All Hail Neo-DM

According to figures released recently by the Central Office of Information (COI – tres Orwellian, huh?), the Government has become the UK’s biggest advertiser, spending £540 on marcoms during 2008-09 – a rise of 43 per cent on the previous year.

DM expenditure grew by one-third (accounting for £45.6 million), which Marc Michaels, Director of Direct and Relationship Marketing at the COI, attributes in part to the Government’s ongoing Change4Life and tobacco control campaigns.

Being something of a digi-doubter, this is a promising sign. In fact I’m predicting that DM will make something of a comeback in the lead-up to Christmas and beyond. As badly targeted e-mail offers have spammed everyone senseless in recent months (the cheapest channel isn’t necessarily the best response driver), Neo-DM campaigns which are personalized, attractive and powered by well-segmented, suppressed and up-to-date transactional data stands to deliver excellent ROI as we try to claw our way out of this recession, I reckon.

Right offer, right person, right time, right channel. As a certain rather camp meerkat would say: ‘Simples!’