Download Abstract Indicated by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), direct

Abstract
Indicated by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), direct mail marketing expenditures in the
USA were nearly $61.3 billion USD in 2008, which was much higher than that of China’s $1.57
billion USD in the same time period (Chinese Graphic Arts Net).
Direct mail products---as defined by DMA---include catalogs, letters, brochures, pamphlets,
circulars and preprinted inserts, video and audiotapes, diskettes, promotional items and
communications sent through the mail or other delivery services. In order to better understand
the state of direct mail in China, the researcher conducted six detailed interviews with five
Chinese printers and one advertising agency.
The result showed that with the purchase of digital presses, four of the five printing companies
are capable of producing all levels of customized direct mail from versioning to highly
personalized print. But all of them indicated that digital printing only occupies very limited
portion of their annual production output. However, some printing companies interviewed
regarded direct mail as one of their major products, which generate most of their revenue.
Moreover, their direct mail job volumes are quite stable mostly due to long-term cooperation
with same group of customers, such as banks and publishers. But according to the ad agency
interviewed, the usage of direct mail decreased noticeably in recent times due to the emerging
and growing E-marketing channels like social media. In addition, most clients of that ads agency
have specific marketing plans, which are based on marketing budget, return on investment (ROI)
and creativity, therefore its challenging to persuade clients to utilize direct mail because of its
high production cost.
The researcher concluded that the three most challenging obstacles that Chinese direct mail
industry is facing are:

Obtaining quality customer data

Competition with other advertising media

Cost of digital printing and postage