News

Ask a few outspoken, dyed-in-the-wool direct marketing agency stalwarts what they think of their advertising counterparts, and you might get a stout defence of this sector, or a colourful rebuke of the other. Traditionally, the term 'junk mail' has been used as a stick by adland to beat direct marketers with, while many direct practitioners consider branding shops too woolly for their own good, and never the twain shall meet.

But when leading industry figures such as former Proximity chief executive Simon Hall and IPA director general Hamish Pringle come to similar conclusions about the need for co-operation between the disciplines (see News Analysis, page 11), agencies should take note.

Hall speaks of a "battle of integration", and says the agency model has to change, while Pringle believes a convergence of brand and response advertising is taking place.

If integration is the way forward, DMA (UK) Awards 2005 organising committee chairman Wanda Goldwag is right to ask the industry to shout louder about its skills (PM last week), making it harder for ad agencies to claim them as their own.

Yet some high-profile direct marketers seem to be making a success of setting up shop with established ad agencies. In a little over 12 months, Hall and former Proximity creative boss Warren Moore have joined forces with Clemmow Hornby Inge; ex-Rapier boss Ben Stephens has teamed up with RMG Connect executive creative director Neil Francis and former Clark McKay and Walpole (CMW) planning chief Chris Whitson to start VCCP-backed Stephens Francis Whitson; and Chris Ward, previously divisional managing director at CMW Interactive, has launched Personal at WCRS, as managing partner.

If Pringle is correct, further unions between advertising giants and direct bosses are likely in the near future. And so far, direct expertise seems to be adding value for ad agencies' clients.

Which leads me to a brief goodbye. After two enjoyable years covering direct marketing, I am moving on to write about advertising. It will be interesting to compare aspects of branding and response, and see if the two sides of the industry collaborate further. Despite the prevalence of sometimes hysterical consumer and media opinion about certain parts of the sector, I can count on one hand the number of direct marketing clients, agencies and suppliers I have met who have been unhelpful. You're not such a bad bunch, after all.

Ian McCawley, News Editor