Location-based marketing provides enormous opportunity for direct marketers. Just as search reaches customers who've raised their hand seeking information, location-based marketing targets consumers potentially in the mood to buy and geographically near point of sale.

I had the privilege of sitting on the judging panel this week for the annual John Caples International Student Campaign of the Year Award, alongside representatives of sponsor Alloy Media & Marketing.

"It is not about adapting and accepting change anymore. It is about aggressively seeking it, being first to apply it, and then seek it again."

Value. As I perused the final draft pages of this month's issue, it struck me how many of our stories involve the idea of providing value to customers.

Poison front man Bret Michaels as savvy marketer? Don't laugh.

Welcome to our new monthly edition of Direct Marketing News. In addition to this 76-page issue, we have reengineered the website and introduced an iPad edition with exclusive material. We have also employed quick response codes.

As DMNews embarks on its rebranding, it is a good time to reflect on our industry. I've witnessed enormous change in direct marketing in my 14 years covering this industry as a journalist, from my cub reporter days at Advertising Age through my current role as steward of the DMNews brand.

After an exhaustive, six-month-long search, the Direct Marketing Association named Lawrence Kimmel president and CEO. Kimmel was chairman and CEO of Grey Direct from 2000 to 2008, before it was renamed G2 Direct & Digital, and prior to that logged time as EVP at Draft Worldwide and president of Unimark, a direct marketing agency he founded.

The marketing implications and opportunities presented by social media are dominating the marketing conversation right now, but marketers continue to struggle with ways to deploy social media, maintain a presence in social networking circles, integrate social advertising with other media channels and monetize those efforts.

The U.S. Postal Service unveiled details of its proposed "exigent price increase" last week and filed an application with its regulator, the Postal Regulatory Commission. Direct mailers sprang into action decrying the move, and mailers across the board vow to fight the increase (see cover story).