Direct Mail--A Moving Target

Both segments made headline news this year. The sweepstakes controversy—which prominently featured consumers who had needlessly purchased large quantities of magazine subscriptions, believing it would increase their chances of winning cash prizes—led to changes in the language of the offers.

"During the sweepstakes legislation, marketers put fewer pieces in the mail. It also had a trickle-down effect on the magazine publishing industry," Mattran notes. "Tobacco advertisers no longer do radio and they've pulled out of billboard advertising. That makes direct mail an even more attractive media."