Editor’s Leader column, August/September

As I write this, Germany is emerging from darkest financial gloom and has switched on the light at the end of the recession tunnel – but newspapers there are still reporting the ripple effects of the downturn.

For example, I read that brothel trade (legal in Germany) has fallen by 30 per cent, so some enterprising brothel owners have come up with a campaign to perk up their age-old profession.

They are offering flat-rate deals of around €70 to attract customers (similar to ‘all-you-can-eat’ restaurant promotions, I guess). There are also rebates for pensioners and those on benefits and special offers for clients who arrive by bicycle or bus . . . plus, there’s a free shoe-polishing service for customers staying overnight (I wonder if they take in ironing . . . ).

I’m not sure through which channel these incentives (page 20) are being communicated, but do hope the owners give their lists a good scrub before embarking on any direct mail-outs (page 25).

Without ‘prostituting their art’ (pardon the pun), direct marketers have always known that offering something a bit extra will lift response rates (page 8). Now it seems the recession has reminded absolutely everyone else of the need to be similarly smart. But being creative (page 22) is one thing, being innovative is quite another – putting good ideas successfully into action requires careful attention (page 16).

Hoping to add a little extra innovative sparkle to their skillsets, international direct marketers will be heading for sun and sea Stateside next month, for the USA DMA09 conference and exhibition (see preview, page 28); the annual opportunity for direct marketers to learn from the experts and to renew and make new contacts. As in previous years, DMI will be arranging a drinks gathering for fellow internationals, this time on the Sunday evening of the show (October 18). Watch this space as we sort out the details.

Talking of adding extra, I am delighted to announce here that DMI now has a sister publication – DMI Extra; a wholly online extra issue. Readers will still receive their regular ten copies per year of DMI magazine through their letterboxes, but now there will be Extra in their inboxes an extra ten times a year, too – FREE! To read the first issue of DMI Extra, just click or visit: http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1D4a81a0f9bf27f397.cde
     There’s more! At DMI we are continuing to ‘push the envelope’ . . . as if a second publication wasn’t enough, our sister company, DMI Events, is busy organising our second annual iDi Forum. This quality conference will draw international direct interactive (iDi) executives to New York in March and we’re now compiling a list of speakers – if you want to be on it, email your details: sally@dmi-news.com  
     Then you, too, could be adding a little extra!