DIRECT MARKETING ON THE RISE
By Adnews Staff
The direct marketing industry will grow 8.5% this year, said the Canadian Direct Marketing Association last week when it released its annual report on the state of the industry. According to data in The Annual Fact Book of the Canadian Direct Marketing Association, the industry grew 7.1% last year and had over $9 billion in sales. Direct response television will jump 26% this year, compared with 6% in 1994. Banks, insurance companies and other financial services organizations had a 9% increase in revenue earned as a result of direct marketing in 1994, and this will grow another 10% in 1995, says the CDMA. Direct marketing in the business-to-business sector is expected to continue to grow at a rate of 8%. Forty-nine per cent of Canadians surveyed said they were "somewhat interested" in shopping by telephone and 16% said they were "quite" or "extremely interested." Sales of consumer goods and services through non-catalogue direct marketing expanded by 12%, exceeding the $1-billion mark. This year's fact book contains new surveys on list usage, cataloguing, Internet direct response and publishing. In addition, there is also information on the charitable sector, including the results of a fundraisers' salary survey. There is also information on telemarketing, the environment and home shopping television.