As chair of the Directo Council and part of the planning committee for our annual Directo Days Conference, I was surprised, and to some degree perturbed, by your April 11 article titled “Trust of DM Remains Issue for Hispanics.”
The opening headline suggests that there are major problems with direct marketing to Hispanics. This tone continues through at least the first half of the article. In fact, the number described, a low trust score of 4, refers only to the non-buyers in the survey. This group represents only about 30 percent of the survey and are very similar with general market numbers. The remaining 70 percent, representing Hispanics who are direct response active, displayed a very positive attitude to direct marketing. This applies through all channels and is clearly outlined in the report that (DMA president/CEO) John Greco worked from.
The Directo Days conference achieved its best attendance to date. Keynotes, sessions and workshops were extremely informative and well received. The prevailing attitude was very positive, and to date we have received no negative feedback from attendees. Our conference is the only one that focuses on Hispanics and direct marketing. Whether you were a paid attendee, speaker, press or exhibitor, we can safely say that we more than achieved all conference objectives.
More important, I wish you had covered the whole conference and reported on its success instead of incorrectly quoting the research in search of a negative headline.
Michael Saray, Chair, Directo Council, Michael Saray Hispanic Marketing Inc.
Editor’s note: The story did not criticize the conference. It merely reported the findings of the study and Greco’s speech, as well as saying that the Direct Marketing Association wants to serve Hispanics better as part of its new strategic plan. The writer stands behind his story.
