Q&As

LEAD GENERATION HAS LONG BEEN THE NAME OF THE GAME IN BUSINESS-TO-business. The complex decision cycles that precede most purchases and the high cost

INSTITUTIONS LIKE SCHOOLS, hospitals, government offices and libraries represent a $4.1 trillion annual market. They’re mostly recession-proof and very

THE MCMURRY MATTER Isn’t there a saying in the publicity industry, It doesn’t matter what you write, just make sure you spell my name right? Well, if

IT’S BECOME A CLICH TO SAY that the Web has changed all the rules about how merchants and companies deal with the public. The many ways consumers can

IN A JAW-DROPPING EMBARRASSMENT, the state of Utah has mistakenly divulged kids’ e-mail addresses on its so-called child-protection do-not-e-mail list

Business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-mail campaigns require vastly different creative tactics to drive the highest response, according to a report by e-mail service provider Silverpop.

An upsetting self-revelation: I’ve outlived a surprising number of direct marketers who have been my contemporaries. I shouldn’t have been surprised,

Identity theft? Ho-hum. Woe to you, friend, if that’s your attitude. Data security may be dead in Congress this year, but the Federal Trade Commission

IT’S ALWAYS A SHAME TO SEE A WORTHY NONPROFIT RUN A fundraising ad that just doesn’t do the job. One can’t help thinking that the ad money could have been better spent on the organization’s programs.

I found this ad for the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation in a recent issue of BusinessWeek.

Direct marketing spending and sales growth are going to slow a bit in 2007, according to new research from the Direct Marketing Association. But both