Mogul City Media & Entertainment Group

(Multichannel Merchant) Not long ago, marketers thought it sufficient to plan catalog mailings and e-mail campaigns in concert with one another, acknowledging that the e-efforts would support and bolster the printed and mailed catalog. This approach is fine as far as it goes, but it's limited. Now it's critical to think beyond the integrated mail plan to the integrated marketing plan. The list of challenges that catalog marketers face is long, and getting longer, what with astronomical postal increases and an ever-present cadre of Web competitors chipping away at catalogers' profitability. Statements like “Perhaps we shouldn't mail as often to prospects in order to keep costs down” and “Well, most of our customers are buying online, maybe we should focus primarily on e-mail to support the business” are being heard everywhere. These may be common thoughts, but they aren't necessarily the solutions. Catalogers are concerned because the heart of their business model is...

Confused about how to attribute credit for sales and brand-building success? You’re not alone. It’s a hot topic given the level of media spending in digital formats and continued media fragmentation. But there’s a way to do it called media mix modeling. And it should be at the head of every marketer’s priority list. Let’s start with a pair of baseline examples, advertisers with retail, call center, and online commerce touch points with their customers. Vonage and XM Radio fit the bill. Their activities sound complex, but there is something to be learned from the way they sell their products and interact with their customers over time. Both firms sell through retail at establishments like Target, Staples, Best Buy, Comp USA and Circuit City. You can buy at these stores and activate your account either by phone or online. In addition, both can take your order right online, and will ship your device. You can activate your account either by phone or online in this scenario as well. Both fi...