DMA Releases Quarterly Business Review (QBR) for Q3 2010

November 8, 2010 — The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today released its Quarterly Business Review (QBR) for the third quarter of 2010. DMA partnered with Winterberry Group, a leading strategic management consulting firm that helps advertising and marketing companies build shareholder value, on this report.

This quarter marked the first time in over a year that marketers reported increases in spending across all tracked direct and digital marketing channels. Though the pace of growth within certain categories slowed in comparison to previous periods, the broader improvement reflects the ongoing acceleration in marketing activity, buoyed by improving macroeconomic conditions, that has characterized the entirety of 2010.

“For the first time in a long time Q3 saw marketing expenditures, revenues, staffing levels, and profitability grow,” said Yoram Wurmser, director of marketing and media insights for DMA. “The US economy’s slow rebound is finally having a positive impact for marketers. The fact that we’re seeing marketers allocate larger portions of their budgets to customer acquisition efforts, as well as a renewed focus on assertively growing their business proves their heightened economic confidence.”

"During periods of economic growth, marketers typically expand their focus on customer acquisition in an effort to grow their businesses and capitalize on opportunities that may have been missed during more difficult times," said Jonathan Margulies, a director at Winterberry Group. "Over the past year, we've seen marketers steadily shift dollars in this direction, reinforcing the broader economic recovery. In conjunction with widespread optimism about new channel investment, response and profitability, this portends good things about what may lie ahead for the marketing community in 2011."

Some key findings include:

· Marketers noted that return on investment (ROI) improved across nearly all tracked direct and digital channels during the third quarter.

· As they did over the pas four quarters, marketers cited improved data analytics tools and processes as the leading driver of new or expanded direct/digital marketing activity.

· Marketers reported that digital channels would continue to be their primary focus in new marketing investment — with search, email, mobile, social and online display approaches growing in adoption.

· Both marketers and suppliers cited that third-quarter profitability improved (in the aggregate) with the majority (54.8 percent of marketers and 55.4 percent of suppliers) reporting higher profits compared to the SQLY (Q3 2009).

About DMA’s Quarterly Business Review

DMA’s Quarterly Business Review (QBR) for the third quarter of 2010 is based on two online surveys conducted by DMA’s Research and Market Intelligence department in October 2010. Altogether DMA received 448 usable survey responses.

The report is free for DMA members, and non-members can purchase a copy for $49.95 from DMA’s Bookstore by clicking here.

About Winterberry Group

Winterberry Group is a unique, global strategic consulting firm that helps advertising and marketing companies grow shareholder value. Based in New York, it offers a combination of corporate strategy, market intelligence and merger‐and‐acquisition due diligence support services aimed at helping clients identify opportunities for growth and achieve transformative results. The Firm’s global stable of clients includes service providers, marketers and financial investors representing every segment of the advertising and marketing industries, including Acxiom Corporation, Alterian plc., American Capital Strategies, arvato Services / Bertelsmann AG, Canada Post Corporation, Capital One Financial Corp., The Carlyle Group, Direct Group, Eastman Kodak Company, eCircle AG, Hewlett‐Packard Co., IWCO Direct, MediMedia USA, Meredith, Onex Corporation, Rosetta, Transcontinental, Inc., Xerox and Yahoo!.

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About Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is the leading global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the end-to-end direct marketing process. Founded in 1917, DMA today represents companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 48 other nations, including nearly half of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.

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