All marketers should act like direct marketers

Russell Parsons

Earlier this year, it was written in this very electronic missive that all marketing is now direct marketing – a position that prompted considerable debate among you, the good readers of Marketing Week. It could be argued then, using this premise, that the winner of the Marketing Week Engage Award for best DM campaign is the best of all activity launched last year.

Land Rover’s campaign, created by Wunderman, to push the launch was everything that every DM campaign should be – innovative, creative and accountable.

The use of brand ambassadors known for their boldness of spirit and exploratory prowess – Ray Mears, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Josh Lewsey and Victoria Pendleton – perfectly matched the marque’s positioning.

Mining the CRM database for hot prospects most likely to be looking for an upgrade – therefore already sold on the Land Rover brand – was a cost effective solution at a time when consumers are less confident about taking a chance on a new model.

Thirdly, and most importantly, because of the above, it achieved results. The relatively pricey input costs that paid for an innovative pack – cost per month clocked in at £10,280 – were outstripped by the return on investment – an average of 174 vehicles sold per month at a cost of £40,000, all as a direct result of the DM campaign.

Eye-wateringly effective. And a real testament to the channel. Of course, this is cream but there is a huge crop of similarly effective DM campaigns that are quietly achieving real results with the minimum of fuss with the maximum impact.

It is not entirely true to say that all marketing is direct, but it should be the reality that all marketing should be able to demonstrate its impact in the way that the Marketing Week Engage winner did so admirably.

Brand building should not be a nebulous pursuit of vague intentions. All marketers need to speak the language of the boardroom in a way that direct marketers, because of the very nature of the discipline, have always had to.

All marketers are not direct marketers but, as the success of the Land Rover campaign demonstrates, all should take a leaf from the direct marketing book.