Green Direct Marketing

Two very different articles caught my eye this morning, both from DM News.

The first: Dreaming of a green christmas? which reports on a stunt by ForestEthics.

"While Ty Pennington, TV handyman extraordinaire and Sears’ spokeshunk, toyed with his toolbelt in Times Square last week during a Sears Wish Book catalog promotion, Santa and his reindeer tried to call a halt to the action in the name of the environment."

Apparently, this stunt was an "attempt to take Sears to task for what it cited as environmental cruelty (the Wish Book is some 200 pages long)." The article goes on to say although the stunt didn't really capture too much media attention, it "does speak to the concerns that catalog marketers are addressing in terms of the environmental impact of their bread and butter."

Are consumers sick and tired of all those catalogs? And, do they think about the environment when they open their full mail boxes this time of year? Have no fears--these questions will soon be answered.

"DMNews has partnered with Pitney Bowes on a consumer survey, Direct Mail and the Environment. The results, with accompanying editorial, will be in the December 17 issue." We'll definitely be reporting results here.

Now, on to Green Issue number 2. This time, it's about using environmental attitudes as part of segmentation. Although a tad creepy (that even our feelings about saving the environment might be known about us), it makes sense, right?

Direct Group looks to green data for new marketing service

Here's how it's done: "Market segmentation technology provider Earthsense measures consumer reaction to environmental issues. The Earthsense Eco-Insights Survey gathered responses from 30,000 adults across the US. Recently released results show respondents’ feelings on political candidates, green products, eco-friendly companies and other issues."

Direct Group offers this segmentation system (along with other direct marketing services) to political marketers. Segments are applied to Voter Registration files to enable more precise targeting and messaging.

Pretty nifty, eh?

In any event, that's the news today on the environmental front!