LIVE FROM TORONTO: “60 Minutes” Crew Visits Exhibit Hall

It probably wasn’t the reaction “60 Minutes” is used to: Yesterday a camera crew, accompanied by DMA spokesperson Stephen Altobelli, roamed through the exhibit hall at the Direct Marketing Association’s annual convention. By and large, the vendors they met welcomed them with open arms and information.

The vendors were coached on the latter: Before the start of the conference the DMA sent out a letter to exhibitors reminding them of the sensitivity of privacy issues and offering talking points, which ranged from responsible use of data, benefits to consumers of information exchange, and the viability of self regulation by online marketers.

Vendors differed in what they would allow the film crew to shoot: While several, such as 24/7 Media and Net Perceptions, allowed close-ups of their consumer data capture screens, data-use policies, and privacy organization seals, the larger information marketing service bureaus such as Acxiom and Experian limited “60 Minutes” to long shots that did not fix on specific screens.

The day’s shooting largely consisted of second-unit footage, such as crowds, overhead views, and long shots of booths, but the crew did linger over a few product and methodology demonstrations. And every once in a while they did bait the vendors. After Net Perception’s senior vice president, marketing and business development Steve Larsen compared product recommendation technology (such as for catalog or compact disc sites,) to having the active intelligence of an electric eye at an automatic urinal, “60 Minutes” producer Rome Hartman commented “It does something else. It reads your mind.”

But the often abrasive style associated with “60 Minutes” surfaced on a few occasions: The producers did not conceal their displeasure at being accompanied by an outside reporter, and associate producer Elizabeth S. Weinreb told a DIRECT photographer not to take pictures.

The defensive stance was odd, given that the footage and interviews from yesterday were largely benign. In-depth interviews with high-ranking officials had been completed earlier, although terms of a potential interview with DMA president H. Robert Wientzen were still being hammered out late yesterday.

At times they were somewhat ungracious: “Do not tell the people at IBM I did this,” said Hartman to a co-worker as he dumped a custom-generated poster given to him by IBM in a garbage can less than 30 feet from IBM’s booth.

But the taste of “60 Minutes'” own medicine apparently wore thin. At one point, Hartman turned to a DIRECT reporter trailing the crew and said “Sir, would you mind if we ate lunch without you? We’ve been followed for a while and we are sick of it.” And Weinreb said they would not submit to an interview.

Hartman seemed to have a slightly better grasp of the nuances of the industry than Weinreb, who had to have ROI explained to her. Pressed by several exhibitors for a sense of the focus of the segment, Hartman said he planned to cover the direction information technology is taking, and the difference between anonymous and linked Web activity.

He also wanted to explore the potential upside of information technology (customization and relevancy of offers), and the downside (loss of control of data). And yes, the crew has already either completed or arranged interviews with privacy activists.

Most of those interviewed said the producers asked reasonable questions.

“I had a high degree of skepticism as to their desire to do a balanced story, but their questions reflected a desire to understand and reflect all sides of the story,” said Steve Larsen, senior vice president of marketing and business development of Net Perceptions.

The producers approached Larsen after his company was featured in a New Yorker article on Oct. 4. The firm, which enables clients to make purchase recommendations based on customer input, has also been contacted by Time and Nightline.

“We spent two hours with them at Internet World,” Larson said. “Our key message was: Nothing has empowered the consumer as much as the Internet has.”

MyPoints also cooperated yesterday. “They had us walk them through the sign-up process on our site,” said Kitt Collier Williams, vice president-online media for the firm. “We pushed very hard on how we protect consumers.”

But some companies, including Acxiom and Experian, refused interviews either on or off camera. And KnowledgeBase executives submitted to an off-camera interview and allowed the crew to film the booth. But the booth visit rattled a client who was visiting at the same time, according to Mike Hail, president Richardson, TX-based KnowledgeBase Marketing, Inc.

Despite claims that there would be no hidden methodology, “They had a boom mike trying to pick up conversations,” said Hail. “We kept the client conservation at a certain level until they left.”

Was Hail sure it was a microphone?

“Sure, it was a live mike.”

Hail was also skeptical of the line of questioning by the producers prior to the booth visit.

“The focus seemed to be what we know about consumers, and how we use the Internet.” said Hail. “They asked us about Acxiom and Experian. They were trying to find a story. They were very vague, and very polite.”

Acxiom executives declined to submit to an interview, but sent the producers a letter containing background on the company, according to spokesperson Dale Ingram.

According to Ingram, the producers said they are prepared to acknowledge that CBS also benefits from industry services.