Direct Marketing is the new AD MANTRA

Anushree Chandran
Mint

Advertisers are turning increasingly to direct marketing to communicate with consumers as they attempt to save on costs and ride out the economic downturn, a business opportunity that ad agencies are trying to tap.

UK-based Aegis Group Plc has tied up with independent agency Fresh IMCS and Dentsu India launched a unit in partnership with an outsourcer, Serco BPO Ltd, to offer direct marketing services.

Direct communications, with its arsenal of mailers, brochures, road shows, sampling, events, phone calls, emails and digital contacts, is favoured by advertisers as a cost-effective, measurable medium in these times, when companies are trying to cut costs. It throws open direct lines of communication to consumers, who can interact with the brand or advertiser.

Media specialists such as Deepak Jayaram, national director, dialect, GroupM India Pvt. Ltd, estimate the one-on-one communications market at Rs 1,000 crore-plus yearly, with likely annual growth of 15-20%.

The figure is significantly higher than a few years ago, he says, and does not include mom-and-pop direct agencies that operate from home.

“There is potential for agencies to get a lot more direct marketing business since much of it is spread out in small mom-and-pop outfits. It’s a disintegrated business,” says Debashis Das, country head of Carat Fresh, as the venture between Aegis Group and Fresh ICMS is known.

“Advertisers are re-negotiating ad budgets this year because of the economic downturn,” says Satish Sathyanarayana, chief operating officer of ClozR, the venture launched by Dentsu India with Serco BPO.

They are looking beyond creating awareness now and need engagement not just with consumers but also with intermediaries such as dealers and distributors, he says.