Give up.
The direct marketing industry will be saddled with the term "junk mail" until either mail, or DM itself, no longer exists. If someday the standard package with lift letter, buckslip and reply card is found to be a panacea for the world's immunological ills, the headline will still be "Junk Mail Cures Spattergroit, Other Diseases".
The primary reason for this lies squarely on the blocky noggins of newspaper headline writers. The space usually allocated for headlines is often the size of a business reply card's ZIP +4 line. It's a lot easier to fit "Junk Mail" than "Terrestrial Mailings That May Not Reflect An Established Business Relationship Between The Marketer And The Target" into such an area, especially since headlines often have a verb or two riding along in the rumble seat.
An article that ran in the Nov. 2 New York Times business section provides a perfect example of how deeply the phrase has taken root. The piece wasn't a breathy, consumer-focused treatise on the horrors of compiled data, nor was it the tale of a deluded pensioner who boarded a plane to Publishers Clearing House's Port Washington, NY, headquarters eager to claim the prize he May Have Already Won.
Instead, the Times article tells the general advertising public something direct marketers have known for a while; namely, that after the hype of new media, traditional channels continue to be useful for grabbing prospects' attention. And it quotes advertising agencies, a representative from the Direct Marketing Association, and – most valuable of all – actual consumers in backing this up.
So what was the headline on this multi-sourced host of hosannahs? "Junk Mail is Alive and Growing." Sigh. The news is bad even when it's good. (You can check out the article itself at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/business/media/02adco.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1162753888-4PsWCIZuOOmcw10h24K+bA.)
The phrase "junk mail" occupies the same sensibility as "the idiot box," the resignedly deprecating nickname people use for their television sets. But this nickname is usually used in the context of interaction with the medium, as in "I was going to finish writing my Great American Novel tonight, but I'm kinda beat. I think I'll just watch the idiot box for a few hours."
The Times piece quotes people who don't mind receiving direct mail. But what's even more telling is a throwaway line from someone who isn't receiving any – and wants some.
In a recent Chicago Tribune column, Mary Schmich wrote about New Orleans. Her basic message was that the city, despite still being battered, is very much worth a visit these days.
What does this have to do with direct marketing? Well, Schmich's column includes a quote from the receptionist at a hotel she stayed in during a recent visit. I'll excerpt the relevant part below, but here's the full piece: (http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-0610200267oct20,1,7665093.column)
[Writes Schmich] "In the meantime, he noted, the Quarter still gets postal service only twice a week. First-class only.
"'I miss junk mail,' he said."
To which I'll add, if you miss it, it ain't junk mail, no matter what you affectionately call it. Someday we'll get that message out in a form that even headline writers will be able to understand.
(A tip of the Loose Cannon chapeau goes to Holly McCollum at French Quarter-based marketing agency Keating Magee, for bringing the piece to my attention. Folks, go visit New Orleans.)
To respond to the opinions in this column, please contact richard.levey@penton.com
