The mysterious case of the vanishing direct marketing agency

A few short years ago, I remember celebrating with my direct marketing agency co-workers. It was the night of a major marketing awards dinner, and the judges had been very good to Jacobs & Clevenger. We brought home shiny, new trophies for interactive, viral games, marketing strategy and something called “direct marketing.”

You say you don’t recognize the term “direct marketing”? You’re certainly not alone.

Believe it or not, there used to be a host of proud direct marketing agencies right here in our hometown of Chicago. In fact, we would compete tooth and nail with them every year for those coveted awards.

But now, all the Chicago direct marketing agencies have vanished from the planet. Those shops didn’t go out of business. They simply decided it wasn’t cool to use the term “direct marketing agency” anymore. Even the association that hosted the awards quietly dropped “direct marketing” from its name.

That was too much.

I had this nightmarish vision of being hauled in front of a Senate subcommittee and hearing the dreaded question, “Have you ever knowingly practiced the dark art of direct marketing?” It’s enough to make one name names.

Listen, the tools and techniques of the direct marketing agency still work extremely well.

People still respond to the call-to-action, response device and expiration date — revered hallmarks of the direct marketing agency. Personalization and relevancy still make all the difference. And what would happen if measurement ever went away? The CMOs would unionize and things would get ugly real fast on ROI Street.

Not surprisingly, many agencies still swear by these direct marketing best practices. And they use them across all channels, online and offline. They’re just using other terms to describe what they do.

You want some examples? I’m glad you asked.

“Response marketing” is a favorite for former direct marketing agency types these days. It’s not really different than direct marketing, which is all about driving response. But it actually uses the word “response,” so it’s more exotic and appealing in some way. I’ve even had friends tell me their agencies are “dabbling in the response space.” (My unsolicited advice would be not to hire any agency that dabbles. Too messy.)

“Customer experience marketing” is another term that’s getting a lot of play lately. Roughly defined, it’s all about putting the customer at the center of your marketing strategy. I don’t know about you, but every communication I concept, write or produce is centered on the customer. That’s not an evolution in our philosophy, it’s basic marketing common sense.

Then we get into the acronyms. Marketers love those acronyms.

“CRM” is my personal favorite. It stands for “Customer Relationship Marketing.” This is the fine art of managing your company’s interactions with customers. It involves synchronizing sales, marketing and customer service. That’s a great idea, but it’s definitely not a replacement for direct marketing. In fact, the most effective direct marketing also involves a healthy dose of CRM. That way every area works together to generate a customer-centric experience that drives response. (Sorry, I just mashed up a lot of new terms. The marketing police are on their way.)

Here’s the bottom line: I still believe in the power of marketing to drive action, generate transactions, influence behavior and grow your business.

I also believe that direct marketing, or response marketing, or tell-them-what-to-do marketing will always be around. The name may change but the premise will not.

Which leaves me with one unanswered question: I wonder what they’ll call the direct marketing award this year?