DM pioneer Vane dies

Direct marketing innovator Peter Vane died in his North Carolina home on March 10, at the age of 84.

Vane, a Direct Marketing Club of New York Silver Apple Award winner, had a successful career in direct marketing in the US and abroad. He is credited as the first to affix a copper penny to a reply card and was an early proponent of exploring lifetime value of consumers through what became known as CRM marketing.

The British World War II veteran began his career in direct marketing in Canada at Consolidated Press, Liberty and Reader's Digest. He became director of the direct marketing division at Reader's Digest. In the early 1960s, Vane came to the US to work for Meredith Corporation and spearhead its account for the Frank Vos Agency. In 1974 he founded his own agency, Peter Vane Advertising.

Vane is survived by his wife Mary Vane, two daughters and their families; Penny Vane, her husband Manuel Areces of Chappaqua, NY, and their sons Ian Manuel and Quinn Peter; and Wendy Sue Harrington, her husband Tom Harrington, and their daughter Cailee Elisabeth, of Holly Springs, NC. The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to St. Jude's Children's Hospital.