There was big news just as we were going to press: The capture of Saddam Hussein.
The stock market rallied briefly on the news that the tyrant was in custody, and we confess that our thoughts drifted away from direct marketing, which we usually think about even when shaving, to world events.
It was similar a few days earlier when Al Gore endorsed Howard Dean. Some of us spent many hours discussing what, if anything, that will mean to the 2004 presidential election — time that we should have spent working.
Pardon our cynicism, but all this serves to remind us once again that we are entering an election year. And direct marketers have not looked forward to these periods.
The reason is that elections and Olympic Games distract people. Response rates almost always fall off.
The same is true during wars. Half of all DMers surveyed by the Direct Marketing Association last fall said their revenue went down during the four weeks of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
So it is possible that the faint glow of economic recovery now being celebrated in other fields will not be felt by direct marketers for several months.
And even that mild comeback may be slowed by regulatory developments like the do-not-call list. Many jobs have been lost in the call centers, and it's unlikely that some of those people will ever again be employed in this industry.
Finally, DMers may find it hard to buy TV time.
So isn't there any good news?
There is. Anecdotal evidence, which we admit is sketchy at this point, shows that certain DMers have boosted their sales. Still others are increasing their prospecting.
And there are even positive signs on the regulatory front — for example, the Can Spam bill has finally been passed and signed.
DMers are relieved, because whatever its faults — and there are many — Can Spam is better than SB-186, the crazy California law that would have allowed consumers to keep even legitimate companies tied up in court (see page 1).
We may end up with an unwieldy do-not-spam registry, but it's still a better deal than we'll get from the states.
So hang in there. This may turn out to be a great year.
Direct Listline Expands
Here's one piece of positive news for 2004 (at least for us): Direct Listline, our e-mail newsletter, is increasing its frequency to daily.
Why bother? We need to accommodate the growing numbers of list announcements coming in, not to mention reader and advertiser demand. Listline is our second daily, the first one being Direct Newsline.
Want to subscribe? Go to our Web site (www.directmag.com).
