The DMA Announces Best Direct & Interactive Marketing Campaigns Of 2001/2002 At 73rd Annual International ECHO Awards

Proving the power and speed of the Internet, CP Interactive combined a powerful online/offline campaign to save the life of Safiya Husseini, a Nigerian woman who, according to the laws of her country, was to be executed in a brutal manner. With only 15 days to collect as many signatures as possible, CP Interactive combined a viral e-mail marketing campaign with a direct mail piece based on obtaining the maximum effectiveness in the shortest possible time. The campaign resulted in more than 600,000 signatures obtained via the Internet, 60,000 signatures sent via the mail/fax, and 40,000 calls to the Safiya call center, and most importantly, led to the reprieve of Husseini.

From a field of 1,113 entries, 83 direct and interactive marketing agencies and their clients - 14 Gold, 24 Silver and 45 Bronze - from 14 countries around the world were awarded ECHO's. Campaigns were evaluated on response results, marketing strategy, and creative components.

The awards were presented at a gala event hosted by comedic actor Kevin Nealon of "Saturday Night Live" fame during The DMA 85^th Annual Conference & Exhibition on October 20^th in San Francisco, CA.

Other top awards included:

• The USPS Gold Mailbox ECHO - for the campaign exhibiting the best use of direct mail - was awarded to MRM Partners Worldwide (New York, NY) for its dimensional mail "Living With It" campaign for Aventis Pharmaceuticals (Bridgewater, NJ).

• The Henry Hoke ECHO - honoring the campaign exhibiting the most courageous solution to a difficult sales/marketing problem - was given to FMS Direct (Tarzana, CA) for its work on the "Ship of Gold 'California Gold Rush Treasure Program'" campaign for Monaco Financial, LLC (Newport Beach, CA).

• ECHO Digital Award - for the campaign that best applied new technology to execute proven direct marketing principles and which adhered to The DMA's Privacy Policy - went to msdbm/Sourcelink (Los Angeles, CA) for its work on the "She's Rocking the USA" campaign for Universal Music/Lost Highway Records (New York, NY).

According to The DMA's 2001/2002 Economic Impact study, overall media spending for direct and interactive marketing initiatives rose 3.6 percent to $196.8 billion in 2001 from $189.9 billion in 2000. According to the latest findings, direct and interactive marketing represents more than 55.2 percent of total U.S. traditional advertising expenditures.

Sales revenue from direct and interactive marketing rose nine percent last year to $1.86 trillion from $1.71 trillion in 2000. According to The DMA's "Economic Impact: U.S. Direct & Interactive Marketing Today" study, direct marketing sales growth, over the next five years, will outpace overall sales growth in the U.S. by 3.5 percentage points.

The DMA is the leading trade association for businesses interested in interactive and database marketing, with nearly 4,700 member companies from the United States and 53 other nations. Founded in 1917, its members include direct marketers from every business segment as well as the nonprofit and electronic marketing sectors. Included are catalogers, Internet retailers and service providers, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and a host of other vertical segments, including the service industries that support them. According to a DMA-commissioned study, direct and interactive marketing sales in the United States exceeded $1.86 trillion in 2001, including $118 billion in catalog sales and $30 billion in sales generated by the Internet. The DMA's Web site is www.the-dma.org, and its consumer Web site is www.shopthenet.org.

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