ABSTRACT
Direct marketing is not direct mail. Direct marketing is a marketing method and direct mail is just one of the media available. It traditionally formed a large part of direct marketing — and is still about half — but it is being overtaken gradually by the increasing number of press and TV ads with some response device. So the importance of direct marketing, and the aspect of it that is most relevant to the credo of this book, is once again this response device. It forms a part of ‘pull’ marketing, as defined in Chapter 4. The objective is to entice the prospect to emerge from the darkness and respond, thereby identifying him or her, on the basis of which you can begin your prospection and cold canvass activities. Such a response device should always feature on advertising (or could itself be the core of that advertisement); it certainly must be an integral part of any direct mail you use.
