DMAs 2010 Retail Marketing Conference

After attending the DMA’s 2010 Retail Marketing Conference 2010 that was held last week (May 24-27th, 2010) at the Gaylord Palms in Florida, we again were told that the marketing industry is in transition. The lineup the DMA brought to the conference, from the exhibitors (Abacus, Epsilon, Jigsaw, Escalate Retail, Quad/Graphics,  Japs-Olson Company and others) to the tremendous depth of speakers from a wide variety of merchant and technology providers such as Responsys,  Silverpop, Google, Experian, Best Buy, Lehman’s Hardware, Hickory Farms,  1-800 Flowers, and many other thought leaders show that they understand the challenges of this transition and are committed to making their offering as detailed and comprehensive as possible. This show used to be termed the ACCM or “Catalog Show’” and renaming it the Retail Marketing Conference shows how in line the DMA is with changes in this dynamic marketing and economic landscape.

It was mentioned time and time again during the show, “Do not waste the customer’s time. If you make your messages more efficient, it is RARELY about the price” and “The market wants to make their lives easier.” We heard that because more customers are buying on emotional attachment, brands (catalogers, markets and retailers) need to focus.   More importantly, however, attendees need to learn how to use the power of emotion to enhance their position, and hence marketing impact.

Banal marketing strategies no longer work. Doing this effectively creates a brand language that will give the consumer a call to action, a reason to engage, a reason to give you the rich behavioral data needed to create the engaged and actionable dialogue you require. Anything less would be mendacious. Even though there is a focus on price and efficiency, consumers will and do pay for value; they want to make their lives easier and the products that help them accomplish this will command a premium of mind share, actionable market intelligence and,  therefore, profits and ROI.

Download the full State of the Industry

Membership and Pricing

Videos and podcasts

Membership and Pricing