MCM staff
Though Hawthorne, NY-based list firm Listworks, which abruptly closed on Feb. 1, is still not making any public announcements, on Feb. 9, Wells Fargo Loan Adjustment Group sent a letter to brokers and managers informing them to pay Wells Fargo as they would pay Listworks.
You sold to the customer once, twice, maybe even more. You thought you had a relationship. Then, several mailings later, you realized you lost him. He moved on without so much as a good-bye. In moments like this, when you are alone, analyzing your house file, you wonder aloud, How did something so right go so wrong?
Confronted with shrinking list universes and reduced response rates, more catalogers are turning to modeling to find new or better targets from both house files and prospects. But while an estimated 85% of catalogers conduct basic RFM (recency/frequency/monetary value) modeling, according to industry figures, only 5%-10% engage in the more-sophisticated types of modeling.
The increasing role of the Internet as a marketing and sales channel offers numerous opportunities to marketers, of course. But it also gives rise to new challenges. One of them, says Steve Tamke, senior vice president at Hackensack, NJ-based marketing services provider Mokrynskidirect, is
Cooperative databases such as Abacus, I-Behavior, NextAction, Z-24, and Prefer account for more than half of the prospecting done by small and midsize catalogers, according to Stephen R. Lett, a Bethany Beach, DE-based direct marketing consultant. Why? Because these prospect names perform well and represent a good value for the money.
Annual income falls 66% at computer reseller PC Mall but rises 27% at outdoor sporting gear merchant Cabela’s
Dallas-based sports equipment marketer Collegiate Pacific has signed a letter of intent to acquire $7 million Bourbonnais, IL-based team sports distributor Salkeld Sports.
Itasca, IL-based cataloger/retailer OfficeMax reports that president/CEO Christopher C. Milliken, a 27-year veteran of its office products business, has resigned amid a growing scandal regarding its accounting for vendor income.
St. Paul, MN-based Catalog Marketing Services has acquired the remaining part of New York-based cooperative database Prefer Network it did not already own. The merged company, called CMS Direct, will offer list processing, database, analytical, modeling e-commerce, and marketing consulting services. According to a release, the company is the first collaborative consumer catalog database to aggregate consumer-purchasing data at the SKU level for every model.
On Jan. 1, California’s “Shine the Light” law, known formally as California Civil Code 1798.83 (SB 27), went into effect. Essentially the statute encourages direct marketing companies to offer a transparent way for customers to opt out. Most catalog and Internet retailers already have privacy policies that offer just that. Direct Marketing Association members who are in compliance with its membership rules are, in fact, already in compliance with the statute.
If you wish to err on the side of caution in doing business with California residents, Todd Miller, a consultant with San Rafael, CA-based list and marketing services provider Lenser, offers the following suggestions: