NEW YORK — Seven direct marketing executives and DM News were honored Friday with Silver Apple awards by the Direct Marketing Club of New York.
Honorees mostly paid tribute to mentors and colleagues in their acceptance speeches. One award winner was obviously overwhelmed by co-emcee JoAnne Dunn's introduction of him.
“Honey, will you make sure that JoAnne's available to speak at my funeral?” joked William Korn, looking in the direction of his wife. Korn retired in August as vice chairman at CC3.
Others recipients, like Donn Rappaport, chairman/CEO of American List Counsel Inc., were more circumspect. He alluded to the sluggish economy and volatile financial markets. The falling response rates, shortfall in order sizes and shortening lifetime value of customers also were worrisome.
But Rappaport was optimistic, saying companies must continue to prospect, not surprising advice from a list broker, a profession he calls “custodians of data” and “gatekeepers of marketing data.”
“I was mentioning to one of the kids last night that I was getting the Silver Apple,” he said. “They asked me who was getting the gold apple.”
Other awardees included Tony Ambrose, who also recently retired; consultant Reggie Brady; Ray Roel, who heads public relations at MRM Partners Worldwide; Brian Kurtz of Boardroom Inc.; and Joan Oppenheimer, sales manager at Design Distributors Inc.
DM News was the corporate honoree. Founder/CEO Adrian Courtenay accepted the award, crediting journalists employed over the years with his company for the newspaper's success.
“Journalists have a lot in common with juries in the American legal system — they take their jobs very seriously,” he said.
So far, 145 industry professionals have received Silver Apples since the award was instituted in 1985.
