Direct Marketing: Why Not?

The other day I was window-shopping in my neighborhood and dropped into King Jewelers in Aventura. I happen to have been born with a "Jewelry Gene". All of the sparkle and glitter of the jewelry, shining through the glass cases, made my eyes light up!

As I walked around the store, I picked up a couple of brochures. They were beautifully made, with a glossy finish and cardstock. I couldn't help but wonder...why were they sitting on a counter? Why don't they mail them to their top customers? One of the brochures I picked up was for Chanel; it featured their J12 Chromatic watches. The cost to make a brochure of this caliber is not cheap. The high gloss, heavy paperweight, with folds inside AND a sleeve... not a cheap project at all.

Another one I picked up was for King Jewelers. It was a book really, with 70 pages of Harry Winston, Chopard, Judtih Ripka, and Jaeger-LeCoultre gracing the pages. Printing brochures and catalogs like this is expensive. The way I see it, they're missing an opportunity to send them to their best customers. I would think that if you were a high-end jeweler, you would have a database of customers that have purchased from you, right? Why not take at least 100 brochures (since you've printed them anyways) and send them to your top spenders now, before the holidays.

Direct Marketing is still the most targeted way to get to your prospects, especially with luxury products.

There's obviously a reason why these high-end jewelers continue to print these brochures. Yes, almost everything is available online, but it doesn't always give the same effect that a printed brochure or catalog does. The great thing about having something printed is that customers can touch it, feel it, and turn through the pages. They're more engaged. One of the great things about Direct Mail is that you can include a response device or an involvement piece. It gets your prospective customers involved with the product, and makes them more inclined to purchase something.

A lot of people see Direct Marketing as dead. I don't believe that is true. Nor do I think that it's going anywhere. The trick is, knowing how to do Direct Marketing the right way, that will help drive results. What are your thoughts? Do you think that Direct Marketing is still very prevalent today? Let us know what you think.