Today’s factoids are culled from Wikipedia’s article on Direct Marketing, with additional clarification from “A History of Direct Marketing.”
Did you know . . .
The history of direct marketing can be traced all the way back to the 15th century. Printers began publishing the first trade catalogs sometime around 1450, following the invention of Gutenberg’s moveable type.
The early use of business to business direct mailings in early colonial America resulted in orders to England for books, tea, ammunition, and other products for resale. Seed catalogues are among the oldest types of catalogues, and were used in the American colonies by the mid-1700’s. Even Thomas Jefferson was a habitual mail order buyer, on mailing lists both domestically and in Europe.
As early as the 1860’s, a number of firms used direct mail to advertise their wares through informational circulars and handbills. Direct mail was advanced by the Lincoln administration’s introduction of penny postage in 1863, but the practice of “mail order selling” took off in America with the invention of the typewriter in 1867.
The Direct Mail Advertising Association, now the Direct Marketing Association, was first established in 1917.
Lester Wunderman is credited with coining the phrase “direct marketing” in 1961, during a speech to the Hundred Million Club. He pioneered some of the classic approaches to direct marketing with brands such as American Express and Columbia Records. He later elaborated on the phrase, stating “I believe the term ‘direct marketing’ is more appropriate than ‘mail order selling’ . . . direct marketing is where the advertising and buying become a single action . . .”
Look for five more Friday factoids next week!
