Page 180 - Marketing the Basics 2nd

172 Marketing: the Basics
you can make a sale with direct mail. However, direct-mail marketing is rapidly becoming an outdated practice because the return on investment for email marketing is just too high.
caTaLogue MaRkeTing
Accounting for almost $200 billion in worldwide sales in 2002, catalogue marketing is similar to direct-mail marketing with one notable exception: unlike in direct-mail marketing where the person contacted is a prospective customer, in catalogue marketing the seller already knows the buyer is interested. Visitors to the Sears department store volunteer their mailing address in order to receive the catalogue. LL Bean is a Maine-based company which has done extremely well not only in North America but is also enjoying considerable success in the UK as Britons get used to the idea of ordering something that they cannot see. In this type of market a strong brand that has the consumer’s trust is extremely helpful. Dell, Neiman Marcus and General Electric are all examples of big, prestigious firms that have used catalogue marketing with considerable success. Much like direct marketing however, catalogue marketing is being replaced by internet technologies. Gen Xers and younger generations prefer to browse a company’s online catalogue than reading a glossy magazine.
DiRecT-Response TeLevision MaRkeTing
Just as there’s a telephone in nearly every home, the same can be said about the television set. As such, it didn’t take long for marketers to start devising means of connecting to customers through the airwaves. What emerged was direct-response television marketing.
There are two forms of direct-response television marketing. The first is the infomercial, the second is cable television shopping. The infomercial is a 60 to 90 minute staged demonstration of the advertised product. Viewers watch how the product fares when subjected to a number of field tests. Other, less salubrious, types of late-night infomercials suggest that if one were to call at that moment, the somewhat attractive member of the opposite sex seen on the screen will be sitting on the other end of the telephone.