The October issue of Response was another busy one for me and the team. Let’s take a look at some of the key pieces to the issue!
- The 2012 DRMA Marketer of the Year race was a runaway for SENSA Products, but the battle for the other two finalist spots was tight, with Space Bag, recently purchased by consumer package goods behemoth SC Johnson, and Hampton Direct edging a slew of other competitors. What made these companies so strong in 20120? Find out in the cover feature, where SENSA’s Jeff Campbell, Space Bag’s Betty Jamieson-Dunne and Hampton’s Steve Heroux discuss the reasons for their products’ successes. Here’s the link again, if you missed it above: A Taste of Victory
- The fourth annual MOY (as we call it internally at Response) event was also a big success, drawing around 900 DR industry folks to the Chateau Rooftop in Vegas. See a few pix of who was there in our monthly “But Wait, There’s More” section here: MOY Party a Who’s Who in Vegas!
- Our DRMA Spotlight focuses this month on a new player in the traditional direct marketing space: Zadspace. The company, which plays in the transpromotional sector of direct, features a familiar face at the helm to long-time DR insiders: Jeff Giordano, who served as chairman of the Electronic Retailing Association in its earlier days. Zadspace’s patented technology and methodology allows companies to place targeted promotions on the outside of DTC packages sent by E-tailers and catalogs. During a summer trip to New York, we were lucky enough to sit down with Jeff both for the print interview that’s featured in the magazine and for a video interview that can be found on our DRMA website. For the print story, once again, click here: Zadspace Turns the Box Upside Down For the video interview, in case you missed the link above, click here: DRMA Spotlight Video with Jeff Giordano
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The October issue also featured our latest analysis of the DR industry’s quarterly media billings results, this time in the long-form DRTV space. Second-quarter 2012 results — from Response‘s exclusive in-house research — have the year off to its best six month start in quite a while. The $32 million leap in 2Q 2012 means that long-form DRTV media billings are up more than $40 million total in the year’s first half. For a full look at all the categorical and outlet results, here’s the link: 2Q 2012 Long-Form Media Billings Leap $32 Million
- Finally, my October Editor’s Note tackles the recent FTC actions — with astoundingly big dollars attached — against some DR marketers. These actions, and their financial aspects, were all the buzz in Las Vegas last month, as many of the members of our Advisory Board are curious to see how the FTC proceeds from here. Is there not a better way to protect consumers than tackling products five years down the line? There will be more on this topic in coming issues of Response. If you missed the link above, here’s my take: The FTC Leans Hard on the DR Business … Again
Thanks again for reading and interacting with Response!