330 CHAPTER17 MANAGINGDIRECT ANDON-LINEMARKETING
measures and new code-breaking measures. To allay users’ fears, Lending Tree
(www.lendingtree.com)—a site that helps consumers shop for mortgages, credit
cards, and other financial services—displays seals of approval from Verisign and
other firms that monitor site security.
➤ Ethical concerns:As noted earlier, consumers who buy from direct marketers worry
about companies making unauthorized use of their personal data, such as selling it
to others. Threats of government intervention have spurred an increasing number
of Web marketers to post privacy policies. Travelocity (www.travelocity.com), a one-
stop-shopping site for travel and vacation-related purchases, is one of many sites that
reassure visitors by displaying a seal of approval from the Better Business Bureau or
other organizations and sites that examine Web privacy policies.
➤ Consumer backlash.Just as the Web has shifted power to consumers by giving them
more product information, it has given them a more potent, effective means of
expressing disgruntlement or even outrage. Rogue Web pages such as “Down with
Snapple,” often launched by irate consumers or former employees, can be seen by
millions. They may contain valid information, but they can also spread unfounded
rumors. Some companies shrug off these pages, but others are concerned enough
to hire firms to monitor activity at these sites.^32EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Direct marketing is an interactive marketing system that uses one or more advertising
media to effect a measurable response or transaction at any location. Direct marketing
is now widely used in consumer markets, business-to-business markets, and markets for
charitable contributions. Many companies have begun practicing integrated marketing
communications, also called integrated direct marketing (IDM), using a multimedia
approach to advertising that is generally more effective than single-media programs.
One of the most valuable direct-marketing tools is the customer database, an
organized collection of comprehensive data about individual prospects or customers.
Companies use their databases to identify prospects, decide which customers should
receive an offer, deepen customer loyalty, and reactivate customer purchases.
Direct marketers and their customers usually enjoy mutually rewarding relation-
ships. However, marketers must avoid campaigns that irritate consumers, are per-
ceived as unfair, are deceptive or fraudulent, or invade customers’ privacy.
Today, direct marketers can use a wide variety of channels to reach prospects and
customers: sales calls; direct-mail marketing (sending an offer, announcement,
reminder, or other item to a person at a particular address); catalog marketing; tele-
marketing; offers made by radio, magazine, and newspaper, direct-response television
advertising; home shopping channels; kiosks; and on-line channels.
Electronic commerce describes a wide variety of electronic platforms.
Commercial on-line services offer on-line information and marketing services to paid
subscribers; the Internet is an international web of computer networks that makes
instantaneous and decentralized global communication possible. Companies can go
on-line by buying space on an on-line service; by selling through another site; by open-
ing their own Web sites; by placing ads on-line; by participating in forums, news-
groups, bulletin boards, and Web communities; and by using e-mail to targeted audi-
ences. Direct e-mailers that want to avoid being perceived as a spammer can use
permission-based marketing, requesting the customer’s permission before sending
any e-mail offers. On-line marketing is leading to disintermediation of certain middle-
men, even as infomediaries are starting to establish themselves as new on-line inter-
mediaries.