Two-Thirds Of My Advertising Is AI-Enabled (mediapost.com)

Any seasoned direct marketer the importance of understanding the numbers side of the business. You have to know both the left-brain (analytic) and right-brain (creative) rules for maximum success. My philosophy is “know the rules before you break them.” People often ask me for the most important direct marketing metrics. As we have evolved to a wider use of selling channels (Websites, e-mail campaigns, search engines, in-store selling), do the tried-and-true tenets of catalog marketing still hold up? see more at: https://www.jschmid.com/blog/5-crucial-omnichannel-metrics/

When was the last time you truly enjoyed scrolling through page after page of search results on Amazon? Settling into your favorite chair to just explore and see what comes next? If you’re like most consumers, probably never, really. Search for products online is more like a task-oriented scavenger hunt to find the thing that best matches your keywords, “lost in the noise of digital advertising.” A catalog, on the other hand, is a journey in itself, an inspiring experience that opens up new ideas in a tactile way that our brains relish. Recent news from IKEA that they are doing away with their catalog after 70 years is going to break a lot of hearts; they were a prime example of catalogers who “get it” and turned paper and ink into a journey of possibilities. (And their wickedly good catalog marketing campaigns ensured robust buzz about it.) It’s a mistake, no doubt. Given the resurgence of catalogs during the pandemic lockdowns, marketers have no doubt that catalogs serve a critical function in the retail and e-commerce experience. much more at: https://freeportpress.com/the-experience-of-the-catalog-is-what-makes-it-work-so-well/

Tackling a global health crisis has looked different for different retailers. For United by Blue, an outdoor brand that sells through its own site as well as retail partners, it looked like holds on order shipments, followed by cancellations on those orders. It proved a tough position to effectively run a business. Mike Cangi, co-founder of United by Blue, said the company swiftly noticed that its peers were also struggling in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, and thought there may be a solution in them all banding together. The result was a joint sales event between some 15 to 20 mission driven brands in April, dubbed "I Stand With Small," in an effort to drive traffic — and hopefully sales — to each other's businesses. "It was really just a joint marketing and sales tool for us to help get through what was a really tough time with a lot of uncertainty in April of this year," Cangi said. "And it was really successful." For the brands, it did what it was supposed to do: give them a lift at a much-needed time. But for consumers, it was also a plus, by introducing them to new brands that held similar values to the ones they already bought from, according to Cangi. After the initial sale's success, the companies started talking about working together again, and thus, the effort was renamed the Mission Brand Alliance and a website launched to showcase the brands in July. more at: https://www.retaildive.com/news/why-20-brands-are-sending-out-a-joint-holiday-catalog-this-season/591499/