Watching 20 inches of snow fall in a 24-hour period can inspire philosophic bent, especially when the choice is between musing on the vicissitudes of life or shoveling.
Such was the case last Monday, when I found myself digging out the front sidewalk of a vacationing friend’s house after the East Coast blizzard. My first philosophic discovery: Snow’s only pretty if someone else has to move it.
My second was that three-day weekend holidays, if one is a direct marketer, are no perk.
If anything, they work against direct mailers. Take President’s Day. Since it’s a federal holiday, there’s no mail. As in no catalogs, letter packages or double postcards.
Furthermore, since workers don’t come into the office, they don’t have access to the stronger Internet connections many – according to understandably anonymous surveys – use for browsing and shopping.
(Hold your horses, management: The same studies also show that these employees tend to put in more hours. Whether this is making up for otherwise lost productive time or simply to do more Web surfing is inconclusive.)
About the only sop the industry has is that the six Americans who have not yet put themselves on a do-not-call list are more likely to be home.
Direct marketers may take cold comfort in the knowledge that sales at retail chain stores fell by 1.5% from last year’s levels during the week of the blizzard, according to the Washington Post. It was almost as if George and Abe themselves were trying to remind consumers that this holiday was meant to commemorate more than reduced-cost linens.
One could understand if the DM community, which continues to face a barrage of legislation restricting its activities, took a little bit of Schadenfreude – malicious joy – in the retailers’ temporary setback.
Personally, I know that with every falling flake, which prevented me from being a brick-and-mortar consumer, I felt more in touch with my direct marketing brethren. When I can move again I’m going to order in a case of liniment and celebrate my renewed solidarity in style.
To respond to the opinions in this column, please contact rlevey@primediabusiness.com
