Peter Kenneth Vane, a direct response marketing pioneer, advertising agency principal, and DMCNY Silver Apple recipient, died peacefully at home of natural causes, in Holly Springs, NC on March 9. He was 84 years old.
Among direct marketers, Vane was most well known for his work within Reader’s Digest’s direct marketing division. As the unit’s director, he pioneered a number of attention-getting involvement devices, including the real copper penny affixed to the reply card.
His daughter, Penny - who followed in his footsteps, winning a Silver Apple award herself - remembered her father as “an acute observer of the industry's foibles.” If he liked you and respected you, he would go to the ends of the earth to help you succeed, Penny Vane said.
“He always had at least one or two people on [his] staff who were brand-new to the industry, and he would tutor them until they were ready to fly on their own,” Vane added.
Those Peter Vane mentored included his children. “I can remember being a little girl and being tasked with collecting samples for the ‘swipe file,’” Vane recalled. “At only 8 years old, I had already learned the difference between a club and a continuity. My sister and I learned early the role of offers and lists and testing and of course creative in the success of a DM effort.
“When I first started working for him, it was still in the era of long boozy lunches with clients. He insisted that I learn to drink scotch, since the smell would stay on your breath, and that way, if I said something stupid people would know it was the result of the alcohol, and not a reflection of my intelligence.”
Penny Vane also recalled Peter Vane as an artist and a father. “As a teenager, I would spend hours and hours with him in the darkroom. He was an excellent photographer, and used his eye for detail to shine light on things most people don't see. And during those long hours where we couldn't see each other, I was able to unload all that teenage angst, and he would quietly listen.”
Peter Vane was born on Nov. 18, 1923 in Canterbury, UK. He was the youngest son of Sarah Isabella and Henry Percival Vane. As a young artist in pre-war Britain, Peter apprenticed as a bookbinder, where he learned the craft of leather tooling. (One of his books was presented to the Royal Family.) Once of age to enlist in the Royal Air Force, he was selected to join the aerial reconnaissance unit.
After meeting and marrying fellow Women’s Air Force officer Mary Devine, he went to Teachers College, earning certifications for teaching both English and Fine Arts.
After WWII ended, the family emigrated to Canada, where Vane found work within the publishing and advertising fields. His employers included Consolidated Press, Liberty, as well as Reader’s Digest.
Despite his artistic background, Vane understood that advertising’s only job was to enhance clients’ profitability. As an early champion of the industry’s nascent “scientific testing” methods, he developed testing matrices and predictive modeling techniques long before the advent of the computer.
His work with Reader’s Digest caught the attention of advertising agencies throughout the Americas. At the behest of publisher Meredith Corp., Vane was brought to the U.S. to spearhead their account for the Frank Vos Agency.
In 1974, he founded his own agency, Peter Vane Advertising. Through his agency, Vane espoused the need for “back end” analysis of lifetime value and profitability, as opposed to focusing on customer acquisition.
Vane was recognized by a number of industry organizations for his work, and in 1990 received the DMCNY’s Silver Apple Award.
He is survived by his wife Mary Vane, two daughters and their families; Penny Vane, her husband Manuel Areces of Chappaqua NY, and their sons Ian Manuel and Quinn Peter; and Wendy Sue Harrington, her husband Tom Harrington, and their daughter Cailee Elisabeth, of Holly Springs, NC. Peter had 3 siblings who pre-deceased him: eldest sister Rhoda Ailsa Isabella; brother Jack; and sister Joan. The family suggests memorial donations be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
