Understanding Catalog Circulation Post Mortems

| Jim Coogan

Catalog circulation post mortems allow top management to examine what went right and what went wrong with catalog campaigns so that you can improve future campaigns. Circulation drives your catalog, and preparing the post mortem is the responsibility of the circulation manager.

Here are the critical pieces of a circulation post mortem:

Custom Prospect Databases: A Revolution, Not an Evolution

| Caryn L. Gray

In recent years, an increasing number of direct marketers are turning to private prospect databases as a means to combat the external forces that spoil their customer acquisition efforts. For marketers who use direct mail to acquire customers, challenges include declining response rates, list fatigue, lack of new names, shortened campaign times, and the need for timely postcampaign metrics. Not too long in our past, we could have dialed up our modeling efforts, but even sophisticated modeling techniques have their limitations against these industry forces.

Create Contact Strategies With The Right Stuff

| MCM staff

Database marketers who develop their contact strategies without adequate information are committing a deadly sin, says Jeff Hassemer, director of product strategy at the data management solutions division of marketing solutions provider Broomfield, CO-based Abacus.

Comailing and Cobinding: A Critical Consideration

| Stephen R. Lett

Comailing is the process of merging catalogs that have already been bound into one mail stream. Cobinding occurs during the bindery process as the catalogs are being bound so that catalogs sharing the same trim size can be comingled into the same mail stream.

A Look at the London DM Fair

| MCM staff

Nearly 7,500 direct marketers from 53 countries gathered in London May 9-11 for the International Direct Marketing Fair (IDMF) and Internet World show. For the first time, the two shows were presented concurrently at Earls Court Exhibition Center.

Database Marketing’s “Playground Problem”

| MCM staff

Relying on an incomplete view of your customers is a sure way to doom your database marketing efforts to failure, says Jeff Hassemer, director of product strategy at the data management solutions division of marketing solutions provider Abacus.