Wolf Mailing and Marketing President, John E. Wolf III, said “Direct mail provides better target marketing than any other medium. It’s no surprise that newspapers are buying direct mail companies. For the past two decades we have been building better databases for marketers to utilize, and now those efforts are paying better dividends with direct mail. My personal observations tell me newspapers won’t be able to fully capitalize on our prior experiences. I would love to tell you why but then they would know. The latest data also shows that this year looks to be just as strong.”

Bob Coen’s data also shows that direct mail has enjoyed 16.3% increase in advertising expenditures from 1998 - 2002 while newspapers suffered a 0.6% decrease. This data shows direct mail’s effectiveness as we entered an era where Advertising Managers are being held more accountable by Chief Financial Officers. Direct Mail’s excellent Return On Investment presents a strong reason why newspaper advertising has dwindled.

U.S. ad expenditures by type of media(1), 1998-2003

	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	%change 1998-2002	2003(2)
Direct Mail	$39,620	$41,403	$44,591	$44,725	$46,067	16.3	$49,055
Newspapers	44,292	46,648	49,050	44,255	44,031	-0.6	46,415
Broadcast TV	39,173	40,011	44,802	38,881	42,068	7.4	43,230
Miscellanous	25,523	27,571	32,083	29,895(3)	30,730	20.4	32,320
Radio	15,073	17,215	19,295	17,861	18,877	25.2	19,960
Cable TV	8,547	10,429	15,455	15,736(3)	16,297	90.7	17,000
Yellow Pages	11,990	12,652	13,228	13,592	13,776	14.9	14,370
Magazines	10,518	11,433	12,370	11,095	10,995	4.5	11,590
Billboards	1,576	1,725	5,176	5,134	5,175	228.4	5,610
Internet	1,050	1,940	6,507	5,645(3)	4,883	365.0	5,465
Business Papers	4,232	4,274	4,915	4,468	3,976	-6.0	4,245
Total	$201,594	$215,301	$247,472	$231,287	$236,875	17.5%	$249,260

1. In millions; expenditures include all commissions as well as art, mechanical and production expenditures.
2. Projections
3. Revised figures