DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
16.16. Most people hate telemarketing. Let’s say you work for the local campus
environmental organization. How could you conduct a campus and community
telemarketing effort that would not generate resistance?Apply your ideas to developing a
telemarketing program to promote campus fundraising for a good cause, such as a
campus Habitat for Humanity project.Your primary targets are students, faculty, and staff.
Telemarketing messages are often regarded as intrusive at the outset, before the first
word is spoken. To overcome resistance, students must isolate the benefit they offer
Another approach would be to conduct an inbound campaign rather than an
outbound one. Distribute flyers around the campus and the community, and place ads
in local mass media stating your cause and asking interested individuals to contact
If your primary targets are students, facultyand staff, make sure that your database
allows for direct targeting of this group. Whether or not you host an event or simply
16-17. Kali Johnson, a recent college graduate, is interviewing with a large
garden-product firm that relies on television for its direct-response advertising. “Your
portfolio looks very good. I’m sure you can write,” the interviewer says, “but let me ask
you what is it about our copy that makes it more important than copy written for Ford, or
Pepsi, or Pampers?” What can she say that will help convince the interviewer she
understands the special demands of direct-response writing?
Kali, as a good writer, has much to offer the garden-product firm. All advertising
stems from some similar concepts—understanding the customer, isolating the
strongest aspects of a product, and translating the product points into
attention-getting and interesting expressions. What Kali needs to impress upon her
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16-18. One of the smaller, privately owned bookstores on campus is considering a
direct-response service to cut down on its severe in-store traffic problems at the
beginning of each semester. What ideas do you have for setting up some type of
direct-response system to take the pressure off store traffic?
The bookstore could adopt any number of direct-marketing techniques to reduce
First would be a straightforward direct-mail campaign encouraging students to order
by mail and have books delivered to their homes. A single mailing of this nature to an
Ads in campus media could spell out details of how to order books and supplies
through the mail, and they could also contain a Web address to drive students to a
website where orders could be completed. Cards describing the mail-order book plan
could be dropped into the bags of students who make purchases at the bookstore
16-19. The success of infomercials helps validate direct marketing as a revenue generator.
What characteristics of a product must you consider when determining whether to use an
infomercial to promote it?
When deciding whether or not to use an infomercial, one needs to consider whether
or not the product can be demonstrated accurately and in an appealing fashion. In
16-20. How does the recent fervor surrounding personal privacy affect direct marketing
—specifically, telemarketing and e-mail advertising? You are designing a direct
response marketing campaign for a local business that wants to use telemarketing and
e-mail advertising, but your client is concerned because of privacy issues. Argue
either for or against the use of these tools in this situation. Working with a small team
of your classmates, develop a brief presentation to explain your recommendation to
the client.
When constructing their arguments, students should consider each of the following:
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Privacy is one of the greatest inhibitors to direct response marketing of any type.
Consumers are generally wary of releasing information they consider personal.
On the other hand, with improved data-collection techniques, direct marketers
are gaining a great deal of power that helps them tailor product offers to the most
promising prospects. In doing so, however they also run the risk of getting
Telemarketing is a form of personal sales, but a lot less expensive. The response
rate is good, relatively speaking, because it is intrusive, personalized, and
Through the use of a database and innovative e-mail technology offered by
companies such as Constant Contact, the client can possibly benefit by sending
highly personalized, inexpensive messages to very large number of potential
TAKE-HOME PROJECTS
16-21. Portfolio Project: Check out a set of three catalogs and their companion
websites in a particular category (such as www.llbean.com, www.eddiebauer.com,
and www.landsend.com). In what ways are they similar and different?
Pick one of the brands and:
• Identify what direct marketing strategies the company employs. Which do you
• Analyze the brand image as presented in the catalog and online. Develop a
Student responses to this question will vary.
16. 22. Mini-Case Analysis: Explain how GEICO operates as a direct-to-consumer
insurer in the auto insurance market. Why would you think humor would be an effective
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creative strategy in this situation? You may also remember that we have suggested that
being single-minded is a wise strategy. Why, then, does GEICO use different approaches?
If you were on the GEICO team and had been asked to submit ideas for the next year’s
campaign, what would you recommend? Develop and explain an idea that you think
would continue the unusual strategy GEICO is using.
GEICO is the leading direct-response auto insurer in its category. It uses a
direct-to-consumer business model to deliver its product to consumers at a cost much
lower than rivals Allstate and State Farm. How? GEICO strategically uses its endearing
GEICO must use a variety of creative approaches to accommodate the diversity of its
target audience, which includes just about anyone who drives a car. The different creative
TRACE NORTH AMERICA CASE
Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class.
16-23.What is the chief advantage of direct marketing with this target audience?
What is the main disadvantage?
16-24. Create at least five direct-response materials that you feel will make this
campaign more effective.
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. How do your textbook authors define direct-response marketing?
Direct-response marketing is defined as a multichannel system of marketing that uses a
variety of media to connect sellers and customers who deal with each other directly rather
than through an intermediary, such as a wholesaler or retailer. There are two pieces to the
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2. Who are the key players in the direct response marketing industry?
The four main players in direct-response marketing communication are: (1) marketers
who use direct response to sell products or services; (2) agencies that specialize in
3. What is the difference between a one-step offer and a two-step offer?
A DBC message should reflect whether the offer is a one-step offer or a two-step
offer. Because a one-step offer asks for a direct sales response, it must include a
4. Explain the “circular process” of database use in direct marketing.
A database is important both at the beginning of the direct-marketing process where it
is a critical source of information and at the end of the process where it captures and
updates information for the next interaction. It’s a circular process—if you look at
5. Describe the planning process involved in DBC.
DBC planning begins by delineating the specific objectives. Direct marketing can be
used to: (1) provide in-depth product information, (2) drive traffic to a store or
website, (3) develop leads for follow-up sales contacts or other direct-response efforts
The most typical DBC objective is to create sales or some other action by convincing
6. Describe the four types of agencies involved in direct marketing.
Advertising agencies: Agencies whose main business is mass-media
advertising either have a department that specializes in direct response or own a
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Direct-marketing agencies: The independent, full-service, direct-marketing
agencies specialize in direct response, and many of them are quite large. The
Fulfillment houses: The fulfillment house is a type of service firm that is vital
to the success of many direct-marketing strategies. This is a business responsible
7. What are the different types of lists that direct marketers use? How are new
lists created?
Marketers own their own lists or rent lists. There are three types of lists:
A house list is made up of the marketer’s own customers or members, its most
A response list is made up of people or households who have responded to
A compiled list is a of some specific category, such as sports car owners, new
New lists can be created by merging and purging. A company can hire database
management firms whose sole purpose is to collect, analyze, categorize, and market an
8. What are some of the guidelines that should be followed when putting
together a direct mail piece?
The following guidelines can be helpful for putting together direct-mail
pieces:
Get the attention of the targeted prospect as the envelope comes from the
mailbox.
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Provide critical information about product use.
How the direct-mail piece looks is as important as what it says. The most critical
decision made by the target is whether to read the mailing or throw it away, and that
9. What are some of the global considerations in direct-marketing
communication?
The direct marketing industry is growing fast in many Far Eastern and European
countries, in some places, even faster than in the United States. The global trend is
Direct marketing is particularly important in countries that have tight restrictions on
advertising and other forms of marketing communication. Privacy issues are even
Some countries have instituted outright bans on direct marketing, although these
restrictions seem to be loosening up. Governmental regulation of the U.S. Postal
Service may also place limitations on the use of direct mail. For example, language
ASSIGNMENTS
Individual Assignments
1. Locate a friend or community member who has been involved in telemarketing at
some level. Interview them and discuss their experiences. What products or
services did they sell, and how was telemarketing a useful direct-marketing
channel for it? Summarize your findings in a 350-word report.
2. In its discussion of privacy issues, this chapter mentioned an organization called
TRUSTe several times. Conduct some research on the organization to determine
exactly what they do and the role they play in world of ‘big data.’ Summarize
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your findings in a 300 word report. Also, visit their website, click on the ‘privacy
tips’ link, read it, and include in your report on anything new you learned about
protecting your personal information.
Think-Pair-Share
1. In pairs, debate the environmental and social issues associated with direct
mail. What is its environmental impact? What is in consumers’ best interests? What
are the advertisers’ rights to commercial free speech?
2. Group the class into pairs or small clusters. Each pair or cluster should select a
consumer product that normally is not sold through direct marketing, but could be.
Create a direct-marketing campaign for this product. Be sure to specify your
objectives and indicate the parts of the offer as well as the medium used. Develop a
mock-up of some of the campaign’s pieces that illustrates your ideas about message
design.
OUTSIDE EXAMPLES
1. Visit a few direct-marketing organizations online, such as: The Direct Marketing
Association at http://www.the-dma.org; DM News at http://www.dmnews.com; and
the Direct Response Marketing Alliance at http://responsemagazine.com. Pick an
issue that, judging from these sites, is a threat to direct response marketing. Explain
what you, as a direct response marketing team, would do to overcome this threat.
Write up the results in a 500-word report.
2. Amazon.com is one of the best known direct marketers on the Internet. Browse
the company’s website and identify what direct-marketing strategies the company
employs. Which do you think are the most successful? Why? What are the least
effective? Why? Summarize your responses in a 5-slide PowerPoint presentation to
the class.
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