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You're Entering the Eurozone
Central & Eastern European
Direct Marketing
Opportunities and Challenges
Rod Serling's monotone voice began the
excitement and
fear of the unknown as viewers tuned in their TV's in the
US in the late 50's and early 60's to hear "You've entered
the Twilight Zone". Many of the baby boomers that grew
up enjoying this fantasy/science fiction/thriller series are
GZ News readers who bravely go where no... wait, that
was another TV series. If the baby boomer years are
before your time then you've likely seen "The Twilight
Zone" reruns in syndication, right? From a direct
marketer's perspective, arguably thrilling and exciting,
albeit perhaps not the makings of a fantasy science
fiction thriller, in 2007 the European Union (EU) grows to
27 member states with the addition of Bulgaria and
Romania. Not all EU member states have the Euro as its
official currency, while those that have adopted it are said
to have entered the "Eurozone". What opportunities
come to those that have entered the Eurozone, and what
may it mean for direct marketers? Read on.
To be released as you read this summer issue of GZ
News, Global-Z is launching address verification services
for the country of Poland. Why Poland, you may ask?
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in Poland has
been strong and steady with its entry into the EU in 2004.
Including entry into the Eurozone planned for January
2012 (replacing the official currency; Zloty), opportunities
for its citizens, its neighboring EU members, and for
direct marketers looking to add fuel to Poland's economic
engine, Global-Z has seen growing demand for quality
postal data hygiene. Working closely with Poczta Polska,
Poland's official postal authority, we are now able to
provide the high caliber of address standardization,
correction and verification demanded by quality-, cost-
conscious direct marketers. We continue to hear
growing market interest focusing on Central and Eastern
Europe.
Poland's addition to, and continued integration with the
EU brings it into a frontier-free single market of
opportunity. Within the EU Poland is part of nearly a half
billion population. For those GZ News readers in the US it
is important to highlight that the EU's biggest export
market is the US, and that most of the goods entering the
EU come from the US (source: Europa.com, the EU's
official website). Equally important to note, when
considering direct marketing into any market, and true of
the EU in general and Poland specifically, standards of
living vary within each country and country-specific
market awareness at the regional level, such as the 16
Polish provinces, is important as one develops a direct
marketing strategy. |
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Greetings!
That "swoosh!" sound that just passed you was the first
half of 2007! It's hard to believe that we're into the third
quarter of the year. From Global-Z's vantage point the
international direct marketing industry is booming and the
forecast is very bright ahead. We hope your business
has been, and continues to be equally strong. Our
summer issue of GZ News includes our first annual
survey, so here's a great opportunity to see how your
business is performing relative to others in the industry.
Please read on, and keep your comments and questions
coming. GZ News is developing in great measure as a
direct result of your feedback.
We would like to thank the DMA's
International Council
Outreach team for letting Global-Z and all the Council's
members know about the great Quick Link resource
included in this issue of GZ News: "Asian Direct
Marketing Association's 2007 Digital Marketing
Yearbook", and a big thank you to ADMA, also.
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| DM Basics: Preparing to Plan Your Next Campaign (Part 2) |
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by Stacy Berver
DM360, Inc.
(Stacy@DM360Inc.com)
I can't tell you how many times I sat down, thinking I was
ready to plan my next mailing and quickly realized I didn't
have what I needed. Has this ever happened to you?
In direct mail, it's not nearly as simple as
collecting the results from your last campaign and
creating a "rollout" based on those results. It could be, if
your business simply lives from one mailing to the next -
but most businesses are far more complex than this.
Change is an ever-present factor
Most
businesses who sell through direct marketing realize that
there are peaks and valleys to every product's appeal -
based on seasonality, creative, market penetration and
often unknown factors. They also realize that from one
campaign to the next - things change. You must be
aware of how these changes can affect your results, or
your planning might not be as well-prepared as you think.
In my experience there are six considerations
to
take into account when planning your next
campaign.
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To read Stacy's full article click here... |
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| We Have a Winner! |
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Congratulations to Sharon Gilmore from Belfast,
Northern Ireland! Sharon won Global-Z's "Around the
World Photo Contest" and is enjoying her new iPod
Nano.
In the winning photo she entered in the contest Sharon
is holding the Global-Z poster in front of two cranes that
dominate the Belfast skyline - "they are easily the most
recognizable
landmark in the city" Sharon tells us. The cranes are
known as 'Samson and Goliath'. The Titanic was built by
the shipyard in which the cranes are located. 'Samson
and Goliath' were constructed in the late 60's. Had their
construction predated the Titanic's construction perhaps
Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet would not be the
famous stars they are today?
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Larger picture & more about Sharon's winning entry... |
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| 2007 Direct Marketing Trends Survey |
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Ever wonder where your business stands in relation to
your international direct marketing peers? We've included
our first annual
eSurvey in the summer GZ News issue related to
international
direct marketing trends to help you, our GZ News
readers, guage where you stand relative to other industry
peers. The effectiveness of this survey relies on your
participation.
The survey is being compiled for market trend purposes.
The aggregated trend results will be published by Global-
Z with no identification of companies and/or individuals.
The results will be disseminated to direct marketing
industry media outlets for their publication consideration.
If you would like to receive the aggregated data prior to
wider publication please respond to this issue of GZ
News with "send survey results" added to the subject line
of your reply.
Respond to the survey for a chance to Win an iPod
Nano! Your time is valuable and we will sweeten the
pot for those willing to put aside a few minutes to
respond to our survey. One lucky survey respondent will
win a new iPod Nano. Please refer to the survey for
details.
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Click here to begin the survey... |
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| Meet Penny Galusha |
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Global-Z Customer Service Team Account
Manager
Penny Galusha works in our Customer Service
Department and has been with Global-Z since April of
2004.
Penny manages a number of Global-Z accounts,
maintaining ongoing communication to identify job
requirements, coordinating all aspects of our clients' job
orders and acting as the primary interface between our
clients and our internal Data Specialists.
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Learn more about Penny... |
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