DM rocket

Events

Marketing Roundtable Event: Redefining Direct Mail In Today's Marketing Context

Date:

Tuesday, 31st August 2010

Venue:

Dallas Restaurant and Bar, 31 Boat Quay

Sponsor:

This Marketing Roundtable was sponsored by Singapore Post

The Evolving Role Of Direct Mail

Rayana Pandey, Marketing: Now that everyone is seated, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you and thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to join us in this discussion. I would also like to thank our sponsor Singapore Post for making this event happen. As you all know, we have gathered to discuss the topic on redefining direct mail in today’s marketing context. So let’s get right to it. To start off, what are your views on DM(direct mail) and how do you recommend it to your clients as part of the entire mix?

Jason Lima, Omnicom Media Group: Direct mail is a core component for direct response marketing. It initially started with sales and coupon redemptions, but it has evolved into much more, especially with digital integration. There are various definitions around what direct response is. It is not so much about whether we have recommended it to clients based on their audience or who they are targeting. It is about the roles around direct response. Whether it is direct mail or digital, it needs to be consistent. It is all about effective targeting, creativity and having strong call-to-action and promotion.

Rayana Pandey, Marketing: There are many industries such as FMCG, retail and banking which use direct mail very often. What do clients from these industries come to you with and, when you advocate an integrated marketing mix, what role does direct mail play?

Rosemary Lising, GroupM: The objective is to figure out what to do with what the client wants. Ultimately, whatever comes across that medium mix, it will get a response. That is very much how we focus. Everything is about the client and getting the right mix towards its constituents. I would say that whether it is digital media, traditional media or across the board, we will do whatever works for the client.

Rayana Pandey, Marketing: Do you have clients who are particular about traditional DM being part of the media mix?

 

Anupriya Acharya, Carat Media Service: I find that a lot of clients do direct mail, especially in the financial sector, but they tend to do it internally rather than to externalise it through an agency. Perhaps this is because they do not see a 360-degree communications link to it. It is something they have been doing for years and nobody has really questioned it or looked at what the returns are. Against all the other media that has to be measured, you need to look at the convergence and the cost of convergence. Thus, when it comes to the overall communications architecture, I feel the agencies in general – unless you are a CRM (client relationship management) agency – are less involved in it.

Rayana Pandey, Marketing: Is CRM a loyalty-building measure or an ongoing process that can be leveraged to sales?

Ailene Lee, Singapore Post: You can use direct mail as part of the CRM campaign to up sell your products and services.

Nick Seckold, Mindshare: Direct mail is a massive part of the market. I think we in the digital space need to be careful. We need to realise that not every consumer consumes their media online and not everyone has access to online media. There is a large audience of valuable consumers who are used to consuming their media via print, direct mail or door drops. What we say to clients is let the data decide whether you carry on with certain channels on a media plan. But certainly from the beginning, we would look to build in most channels that make sense. We have to look at offering the product and the audience segment you are targeting, alongside a lot of different factors, then inform the client. Once that plan or campaign has run its course, we analyse the data via econometrics if there is a model running or some other sort of measurement.

Rayana Pandey, Marketing: From your experience dealing with direct mail, do you tell your clients of the benefits it brings to them?

Elliot Rudge, Refinery Media: Personally, I do not tell the clients of the benefits as they tend to already know them. We have an existing partnership and understanding of what the brand already needs. Direct mail will always be a major part of the campaign.

Scott Kimberly, MediaCom: It depends on what you are using it for and which market you are in. When marketing to your existing customers, for example to upsell a product, obviously it is much cheaper and efficient to use an email address than a letter. However, there is still value in the personalised letter because you often do get a better response compared with an email, where you are relying on a subject headline for people to actually click on and open, in order for them to be led to your site. Knowing what you want to use DM for helps define what part it plays in the marketing mix or whether it even should.

Jason Lima, Omnicom Media Group: Regardless of whether we have a traditional background or whether we have digital background, a core component of that is measurement. Whether it is traditional DM or whether it is digital, with direct response there is always an opportunity to optimise. Having said that, the role of the DM is definitely changing. Scott Kimberly, MediaCom: Fundamentally, what any advertising or marketing campaign is designed to do is to drive a response. There is going to be convergence on what it all comes down to. You are always going to have a space for the traditional DM, but it is also going to move towards a more digital base.

Rosemary Lising, GroupM: I feel it is actually about effectiveness. As long as the marketing campaign is effective, that is what is most important. But digital is actually merging into direct mail. You are able to actually extend the experience online.

Natalie Mah, Cactus Communications: From a communications point of view, we always explore the best medium based on who the target audience is. One size does not fit all and people get annoyed when they get indiscriminate mail just thrown into their mailbox. It is not palpable or smart messaging. I like the approach of integrating digital media with traditional.

Diora Henson, My Fat Pocket: For my online portal, advertisers tend to say there is not much of a strong call-to-action compared with traditional direct mail. I focus a lot on beauty and fashion products. We encourage customers by giving them the option to download vouchers and have a compelling article written about the brand or product. In my view, digital and traditional should integrate. For example, you could receive a DM and a call-to-action to go back online to fill in your details. It gives it a more holistic approach.

Anupriya Acharya, Carat Media: The role of any type of media is not only defined in terms of reaching the maximum number of audience, but its part in the strategy. Hence, the role direct mail plays is easily defined in terms of what the objective is and where it fits into theoverall plan. Rayana Pandey, Marketing: At Singapore Post, how would you manage data?

Ailene Lee, Singapore Post: SingPost has evolved beyond just the traditional mailing house. Through DM Rocket, we work with our clients to provide list rental, data management and better shopping services. As clients find it challenging and expensive to spend huge amounts of money maintaining their own CRM, we help to value-add by providing a one-stop shop solution for them.

Scott Kimberly, MediaCom: It is getting back to my assessment that a lot of clients want to move into a pure cost perspective.

Rayana Pandey, Marketing: How then do you make up your case, when you are talking to your clients given cost will always be an issue?

Nick Seckold, Mindshare: In terms of research, are you producing content that validates where DM sits? DM is a stand-alone medium, but as far as an integrated marketing plan goes, it is an area that clearly is coming under increasing pressure. Are you producing research that helps agencies and clients justify their position?

Christine Kam, Singapore Post: For example, we have seen online portals promoting their websites through direct mail pieces. It just goes to prove that you can not totally wipe off direct mail. It serves a purpose and we can ride the future trend together with the other mediums in an intergrated marketing mix. Rayana Pandey, Marketing: What makes a very strong call-to-action?

Natalie Mah, Cactus Communications: It depends on what the product is or what campaign you are trying to push out, whether through direct mail or a holistic approach. It all depends on what message you want to tell the client.

Nick Seckold, Mindshare: Is Singapore Post moving towards doing any of its executions digitally?

Ailene Lee, Singapore Post: We are definitely evolving and embracing new technology in our marketing campaigns. We will also continue to educate customers on effective usage of direct mail in the converging marketplace.

Rayana Pandey, Marketing: Do your clients tend to ask for direct mail campaigns?

Diora Henson, My Fat Pocket: There are some clients who ask me for direct mail campaigns. They let me know what they have already been doing. Often they tend to want to wait to see how the industry moves or to see where the market takes them before they embark on it. The marketing people are normally worried about bad publicity should the campaign be launched only to fail. Another issue is when I work with overseas clients and they want to launch their campaign, the cost or time line tend to be factors of hindrance. Overall, they do want to explore it, but through very cautious steps.

Rayana Pandey, Marketing: There is a correlation between direct mail and branding. So can direct mail also be utilised as a branding tool?

Natalie Mah, Cactus Communications: I definitely think so. There is a correlation between branding and DM. Obviously, if I receive something from Tiffany’s as a direct mailer about a promotion, I am going to take a look at it. I think on the other hand, you can also use it to create a positive brand experience. I think it works both ways.

Elliot Rudge, Refinery Media: To me direct mail is more than just sending out information. Singapore Post is also a one-stop shop where you have multiple services. It can also be used for branding. Branding and direct mail do go hand-in-hand. In terms of digital and traditional integration, what would be really interesting though – but whether it is possible – would be the evolution of a digital letterbox.

Rosemary Lising, GroupM: At the end of the day, it is about relevance. One of the good things about search is that when you search you already know what you are interested in finding. It is relevant to you, even though it may still contain some information that is not. The fact is, you know what you are looking for. If you receive a piece of direct mail, whether it is in an envelope or package of some sort, if it is relevant to you, you will remember it, especially if it has an impact. And branding is about building up that relevance.

Anupriya Acharya, Carat Media Service Singapore: For our benefit, for any medium to come into the conversation set, there should be a little more measurability in making agencies more aware of it. It is also very important to support it with at least some sort of data and research. The agency has to feel comfortable selling or proposing it to the client. When you are proposing a communications plan, a client needs to weigh the pros and cons, in terms of impact, effectiveness and relevance to the consumer and how it will play out in the end.

Rayana Pandey, Marketing: As long as we exist along with our addresses and letter boxes, direct mail will continue to be a very important marketing medium. With that, I thank you all once again for taking time out of your schedules to be here today, Particular thanks to Singapore Post for making this luncheon possible. It has been a pleasure.

The protagonists

• 

  Rayana Pandey

  Deputy editor,

  Marketing Magazine

• 

  Anupriya Acharya

  Chief executive officer,

  Carat Media Services

• 

  Nick Seckold

  Partner, digital,

  Asia Pacific, Mindshare

• 

  Jason Lima

  Digital director,

  Omnicom Media Group

• 

  Diora Henson

  Business development
  director,

  My Fat Pocket

• 

  Scott Kimberly

  Managing partner
  Team Dell,

  MediaCom

• 

  Elliot Rudge

  Head of integrated
  marketing,

  Refinery Media

• 

  Rosemary Lising

  Managing director
  Asia Pacific,

  GroupM

• 

  Natalie Mah

  Managing partner,

  Cactus Communications

• 

  Ailene Lee

  Vice president corporate
  sales,

  Singapore Post

• 

  Christine Kam

  Assistant vice president,
  marketing,

  Singapore Post

• 

  Nicole Lee

  Marketing manager,
  

  Singapore Post

• 

  Lawrence Lim

  Business director,
  

  Singapore Post