Wunderman:media, the direct response media arm of Mediaedge:cia, has begun a newsletter as a tool to promote itself to clients, prospects and media.
The quarterly publication, Directly Speaking, dropped to a mailing list of 2,500. The first issue focuses on seven talking points on the perceptions versus reality of direct marketing.
“It really came from us being part of mediaedge:cia,” said Sharon Verdino, partner and group director at Wunderman:media, New York. “We wanted to get our name out there. It's part of an outreach program. It's also to raise our profile outside the agency and also internally since we're such a big agency.”
The glossy, four-page production went to a mix of mediaedge:cia and Wunderman:media clients in North America, Wunderman accounts and those in the parent WPP Group PLC. Distribution also is earmarked for select journalists, prospects and names pulled from the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Association of National Advertisers and the International Advertising Association.
The perception-reality issues are pertinent.
One point is that direct marketing is not to be confused with direct mail. Another myth is that direct mail is junk mail. It rebuts New York ad agency Deutsch Inc. chief Donny Deutsch's comment on “The Apprentice” show that, “Oh, direct mail does not work.” Another myth it seeks to dispel is that direct response print is remnant space sold.
Wunderman:media was created last June when Wunderman merged its media operations with Mediaedge:cia, a media buying and planning arm owned by WPP. Wunderman and mediaedge:cia share clients like AT&T Corp., Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Citibank. Wunderman:media on its own serves clients like Club Med, Sylvan Learning and Progressive Insurance.
Directly Speaking is one of many newsletters spawned by mediaedge:cia for WPP agencies. It produces MediaLab Insights & Innovations for outdoor media, Digital Bytes, Print Impressions and View from the Edge. Each quarterly newsletter has a circulation of 2,500.
“The newsletters are to help address client issues which weren't necessarily within the media planning and buying process,” said Nathalie Alfred, North America marketing manager at Mediaedge:cia. “These were created to give a point of view on various industry issues.”
