The DM industry can sum up Gene Del Polito’s “Defend Yourself or Pay the Price” (The Del Polito Letter, August) in a few words: lack of positive public relations.
Our industry would not be subject to “junk mail” attacks nor the threat of legislation against direct mail if the masses understood the value of DM to our nation’s economy and the science involved in targeting. We are lucky enough that we have the DMA, whose role is to serve our industry. Unfortunately, it’s been about a year since the new management began talking about the need for a plan to change public perception [about direct marketing]. Last I heard, the long-awaited plan is going to be unveiled in October at the annual conference in Atlanta.
Why wait? The DMA could be implementing the public relations piece of the plan now and reaping some of the success during the convention. The PR effort could even help promote the event itself.
But alas, I’m only a direct marketer. What do I know about PR?
Josef Katz
Network
