Is the DMA one dead dog away from being a country song?
This morning, after I posted a reply to Bill Bass (a DMA board member), I asked myself: why in the hell am I doing this? We are unbelievably busy and I don’t have time for drama. As much as I like hearing from all my old friends, clients, vendors and far-too-many people named Anonymous, I have to ask myself…
Is the DMA as relevant as the fax machine, the 8-track or the CB radio? Is any of this really worth it?
Why I am supporting this organization when there are so many others that I really like? (Here’s looking at you ACMA.)
Why am I even bothering to defend an organization that puts out a Voice of a Customer (VOC) survey and then apparently suppresses it? How much did the DMA pay for it, and why — and at whatever the cost was — did management not either take advantage of it, or allow members — whose dues paid for this research — know about it and benefit from it?
Then, I look at Gerry Pike (aka the Little Engine that Could) and the survey results on his Polynesian Train Wreck of a website and I think. Good Lord. How many responses were there, Gerry? One? Five Hundred? No, I imagine you can’t talk about it because after all you, are a fiduciary.
DRAMA. DRAMA. DRAMA.
Yesterday, someone accused me of being the Perez Hilton of the industry. This is amusing on many levels but mostly because (a) I know jack about celebrity gossip and (b) I am the one who has consistently told people that I do not want to hear about Greco’s wife, sons, football sponsorships, spa bills, or anything to do with anything that can’t be substantiated. We all have to answer to our own God(s) or forensics accountants, as the case may be. What Greco has or has not done with his money is none of my damn business and I want to hear about it as much as I want to hear about Gerry’s Royal Silk business. Not. At. All.
FOLKS, NEITHER GERRY PIKE NOR JOHN GRECO ARE THE ISSUE.
When I started in the internet business, people told me I was nuts. They said that the internet was like teenage sex — that everyone was talking about doing it but nobody was. I was in my early 20’s and I knew that was not exactly accurate but I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t about to school the likes of Bernie Goldberg on the art of getting action. I mean really. Have you met Bernie?
Later on, when I got kinda-sorta-a-little known (in my small, small, small part of the world), people told me I was lucky. It was never my hard work, it was always my fortune. I didn’t say anything about that either. I knew I was indeed lucky but I also knew that I had worked my big-cookie-fat-ass off. More important, I had been smart enough to realize early on that I was never going to be able to compete in the world with the likes of Katie Muldoon, Jack Baer, Jack Schmid, John Coe, Vic Hunter, Liz Kislik, Don Libey and Tracy Emerick. They had been working longer than I had been alive! Plus, those people are SMART. I am just scrappy.
These days, I look at the 4K (Kool-Aid, Kumbaya & Kampfire Klub, also known as the social media crowd) and I think…. Twitter is a time-suck….. What happens in Vegas stays on Facebook….. How do you pay your bills with social capital, you wackasses? This has no ROI…. This has no value….. What a waste of damn time! Too much talking and not enough action! Are you people flipping nuts or just smoking crack?
And then I remember, that’s what people said about me — about giving up a good-paying job to “chase rainbows.”
I remember what it’s like to have passion. Passion for what you do and what you believe in.
WHEN DID DIRECT MARKETERS LOSE ALL THEIR PASSION? WHY HAS IT BECOME TEAM GEHN (GERRY/JOHN) VERSUS TEAM APATHY?
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I don’t care how much John Greco gets paid and I don’t think Gerry Pike would be a good DMA president. (I don’t think that was Gerry’s intention but if it was, he should have been a lot more explicit about it.)
I care that this industry survives. I care that the people around me like their jobs and have fun at what they do. I want them to make a lot of money — not get a lot of followers, make a lot of money.
I get what my dear friend, Grace Cohen posted on this blog. I heard folks like Kevin Kotowski. Those are good people and they have good points.
I understand the DMA isn’t what it used to be. And I also get that some of it is our damn fault.
You can give your vote to John Greco, Gerry Pike, Bill Bass, Gene Raitt, Steve Fuller — just give it to someone.
Make a statement that this industry is worth it. That you are not apathetic and that you believe in what we do.
Yell from the rooftops that you have passion. Even if it’s just a little. Even if it’s fast and furious like teenage sex. Even if you now need little blue pills or a 19 year old hottie.
THE TITANIC HASN’T SUNK YET
Last fall, people who were planning on voting for the Manchurian Candidate (read: Obama) told me that if I didn’t like Obama but didn’t love Palin, I should give my vote to Obama because at least he promised hope…
Since it seemed to work for him, I’ll tell you what I hope for…
I hope for a profitable DMA with a President like Ben Perez, Steve Berry or Markus Wilhelm.
….a Board with people who really care about marketing — like Ruth Stevens, Kevin Hillstrom, Rob Sanchez, Bernice Grossman, Cyndi Greenglass, Bill LaPierre, Lois Boyle, George Mollo, Curt Barry, Charlie Silver, Glenda Shasho-Jones, Lee Odden, Mark Amtower, Lois Geller, Carol Worthington-Levy, Dick Goldsmith and Coy Clement. People who aren’t interested so much in building their resumes as changing the face of direct marketing as we know it.
….a staff that can work together with folks from outside organizations (like Catalog Choice) that doesn’t bully them or think they’re going to go away just because they ignore them.
….conferences just as big, if not bigger, than Internet Retailer with new, interesting, relevant content and speakers.
….lobbying that is just a little tougher with lobbyists that eat small babies and mainline Red Bull.
…and direct marketers who are better off now than they were yesterday… last month… or last year…
WE’RE NOT A COUNTRY SONG QUITE YET
Our dog isn’t dead. We just need to give him a little love.
P.S. I get there are some folks who are scared to come out for Pike, for various reasons. I could go on and on about how fear got us in this mess in the first place but I will spare you that rampage for another time. What I can say is that you need to give someone your proxy. Doing nothing is of no help to anyone. You either want change or you don’t. You have a voice. Use it.
P.P.S. The deadline to send in your proxies is close of business tomorrow (Friday.) Saving them because you think you can use them to see the big smackdown between Pike and Greco is of no use as there is reportedly a Board Meeting before the Annual meeting. Please. Please send your proxies to someone who can use them.
A SPECIAL NOTE TO ALL BOARD MEMBERS AND REPRESENTATIVES FROM THEIR ORGANIZATIONS WHO HAVE ASKED ME TO TAKE THEM OFF MY LIST OF MISSING PEOPLE:
You acknowledge the public debate has been spirited. The board, which is supposed to represent the public, does not seem to have reflected this spirit. The public has had absolutely no sense, based on public statements from the board, that the board has any indication there is any sort of conflict.
You’re going to hold a board meeting in advance of the annual meeting. In the name of representing the membership, will you make the minutes of that meeting public? If so, why not make public the minutes of prior meetings, so we can evaluate both your statement that you are representing the membership — as well as either substantiating or refuting Pike’s claims that he has made requests for information which have been ignored?
October 16th, 2009 at 1:05 am
Great piece, Amy.
After my second merlot, it became clear to me this evening that the DMA membership is a bunch of wusses.
1. Someone else is writing the check: If the DMA was a company, and its members were shareholders seeking return on their investment, would their response to this situation be so benign? A few who care (especially you, Amy) have been trying to get attention to the issues that Pike has raised, all valid I believe. A few are listening. Too few. Most simply write corporate checks for annual membership fees, get a jpeg of the DMA logo for their website, and make a once-a-year-pilgrimage to the Annual Conference, and cannot bring themselves to admit they got no value out of it! This membership deserves Greco. They have chosen to lie back and enjoy it while he rapes them! Wusses.
2. Fear of retribution. I’ve been hearing this theory for a while, and believe it to be true. An exhibitor told me that he got a call suggesting that he send his proxy for Browning & Aguilera, not Pike. “Do you know how much of your business comes from DMA membership?”. And he folded. Wuss.
3. Lock down at the DMA headquarters: I have it from good authority that there’s a lock down at 1120 6th Ave. Terror alert: BRIGHT RED. All calls from staff to Board Directors are banned. Yes banned. Lawyers, detectives, PR firms, secret meetings. Greco has set up a war-room on our money to ensure we continue paying him a million bucks. Wusses, us all.
Yes, I’ve been a bit extreme in my rhetoric. But what would it take for me to provoke some action, fellow members. Send that damn proxy in to Pike. And get your ass into the room in San Diego to ensure that Greco doesn’t do what Bush did in Florida. See the mess we’re in now?
October 16th, 2009 at 9:40 am
The DMA might be dead, Targeted Marketing by mail or email lives!
The DMA’s problem is their inability to target their audience with relevant products and services. While there are and will be new channels competing with the traditional DM channels the focus should be on the aspect of “targeting/direct” and not on the channel.
Every organization focused on themselves is destined to fade away since we are not interested in the DMA but in what it has to offer as an organization. And I am not clear what the value proposition of the DMA is.
Christian Feuer
October 16th, 2009 at 11:45 am
I applaud your commentary, Amy. And I applaud Jerry Pike for the stance he’s taken with the DMA. I’ve been around a long time and back in the 1980’s I, and a group of other disenchanted DMA members quit the DMA and started a breakoff group called, The Mailing List Users and Suppliers Association (MLUSA), in response to the lack of representation my end of the industry was receiving from the DMA (seems as though little has changed over the years). I was its first president. We had about 150 members, hired an association director (at a fee that wouldn’t even cover the rounding error on Greco’s expense account), put together real programs that were useful to our membership, had annual conferences, training sessions, and so much more, all for a mere pittance of what it cost to belong to the DMA. Our position was, if you don’t like what you got, get what you like. We had previous to starting our own group petitioned the DMA to do more for our segment, to perhaps make believe that they cared about us. To no avail. They really didn’t give a rat’s tail. Shortly thereafter they replaced the executive director who had been there forever and who seemed to have only arrogance and disdain for the common member (we were told that our actions were indeed the impetus for the DMA to change management). In came Jonah Gittlitz who immediately embraced us and our segment and, after five years on our own, we decided to merge back into the DMA along with many of the programs we had initiated. My point in telling this story is that if anyone or group cares about how their money is being spent, how their ROI if faring with the group that is supposedly representing them, then do something about it. With money as tight as it is these days, we all ought to look a little bit more closely at what it’s buying for us. That’s why I applaud Jerry Pike. He’s probably flailing at windmills by taking on the DMA. But what he is doing is waking up the “wuss” in us and asking us if we should want and expect more out of our industry association. Something good will come of this, rest assured. He is doing the whole industry a service.
Ralph Stevens
October 16th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Wow, Amy, can you tell me what you really think??
I am not a DMA member, but December of 2009 marks my 25th anniversary as a marketing consultant, much of that time helping somme B2B catalogers become B2G catalogers. Along the way I’ve become pretty good. I have stayed valuable to my clients by watching how marketing has changed and adopting new skills along the way. Contrary to popular belief, even I evolve.
Back to the DMA.
The Board has to add value to the association and the association has to add value to the community it serves. It is not a private sandbox. When that process breaks down, things must change.
As I noted in my lunch speech at the annual MeritDirect Client Coop this past July, in the 1980s the DMA was the Direct MAIL Marketing Association - it wasn’t until the ealry 1990s that it became the Direct MARKETING Association. Marketing changes, with or without us.
Marketing and marketing tools are evolving quickly, and name changes and buying other associations don’t in and of themselves increase the bandwidth of the name changer of association buyer. One has to understand the changes at a granular level, at ground zero, then implement changes that lead to adding value to the community served.
Unless and until that happens, I feel the DMA has exceeded its expiration date.
Not that I have an opinion.
October 16th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Amy, I applaud your letter. Unfortunately, some things never change. I remember in the late 1950’s when Pete Holk rented a hall and many of the industry attended to try and get DMA to represent the industry with the Government and Post Office rather than just report to the membership what was about to happen to them.
When the Councils were active they were a benefit to the membership and the meeting put on by the various councils were a great value to the membership and provided a wonderful teaching service to the younger people in the industry.
The reason some of us started the Women’s Direct Response Group in the 70’s was because there was no recognition to be had by DMA. I’m happy to say that the WDRG became the Women in Direct Marketing International - with groups in London, Tokyo, Johannesburg and Sidney by the time the NY group vanished.
Many such groups would not be necessary if the DMA every managed to work for the industry.
I salute you and Pike for trying to wake the organization up to the facts of life and to get people who care about the industry on the board and in the leadership of the organization.
Shirley Stevens
October 18th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Sometimes you are the windshield, some times you are the bug….Amy, you go, girl! Drama, this certainly is.
Your comments on the DMA you wish you’d see now is the DMA in which I worked for 6 years. It was empowering, energizing, and transparent. Those leaders you spoke of were the people I turned to for facts and comment. We handled crises and great positive news. Catalog companies where important, not today’s after thought.
Hey, DMA! If you need some crisis counseling, give me a call. I know how great this organization can be.
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:30 pm
On one your earlier blogs I wrote about the Direct Marketing Computer Assoc., which was set up in the 80s for the same reason the MLUSA and the WDRG were established, as noted above.
However, I wanted to mention here the blog by Mila D’Antonio on the 1to1 Media site. See http://ilnk.me/47f … on how the DMA needs to re-invent itself. No one in their right mind would disagree with that premise. But without the right vision, perspective, leadership, and agenda, it’s not gonna happen. The more I think about it, the more I believe that the DMA’s time has past. But what might supersede it is difficult to define. Years ago many of us used to step back from comments about the direct marketing “industry” and say, “just what industry is that?” DM is a marketing strategy and a discipline, but an “industry” it is not. The world of DM today is even less so. And yet the disciplines of marketing to individual people (at home, at work), tracking responses, being accountable for results, analyzing the campaigns to achieve better results, and supporting the systems and infrastructure needed to succeed in that environment will probably live on for a good long while. Whether any single organization can “lead” the diverse group of creative, dedicated, spirited and often-entrepreneurial folks who choose to pursue their careers in the world of direct marketing is, truly, an open question.