while many companies rely on a variety of promotional-mix elements to move their products and services through intermediaries, an increasing number are going directly to the consumer. These companies believe that while promotional-mix tools such as advertising, sales promotion, support media, and personal selling are effective creating brand image, conveying information, and/or creating awareness going direct can generate an immediate behavioral response. Direct marketing is a valuable tool in the integrated communications program, though it usually seeks somewhat different objectives.
we discuss direct marketing and its role as a communicatior For many companies and organizations, direct marketing is a key element in their IMC program, and for some marketers it has become the medium of choice for reaching consumers. We begin by defining direct marketing and then examine direct marketing media and their use in the overall communications strategy. The section concludes with a basis for evaluating the direct-marketing program and a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of this marketing tool.