An Apple For The Teacher: Christine Slusarek On Magazine Lists And Marketing Students

There aren’t too many awards more fitting for a direct marketing teacher than the Direct Marketing Club of New York’s Silver Apple. One of this year’s recipients, Christine Slusarek, has taught direct marketing at New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) for six years. As part of her syllabus, she draws on more than 25 years’ experience, including the last 20 at Time Consumer Marketing Inc., where she currently serves as executive director of list and database marketing.

At FIT, Slusarek’s course responsibilities have included an entry-level workshop on direct marketing, database marketing, Internet marketing and a class on consumer behavior. Direct Newsline spoke with her about her professional and academic pursuits.

Direct Newsline: You have previously held two positions with the title direct mail manager. Is that title dead, industry-wide?

Slusarek: Those were both great jobs at the time, and I learned a lot about lists and database work for catalog and publishing mailers. I was very fortunate to get that type of background early in my career. I am not sure the title of direct mail manager exists these days because a marketer handling direct mail is likely also responsible for other sources of business as well (i.e. email, online, partnerships, etc).

Direct Newsline: When you consider the innovations you’ve brought to your job at Time, of which are you proudest?

Slusarek: I am most proud of our modeling program. We offer two or three types of models for our clients. If they want to talk about another type, I have the benefit–and it’s a huge benefit–of an internal modeling group. We have increased the percentage of business from 10% modeling eight or nine years ago to around 35-40% now.

Direct Newsline: What impact has changes in readership and circulation levels had on Time’s list and database marketing activities?

Slusarek: We are rate base driven, so our level of active subscribers has remained relatively constant, but our overall mix of subscribers has become more qualified due to our efforts to increase direct-to-publisher business sources and decrease the level of some of the agent sold sources. To the extent you can control it, having less agent-sold business makes your file higher quality and higher responding. In my world agent business does not sell as well as direct to publisher. People say ‘omit it’ right up front. If they’re going to omit it, I’d just as soon make it a smaller quantity.

Direct Newsline: What roles do brokers play in your day-to-day activities?

Slusarek: I can’t imagine a DM industry without them. I think their role has become more challenged. Clients of theirs are commissioning them less, but asking more and more, not just for a recommendation, but “let’s have you do the analysis as well”. I find there are good brokers and bad brokers. There are those who are more interested in modeling or data applications which help the segmenting. There are good opportunities for brokers to become more involved if they are interested.

Direct Newsline: You teach. What are the biggest differences between textbook direct marketing and what is practiced in the field?

Slusarek: I have read marketing journal articles on various topics within direct and interactive marketing and some of the time I do not recognize what they are saying as related to the direct marketing I know. It’s all theory with no example of what happens when it’s put into practice. I come at my teaching from a very practical point of view because that is what I know. I try to provide students with the theory of direct response marketing along with real world application. I draw on 20 years of practical experience. If you are an academic, you draw on your experience as a researcher.

Direct Newsline: What direct marketing concepts do your students have the greatest difficulty comprehending?

Slusarek: The amount of analysis that goes into direct marketing decision making tends to stymie them. That direct marketing can be more science than art surprises some students when they realize that creating a great commercial or mail piece is not the whole picture. I think that once they understand the ability to measure our marketing efforts and be accountable for what we do and the dollars we spend, they understand the bigger picture and how direct marketing is different versus general advertising.

Direct Newsline: If that’s the case, what do they think they’re signing up for when they sign up for a course in DM?

Slusarek: How to write copy, how to create commercials or radio scripts. How to generate a print ad that is awesome. I say, “What makes it better than another one? You can’t tell me which is better until you have put it into a spreadsheet.” They expect to see good creative, or things they like. To me, you don’t have to like it, it just has to work.

Direct Newsline: How has teaching direct marketing changed during the time you’ve been doing so?

Slusarek: I have been teaching for about 6 years and the explosion of anything called e-marketing or interactive marketing has changed the way I teach. There is, and should be, significant focus on the teaching of integration of on and offline efforts and the question regarding whether some of the online media are really suited for “direct” versus general advertising or branding efforts.

Direct Newsline: Interesting, as we lump most measurable online media as being in direct’s sandbox.

Slusarek: I would say some of it is a little more gray. Take blogging. Is that direct marketing? Clearly you can use it for advertising and branding. I think social is an interesting area. While it is certainly able to be used for advertising and brand, is there measureable direct marketing happening? I would say probably, and that is likely to increase over time. For the most part I think it is general advertising and branding.

Direct Newsline: What is your dream course?

Slusarek: I might be teaching it now. It would probably be database marketing. That’s where my interest most lies, and the one I have most recently start teaching. You can be very creative with data in ways that would surprise most people. I am most proud of the internet marketing course. I was asked to develop it. Getting approval for a course is no small feat, so I was pretty proud of that.