A troubled 2009 has seen cutbacks and ad budget freezes across all industries. Both consumers and executives have dithered in purchase decisions, absorbing information, coupons, custom content, product reviews, free trials and freebies before signing the check or invoice.

Welcome to "Patient Critical: Madison Avenue," where new and legacy media vehicles struggle to capture declining advertising dollars, deliver ROI and answer the question: What marketing media are worth saving? Digital media may have set the bar for sales-attribution reporting, but today, that's not enough. Delivering ROI requires an understanding of how all media work together and how spends should shift holistically to achieve the greatest net impact for a client.

The amended Telemarketer Sales Rule (TSR) from the Federal Trade Commission says that automated sales communications can be delivered only to recipients who have provided their "express written consent" to receive them. Having an existing business relationship will no longer be sufficient approval for organizations to attempt to sell goods or services via an automated phone call.

Digital print production can be a turning point for marketers to increase their competitiveness and grow even while gaining cost savings and a faster ROI on campaigns.

Executing an efficient and effective shopper marketing program requires three direct marketing tactics: relevance, reach and reward. Understanding the unique preferences of each shopper is the only way to create and deliver truly relevant offers. Shopper preferences can be found in the purchase history of your better shoppers. These shoppers are also the most efficient to reach and influence.

Based on the buzz these days, I get the impression many in our business think "multichannel marketing" means including social media with your paid search campaign. For those of us working in business-to-business marketing before "friend" became a verb, direct mail was usually the centerpiece of most multi-channel campaigns. However, the astronomical growth of the Web — and a concurrent shift in marketing budgets — has left the once-venerable workhorse of direct mail languishing in the barn.

Arrests were made last week in the largest data breach case ever - 130 million credit card numbers were stolen earlier this year from five corporate entities. The good news is that the US Department of Justice is on the case. But this was only the latest in a long line of data fraud incidents.

A year's worth of research conducted by Google TV has little to offer in terms of consumer viewing revelations, but the program has much to offer DRTV advertising executives. In fact, those looking to improve client results and saving both agencies and clients money should make the research a must-read.

In February, Facebook asserted ownership over anything its members posted — the unspoken message being that to access their content, users would need to stay on Facebook, where Facebook can monetize them. Not surprisingly, this move was not well received by users. To its credit, Facebook immediately pulled the plug on this aggressive policy.

While the recent Red Sox-Yankees series results were depressing for me and other Sox fans, it did give me an excuse to check out the newly built Yankee Stadium for the first time. In addition to being stunned by the skyline views from the new field, I was struck by how much has changed when it comes to sponsorships during the ol' ballgame. And these changes highlight how much direct marketing is driving all ad partnerships taking place today.