Does direct marketing need to have a direction?

Abstract

Purpose

To provoke radical thinking about the role and practice of direct marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

Author's adaptation of a keynote address to a major conference in Asia.

Findings

Proposes that direct marketing does not need to follow the customary “direction”, i.e. of the firm seeking out customers. Effort spent on finding them could also be devoted to compelling them to seek out the firm, through increased product choices. Applying information economics, drawing on first principles and learning from examples, proposals are made for designing and developing products that achieve segmentation through self‐selection.

Practical implications

Marketing planners should closely weigh the cost of reaching out to customers, with inevitable high wastage, against the cost of producing an array of products such that each consumer's choice is market‐separating and draws the customer to the firm.

Originality/value

A thought‐provokingly personal view of direct marketing principles and practice.

Citation

Ng, I.C.L. (2005), "Does direct marketing need to have a direction?", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 23 No. 7, pp. 628-635. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634500510630168