Borrell Associates has a new report out predicting the end to another tried and true tool for advertisers. After correctly predicting the decline in Yellow Pages and then newspapers it’s direct mail this time, they’re predicting a 39% drop in direct mail spending over the next five years.
As they point out in their report the replacement for direct mail is email and they further predict that local email marketing will lead the growth for the next five years.
In fact, they say, email will outpace search and banner advertising as a favorite way to spend money on advertising.
I see this as another opportunity for major brands to step in and help their dealer channel promote locally. A good brand should be able to help with the database management on behalf of a their local retailers and provide co-branded campaigns that will be effective for the dealers and won’t alienate consumers.
If a brand doesn’t take control of this than chaos will ensue. Imagine your dealers being tempted to send what they want, when they want for a very low cost. Ouch.