Is consumer marketing irrevocably broken?

Clive Humby, chairman and founder of dunnhumby, argues that the effectiveness of direct marketing campaigns needs to be looked at more carefully.

Is Consumer Marketing Irrevocably Broken?

Clive Humbydunnhumby

What is a successful marketing campaign? When it comes to direct marketing, these days most organisations seem happy to achieve a response rate of 1%. Yet that response and the potential conversion rate masks the true picture: a picture few in marketing care to consider, let alone admit. If 1% respond to the campaign, what was its effect on the other 99%? Were another 1%, 2% or 3% so fed up with receiving yet another irrelevant message that they have gone elsewhere? Who knows who measures?

Of course, such measurement is complex....

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