Talk:Direct marketing/Archives/2017

Advert tag

Why is it there? The article isn't at all written like an advertisement, unless I'm missing something here... Zambelo; talk 22:00, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

I'm not sure either. Granted, much of the prose sound more like something from a marketing brochure rather than an encyclopedia article, many of the sources are questionable, and much should be rewritten from better sources with a neutral viewpoint. Maybe that all adds up to an advert tag in the mind of the editor that added it. --Ronz (talk) 22:38, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

I did not add the Advert tag, but I do believe it is very well placed. To me, the article clearly looks as if it is written and maintained by marketing people in their normal spinful way. I would not be surprised if some of them are even getting paid to write and maintain it. The article is only looking at direct marketing from the (very few) direct marketers' side, and not from the (much more plentiful) receivers' side. For instance the "Challenges and solutions" section: it does not mention any of the "challenges" and solutions for receivers of the marketing, i.e. how to avoid direct marketing – and those are the "challenges" (= problems) that by far the majority of people probably have with direct marketing. To me, the article is just disguised as an encyclopedia article, trying to look NPV but not being it. So I am happy that at least is has the Advert tag to indicate that something is quite wrong with this article and that the NPV is almost completely absent: The point of view is from a very small minority, the marketer, and not from the very large majority: the receiver of it. But maybe you, Zambelo, are involved in direct marketing yourself and are therefore too close to the subject to even see the non-NPV? --Jhertel (talk) 23:25, 17 February 2015 (UTC)

@Jhertel and Zambelo: Just because an article is about the subject of marketing doesn't automatically make it spinful. Marketing is a genuine business activity and is widely practiced. It is therefore, worthy of an entry in an encyclopedia. Even Wikipedia itself engages in marketing when, for example, it solicits donations. Whether people like marketing or not is irelevant. At issue is whether the article writes about marketing activities, such as direct marketing, in an accurate, neutral and informative manner and quotes reliable sources.

I agree that the article would benefit from some discussion of the challenges associated with ad blocking technologies and legislation that blocks direct sales and telemarketing. There has definitely been a shift in power - where consumers are much more in control over the messages they wish to see. I do not make any judgements about whether this is a good or bad thing - it is simply an observation that can be amply backed up by theoretical writings. To ignore this shift in power relations in any article on direct marketing is a very poor show and for the sake of being comprehensive should be addressed. However, I have to disagree with you about presenting solutions for consumers that enable them to avoid marketing messages. The current article is about the practice of direct marketing - and therefore necessarily adopts the perspective of marketing practitioners. Any discussion of solutions would have to consider how marketing practice has adapted to the challenges presented by current developments and shifting power relations. (To address solutions from the consumer perspective would be a very different article and there is nothing to stop budding writers from proposing such an article).

As far as the advertisement template is concerned, no explanation has been provided for its inclusion. On that basis, any editor could remove it at any time. I would be more than happy to remove it except that there are many other conceptual problems with this article and I have mentioned one of them in a separate post on this page. Other issues are already apparent from the many tags in the body. Many of these issues could be avoided if writers would actually use appropriate references and made a concerted effort to use accepted definitions of key terms. If and when my concerns have been addressed, I would have no hesitation removing the advert tag. BronHiggs (talk) 09:48, 13 January 2017 (UTC)

Terminology? Confusing!

Direct marketing is a form of promotion. It is not, however, a type of advertising.

By definition, advertising is a paid form of persuasive communication by an identified sponsor. Some definitions also include that advertising is communicated via mass media. In this context, paid refers to the act of a message sponsor paying a third party (a media channel) to carry the message. Thus advertising is a mediated form of communication - which involves the sender, the channel and the receiver.

Direct marketing is not mediated by any third party. The communication occurs directly between the sender and the receiver. The sender does not pay any third party to carry the message. (Certainly there are costs involved e.g. postage and stationery, but this is not the same as saying it is a paid form of communication. The distinction between advertising and promotion is very clear in the marketing literature. Wikipedia articles should reflect that distinction accurately.

This article needs to be cleaned up to remove references to direct marketing as a type of advertising so that it conforms with standard definitions of advertising and promotion. BronHiggs (talk) 09:27, 13 January 2017 (UTC)

Blacklisted Links Found on Direct marketing

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