Response‘s new masthead leads the January issue.

After some holiday and printing related delays, the January issue of Response is finally available online! And, if you’ve received your print edition, you’ve likely noticed our brand new masthead logo atop the issue’s cover, as well as throughout its pages. Read on here for some back story on the cover feature highlighting Stanley Steemer (and president Justin M. Bates), as well as how Response’s new logo and look came into being:

• Last summer, Publisher John Yarrington and I visited the Horizon Media offices in New York City to meet with Gene Turner — leader of the agency’s burgeoning direct division — and then-new PR leader Kaya Lobaczewski. It was, as usual, an interesting meeting and Lobaczewski understood the types of stories that our readers like: highlighting successful marketers and the role that direct, digital and data-driven marketing plays in their plans. During the following months, she zeroed in on Horizon client Stanley Steemer, the Ohio-based market leader in carpet and house cleaning services, as the target for a great DR case study. The story leads our January issue and features Justin M. Bates, the third member of his family to lead the company since its founding in 1947. Under his stewardship, Stanley Steemer faced a crisis brought on by the Great Recession. The solution: a multi-channel DR and digital campaign (shepherded by Horizon) that’s turned the company completely around. If you missed the link above, here it is once again: ‘Steeming’ the Competition
• We’re happy to again feature the thoughts and opinions of our powerful and knowledgeable Response Advisory Board in 2014. In the first of four planned Advisors’ Forum features, the group was posed with a series of questions about how digital has changed the game for direct response — and vice versa. Technologies like search, E-mail, digital display, online video, mobile and social are not only changing marketers’ game plans on a daily basis, but they are also evolving just as quickly. What does our Advisory Board think about the challenges and opportunities? Find out here in the Web Exclusive version of this story, featuring more questions and answers than the abridged version that appeared in the print version: Let’s Get Digital

• This month, the DRMA Spotlight is turned on Middleton, Mass., digital tech company Mojo Research & Development. Founded in 2011 by software entrepreneur Gregory Silvano, Mojo is looking to make life easier for marketers operating sales websites — on both the back and the front end. Want to make an immediate change to the offer the consumer sees on your site? Silvano says Mojo’s technology makes that change as easy (and quick) as can be from a dashboard that allows user control — rather than waiting for Web developers to make requested changes. That same dashboard serves as a measurement and tracking tool so that marketers can track the success (or struggles) of their campaigns. If you missed the link above to this month’s Spotlight, click here: Finding the Right Mojo

• When working on the 3Q 2013 long-form DRTV media billings in late 2013, a major factor in the space’s overall spending decline in 2013 became crystal clear: long-form buyers have shifted more of their spend into lower-cost satellite buys and away from the impacted — and expensive — cable space. So, while overall spending was down — again — in the third quarter (this time by 5.2 percent), a rise in time slots purchased and a spike in the satellite outlet’s share of that market again point out that long-form buyers are working hard to find the best deals available in a tough market. For a full look at all the categorical and outlet results, here’s the link: Long-Form Media Billings Stumble Yet Again
• Finally, my first Editor’s Note of 2014 introduces Response‘s new masthead logo and — perhaps more importantly — new tagline: Direct. Digital. Data-Driven. While this tagline should be no shock to those of you who read the magazine, it’s a powerful re-statement of the goals I’ve been talking about in this space for much of the past year. You can read more about that in the column itself. But how did we come up with it? Much of the credit for our new look goes to our long-time graphics director, Monica Kollmann, with whom I discussed our redesign concept in late summer 2013. She took many of the thoughts I share in this column and turned them into an unmistakable visual template. Though Monica shared 3-5 options with us for a new look, this was her first and favorite version — and it’s the perfect fit. We’re thrilled about this new look that complements our continued direction. For more about the “why” of our new look, here’s the link once again: A Fresh Start

Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!