The Marketing Book 5th Edition

CHAPTER 22

What are direct marketing and

interactive marketing?

GRAEME McCORKELL

Introduction

More than 30 years after Lester Wunderman
first called it ‘direct marketing’, experienced
marketing people still argue about what direct
marketing is. Some even prefer to give it another
name, such as ‘relationship marketing’.
In this chapter, we attempt to set the record
straight and discuss the essential similarities
and differences between direct and interactive
marketing.
We look at the origins of direct marketing
as a method of distribution, its adoption by
multichannel users and how its disciplines
underpin interactive marketing. We discuss the
four basic principles of direct marketing: target-
ing,interaction,controlandcontinuity.
Finally, we introduce the direct and inter-
active marketer’s information system, estab-
lishing its context within the company-wide
information system.

Selling direct to the end customer

From its humble beginnings in the mail order
business, computer power helped direct mar-
keting to become a sophisticated method of

distribution, combining economies of scale

with an ability to track the purchase and

payment behaviour of customers on a one-to-

one basis. As recently as the 1980s Stan Rapp,

the US pioneer, defined direct marketing as a

method of distribution, although it is now defined

more broadly.

Direct marketing is a method of distribution...

in which the transactions are completed

between buyer and seller... without the

intervention of a sales person or retail outlet.

Stan Rapp, when CEO of Rapp & Collins

The term ‘direct marketing’ was first used in

1961. It was the brainchild of another American
      pioneer, Lester Wunderman. This term caught
      on because it was more inclusive than ‘mail
      order’. It included a new method of ordering –
      by telephone – and marketing methods, such as
      magazine subscription and continuity publish-
      ing (book and music series), that did not readily
      come to mind under the heading of mail order.
      Many would agree that direct distribution
      remains direct marketing’s most important
      function. However, the lessons learned from
      direct distribution experience have enabled the
      principles of direct marketing to be applied to
      every kind of business.
      To understand direct marketing, it is crucial to
      recognize that its beginnings were in mail order, not
      in direct mail.