(Catalog Age) Inserts have grown from being an afterthought into “a channel recognized for its own budget,” says Robin Neal, vice president of sales for PlusMedia.
Neal, who has been in the insert business since 1994, was among the many marketers who sung the praises of what has often been an underdog medium earlier this week at the Direct Marketing Association’s inaugural Insert Day in Rye, NY.
“More money is being allocated to insert media to find more cost-effective ways to do business,” said Jeff Holland, president of alternate response media marketer Vertical Media Group. “Insert media has grown to the point where it can offer more than $1 billion annually in revenue. The ‘understudy’ has finally taken center stage.”
Sandra Roscoe, senior vice president/partner for Singer Direct, said she’s seen “huge growth” of catalog blow-ins inside catalogs this year. “Catalogers,” she said, “are screaming, ‘How can we get these in?’ They’re looking for catalog blow-ins to increase their bottom line.”
The DMA’s Alternate Response Media Council formally changed its name to the Insert Media Council at the conference. The DMA says that seven billion units of alternative media are placed into the 1,500-plus insert programs on the market.
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