Hey all. Yes, it’s been a while. We got our October issue off to print late last week — and here I am blogging about our August issue?! Yep. September was a crazy month of personal and business travel, on top of working heavily on the rebrand of Response Expo as MTC Expo, and the brand refreshes of Response Magazine and the DRMA. Both the Response and DRMA sites should be brand new by early November. Finally, here’s a look back August, which is led by an intriguing cover interview with Jean Vernor, who leads MetLife‘s direct-to-consumer efforts. Other features in the issue include a look at how the wider financial services space is using direct methodologies and our annual look at the fulfillment and logistics space. How did these — and other — pieces come together? Let’s take a look.

• The August cover feature was a long time coming. Response Advisory Board member Fern Lee of THOR Associates first brought MetLife to my attention in early 2016. The timing was never right during 2016 to get a story rolling, however. But the first crack came in the form of Steve Schwartz, the company’s vice president of marketing, who agreed to serve as a speaker at Response Expo last April. As we built a relationship with the MetLife team, Lee and her partner Lori Zeller (a member of our DRMA Education Committee) helped get sign off on this feature interview with Vernor. Much like Tumi‘s Charlie Cole, our July cover subject, Vernor does not hold a traditional “marketing” title. Her role oversees marketing, as well as products, technology, and more in the direct-to-consumer realm. If you missed the link above, here it is once again: MetLife Gets Direct With Consumers
• What are other financial services marketers up to when it comes to reaching targeted consumers along their journeys to purchase? Our freelancer Bridget McCrea spoke with experts from Colonial Penn, Green Shield Canada, and Prudential to find out what tactics are working, what the media mix looks like, and how marketers are using technology to their advantage in driving consumers to that final purchase decision. In case you skipped the link above: Cha-Ching! The Value in Going Direct
• Ahead-of-the-game technology is becoming more crucial in the fulfillment and logistics space, as well. Freelancer Doug McPherson spoke with leaders from seven of the top providers across the country about just how many engineers, operations leaders, and IT pros it takes to run logistics for clients both large and small. Additionally, those leaders dished on the average costs of fulfillment — one of Response‘s most popular tidbits of research every year. Here’s that story link again: Getting Geeky
• Our monthly direct response TV and radio media billings continue through first-quarter 2017 results with a look at short-form DRTV results. Mirroring its success in fourth-quarter 2016, the short-form DRTV world added 33.1-percent compared to the prior year’s results from Kantar Media. The big winners? The cable outlet, as well as short-form behemoths “Drug and Toiletry” and “Household, Furniture, and Appliances.” For a full look at 1Q 2017 short-form DRTV media billings, click here: Short-Form DRTV Billings Continue to Climb in 1Q 2017
• The July issue also includes:
  • A Support Services column from a2b Fulfillment‘s Ayal Latz about maximizing your contacts in the DR world to drive new business for your own business.
  • A Guest Opinion column from Stiki President Alan Rudnick regarding the power of text to reinvigorate your sales funnel.
  • A look back at July’s key networking events in Southern California in our But Wait, There’s More section.
• My Editor’s Note column was inspired by a New York Times‘ profile of its long-time crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz. So much of our time is spent working on projects that we know won’t be the greatest successes of our careers. What does it all mean? If you missed the link above, here it is: Here’s a Puzzle: How Can You Maximize Middling Marketing?

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!