I can’t begin to tell you how many prospective clients asked me if I was willing to guarantee the ROI on my proposed direct marketing projects. My answer has always been an eager “Absolutely!”

I have observed that the balance of power between marketers and the legal department has changed in favor of the lawyers.

I am constantly amazed at the profit killing decisions some companies make by not remaining hyper sensitive to their customers’ buying behavior.

There is another compelling reason to test during your rollout periods. It makes sense to test during the same time of the year that you expect to rollout the program should it prove successful.

One of my favorite business thinkers, Peter Drucker believed that to lead into the future, you must first abandon the past. He essentially defined this skill as “abandonment.”

Here we are maybe a couple of months or so after the introduction of the revolutionary iPhone and Apple drops the low-end model and dramatically reduces the price for the high-end iPhone. Apple reduced the cost by $200 from $600 to $400. That’s even $100 less than the low-end model used to cost.

s a quick follow up to my blog yesterday, it appears that Apple has actually moved in the right direction to repair some of the damage.

Knowledgeable direct marketers understand the critical importance of the brand and product positioning in generating short and long-term profits. But now, more than ever, direct marketers are routinely relegated to tactical rather than strategic roles.

We say its junk mail only to those who are not interested in our products even though the power of analytics to select an audience based on interest prior to mailing has existed for years. Or we say that not every one will respond by mail