Found 35 item(s). Displaying 1-15
Direct Media and Millard Group Merge Under infoGROUP Umbrella
June 25, 2009
From News
infoGROUP (NASDAQ: IUSA), the leading provider of data driven and interactive resources for targeted sales, marketing and research solutions, today announced the formation of Direct Media Millard (DMM). Launching July 1, 2009, DMM becomes the industry’s largest provider of targeted prospecting media for the consumer and B2B markets.
What's It Really All About Now?
May 2009
From Retail Online Integration
In tough times like these, companies often look for Band-Aids to slap over problems so they can get by. This year we all have problems, and the catalog business isn’t immune to them. In many respects, namely the losing battle they continue to fight with the USPS (although at press time, there was a glimmer of hope for postage to be adjusted downward for larger-volume mailers), catalogers are hurting worse than others.
NEMOA Notebook
March 24, 2009
From Tactics & Tips
For those of you who don’t ordinarily attend NEMOA events, they’re usually like minireunions of longtime catalog practitioners and typically have a big "Rah! Rah! Go Catalog!" flavor to them. But the mood and whole underlying tone at the Spring 2009 NEMOA Conference held a couple of weeks ago in Boston was different from any NEMOA event I’ve ever attended.
0607_C&U_Prod_Rags
May 2008
From Tactics & Tips
Access Technology Solutions Direct Selling Services 34 Randall Decker (801) 420-9225 www.accessts.com Associated Global Systems Fulfillment 62 Sales (516) 627-8910 www.agsystems.com B&W Press Printer/Specialty Mailer 23 Paul Beegan (978) 352-6100 www.bwpress.com Belardi/Ostroy ALC, LLC Lists 22, 39, 60 Andrew Ostroy (212) 924-1300 www.belardiostroy.com BowTie Inc. Lists 6 Kristina Grubb (949) 855-8822 x3420 www.bowtielists.com Brown Printing Printer 41 Jill Tobin (212) 782-7857 www.bpc.com Catalogs America Printing BC Dan Sayin (727) 864-2000 www.catalogsamerica.com Catalyst Direct Marketing Lists 32, 65, 67 Fred Litzky (201) 405-1414 www.catalystdm.com Chilcutt Direct Marketing Lists 52 Jane McCoy (405) 478-7245 www.cdmlist.com Commerce Register Service Bureau 48 Bob Schweighardt (201) 445-3000 www.comreginc.com Creative Automation Direct Marketing 55 Bob Rajan (800) 773-1588 www.cauto.com Cyber City Teleservices Telemarketing Services IBC Erv Magram (201) 487-1616 www.cctll.com Datamann Software 24 Kathy Reagan (802) 295-6600 www.datamann.com Direct Tech Inventory Management 21 Jack Mahaffey (402) 895-2100 www.direct-tech.com DM Transportation Group Transportation Management 56 Bill Wilson (717) 258-0611 www.dmtrans.com DoubleClick Performics Search/Affiliate Marketing 35 Robin Simkins (312) 739-0682 www.performics.com Dydacomp Development Software 8 Rob Coon (973) 237-9419 www.dydacomp.com Edith Roman Associates Lists 3 Kevin Collopy (845) 731-2684 www.edithroman.com Endicia Mailing Software 57 Sales Department (800) 576-3279 www.endicia.com Foster Manufacturing Production Equipment 6 Ted Borowsky (800) 523-4855 www.fostermfg.com Iverson Language Associates Translation
Free Shipping Holds Value, Survey Finds
March 2008
From Tactics & Tips
When preparing their next offers, multichannel marketers may want to take a second look at the value of free shipping. Its appeal to consumers appears to be growing. Such was the finding of the seventh annual Post-Holiday Customer Insight survey conducted by Decision Direct Research, the marketing research division of the list company the Millard Group. Of the 73,000 consumers who completed the recent survey, 61 percent said free shipping spurred them to shop from catalogs, and 53 percent indicated free shipping was the driving force in getting them to shop on a Web site. Here are some more noteworthy findings of the survey:
The infoUSA-Direct Media Deal: The Experts are Buzzing, What’s Your Take?
February 2008
From The Corner View
The news of infoUSA’s acquisition of Direct Media sent the combined reaction of total expectation and shock waves throughout the catalog/multichannel list industry. My own opinion is that this deal was to be expected considering the path that infoUSA has been going in recent years. Direct Media joins the infoUSA stable that contains Millard Group (including its most recent pick-up, Mokrynskidirect), Edith Roman, Rubin Response, Walter Karl, JAMI Marketing Services and American Church Lists. Then again, it’s a little surprising considering that Direct Media was sold to Acxiom nearly 12 years ago, only for Direct Media’s management team to buy the company back four
Consumer Praise Lessens for Marketers’ Web Sites
December 2007
From Tactics & Tips
As the focus of many multichannel catalogers shifts to online sales, it appears many of their Web sites aren’t prepared to handle increased quantities of orders. In a recent survey conducted by Decision Direct Research, the marketing research arm of list firm the Millard Group, consumers said product selection from specific brands meeting their expectations is decreasing. Of the nearly 50,000 online shoppers who completed the survey, 65 percent indicated that product selection doesn’t match what they’ve come to expect from specific brands, a 10 percent drop from last year. Other highlights from the survey follow. * “Excellent” scores for the “unique product not
Special Report: More Web, More Print or Both?
December 2007
From Retail Online Integration
While technology makes many things easier, it also can complicate your job. And as the Internet — and all that goes with it — has evolved over the past dozen years or so, catalogers’ jobs have become a lot more complex. Beyond merely becoming e-commerce and multichannel marketing experts, catalogers must pay closer attention to analytics and constantly reconsider how they allocate their marketing budgets. Ask any multichannel merchant and you’ll hear the same thing: The rubber stamp has no role in making marketing plans these days. The ongoing changes in e-commerce force catalogers to constantly reinvent the wheel. Add the killer postage increase
Tofu or Steak? Critic Picks Apart Several Catalogs
October 2007
From Tactics & Tips
In a session during the recent NEMOA conference in Portland, Maine, that had catalogers ducking for cover, Bill LaPierre, senior vice president of the Millard Group Inc., list brokerage division, provided a veteran’s critique of several catalogs he recently observed and of the catalog/multichannel business at large. His overall finding? Today’s catalogs are boring! LaPierre pulled no punches as he picked apart catalogs, referring to them as “tofu” (lacking in flavor) or “steak” (full of flavor), though he found plenty more tofu than steak. He provided tips primarily focusing on creative design. * Adapt, make timely changes to your catalog. LaPierre praised Cuddledown’s
Are M&As in the List Biz Good for Mailers? Panel Squares Off
August 2007
From Tactics & Tips
The recent surge in company mergers and acquisitions within the list and database industry has spurred constant debate. Some believe these acquisitions will help strengthen the industry with better, more powerful resources available to clients. Others fear they’ll lessen the core quality needed to serve catalogers and other customers — service. At last week’s DMA List Day in New York, a panel of list industry leaders — John Healey, president/CEO of PRIMIS; Ed Mallin, president of infoUSA Services Group; and Lonnie Mandel, president/CEO of Specialists Marketing — attempted to shed some light on the recent developments, primarily infoUSA’s flurry of acquisitions over the past
Playing Fair
August 2007
From Retail Online Integration
We may be quite far removed from the, “We all wanna change the world” 1960s, but a group of former Lands’ End executives and employees last year did set out to change the world — the world of multichannel apparel sourcing. A year since its formal launch, Fair Indigo, a marketer of casual apparel, has stuck to its passion of complying with the rules of fair trade in apparel manufacturing. Headed by former Lands’ End senior vice president of international and e-commerce, Bill Bass, the Middleton, Wis.-based cataloger/multichannel merchant’s raison d’être is to only use apparel manufacturers that pay more than the
It’s Only Natural
June 2007
From All About ROI
An impromptu trip from Denmark to England started it all. It was the summer of 1973, and while traveling in Denmark, Grant Dowse and Pegge Kirschner decided to take a road trip to England. To make the car comfortable enough to camp in, they bought, among other things, a cotton flannel sheet. They eventually brought the sheet home with them, and later ordered a similar item from an American mail order company. But it wound up being a synthetic version of the English flannel sheet they’d purchased in Europe. That transaction inspired them to launch their own mail order business. Married three years
Catalog Success 200
March 2007
From Retail Online Integration
Sur La Table 163,680 56,295 191 $85 cookware Mokrynskidirect 12/06 9/05 Dog.com 139,829 51,031 174 $115 pet supplies List Locators 9/06 5/05 & Managers Knit Picks 73,502 27,347 169 $60 crafts Walter Karl 6/06 6/05 Cutter & Buck 70,938 30,555 132 $147 men’s apparel Mokrynskidirect 1/07 1/06 Kinsman Co. 27,090 12,695 113 $83 gardening supplies D-J Associates 12/06 9/05 Fannie May Confections 72,173 34,794 107 $36 candy, chocolates Millard Group 11/06 10/05 Leichtung Workshops 20,312 9,958 104 $52 woodworking tools Names & 9/06 7/05 Addresses Orion Telescopes 33,445 16,849 99 $175 telescopes Millard Group and Binoculars 7/06 7/05 Time for Me 141,411 71,958 97 $95 women’s apparel Mokrynskidirect 1/07 10/05 Siegel Display Products 33,569 17,474 92 $300 promotional display products Direct Media 10/06 10/05 Smith & Hawken 140,722 74,971 88 $125 gardening supplies Belardi/Ostroy ALC 11/06 10/05 Redding Medical 13,689 7,642 79 $95 nursing supplies Fasano and 12/06 8/05 Associates Penn Herb Co. Ltd. 26,459 14,837 78 $54 natural remedies Walter Karl 4/06 5/05 MidWest Edwin Watts Golf 328,416 185,448 77 $250 golf equipment Venture Direct 8/06 5/05 Worldwide Staples 3,843,101 2,183,681 76 $250 office products Direct Media 12/06 11/05 Sporty’s Men’s Collection 12,926 7,368 75.4 N/A men’s recreational products Millard Group 1/07 5/05 New England Business 1,114,626 636,766 75 $120 office products MeritDirect Service (NEBS) 12/06 9/05
The Editor’s Take: A Lesson from the Trenches
February 2007
From Retail Online Integration
In the 10 months I’ve been with Catalog Success, I’ve made it my business to ensure that virtually every article in this magazine, on our Web site, and in our weekly e-newsletter is consistent with our name: It’s all about success in the catalog/multichannel business and how to get there. Same goes for “your partner in multichannel commerce,” our wonderful tagline I wish I could claim to have coined myself (but, my predecessors did, darnit). Bottom line: We want to help you make money by showing and telling you how successful companies and people do it. In this issue, however, for at least one story
Kayaking, Partying & Profits
February 2007
From Retail Online Integration
There’s a very thin line that ties together the two catalogs produced out of 132 Robin Hill Road in Santa Barbara, Calif. Founded in 1994 as Surf to Summit, a B-to-B catalog of kayakin g equipment, the company in 2001 spun off After 5, a consumer catalog of quirky — often wacky — products for wine and martini parties. After 5 came to life after the company found that its customers were responding briskly to the cocktail party-related novelties that it first offered almost as an afterthought in Surf to Summit. But that’s where any similarities between the two catalogs end. Although the