credit markets, consumer sales were still buoyant.
people first and
marketing strategy.
Today, readers will be aware of the increasing economic woe. The
As a marketer, you’ll have
second half of 2008 was peppered with negative signs and now the
purchasers
worked hard and invested a lot
UK Government’s own statistical department has announced what
of time and energy in building
many had already feared but may not have acknowledged –the GDP
second.
your company’s brand. All that
shrank by 0.6 per cent in Q3 and 1.5 per cent in Q4 and, by doing so,
work can be destroyed by a
met the definition of a recession –two negative quarters of ‘growth’.
badly conceived and executed
With the contraction comes rising unemployment and decreased
email campaign –and that’s
spending –a poll by ICM/The Guardianof UK consumers found 86
more likely to happen if you put
per cent planned to make cutbacks on spending, with only 13 per
your valued brand and trusted
cent thinking they would spend as much in 2009 as they did before.
data in someone else’s hands.
Decreasing levels of inflation, a small cut in VAT (sales tax) and
It sounds boring, but if you
significant drops in the Bank of England base rate, currently at 1.5
maintain direct access to the
per cent (down from five per cent for most of 2008 and 5.75 per
data and have a close, dynamic
cent in the latter part of 2007), all designed to ease fears, have
relationship with it, you’ll start
seemingly done little to improve the economic position.
to develop proportionately
There are two thought-camps about how the recession may
closer relationships with your
play out in the UK for direct marketers: those who are bullish about
customers.
the industry and those who are slightly more bearish. The bulls
Therefore, before all the
believe that, because of its measurability, the direct marketing
creative work starts, marketers
industry is well placed to ride out the economic situation. The bears
need to build a clean and easily
are more cautionary, principally because the last time the UK
modifiable database –one that
economy was truly in a recession (early 1990s) the Internet, and
allows for easy unsubscribe
thus email marketing, did not exist as an advertising channel.
updates to be made and that is
The truth is perhaps somewhere in between.
capable of storing
The IPA's (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) respected
comprehensive marketing
Bellwether Report for Q4 2008, released mid-January, suggests
metadata; such as recent
further reduction in spending and offers some supporting
purchases, birthdays or
arguments to both the bulls and the bears. The report’s author,
anniversaries and hobbies.
Chris Williamson, points to a large reduction for media, with direct
marketing also showing a decrease. Indeed, even Internet search
The right balance
shows a reduction in spending, albeit significantly less than direct.
Finally, think about the
For 2009, marketers –direct or interactive –have a challenge on
frequency of your campaigns
their hands as the consumer adjusts spending habits. The battle is
–get the balance right and
to continue to increase effectiveness, most probably with static or
don’t bug your customers.
(likely) declining budgets, while trying to recruit new customers.
A good email-based
For some suppliers, the challenge will be to stay competitive,
relationship is based on trust,
fighting to keep products in front of potential buyers and users. But
consistency and the delivery of
for others it could be about growth. A recession, while painful, tends
high-value content. For example
to shake out weaker companies: survival and maintenance of a
–don’t keep changing sender
strong position can result in far stronger prospects once growth
addresses for each campaign. If
occurs. As I have written in this column before, evidence from
recipients add it to their safe
Professor Patrick Barwise about recession strategies (Advertising in
senders list and then you
a Recession: The Benefits of Investing for the Long Term, 1999)
change it for the next
shows that those brands which do best post-recession tend to be
campaign, your next email is
those that invest during the recession.
more likely to end up in their
The latest Bellwether Report appears to suggest that very few
junk mail folder.
brands are in a position to take this advice on board.
Paul Bates is UK Richard Gibson is commercialdirector of RSA Direct, the UK partner
managing director, StrongMail. in the Lists4Europe network. Email: richard.gibson@rsadirect.com
www.dmi-news.com January/February 2009 25
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52