As I write this, I have just returned from a meeting with the VP of marketing for a direct mail marketing company. The woman I met with had the title of “The Queen Mother of Direct Marketing” on her card so when we met I asked her if I should call her your highness. She laughed and said that was what she preferred. She explained that they have been very aggressive in their marketing activities over the last year and attribute those efforts to their relatively small sales declines of about 10%, during this recession. I told her that while very few companies are reporting no declines, I believe that only the leading companies are experiencing sales declines of 10% or less. Then she joked, “What a novel idea – aggressive marketing to compensate for the sales declines associated with a recession.” I am not sure if she is actually the Queen Mother of Direct Marketing but after hearing this story she is definitely an experienced pro. I met the Queen recently at a DMA event that her company had sponsored. She introduced my presentation entitled, “Increasing Your Marketing Effectiveness with World-Class Variable Data Ad Campaigns.” I am not sure, but I must have done something right because it resulted in a free lunch a week later. Of course, there are no free lunches. This meeting was really to discuss  plans for an upcoming customer event in the fall to help her customers better understand and appreciate the synergy that can be created when combining Purls and direct mail marketing. I was thrilled to be asked to be part of this effort and shared what I think are best practices for these customer events which include: presentations by senior staff, invitations to both clients and prospects, marketing the event with at least 3 marketing touches and use the technology (Purls, VDP) to demonstrate your capabilities and the effectiveness of the technology. And, last but not least, you have to make a compelling offer because you have to remember that most Purls are seen as work by the recipients. Therefore, the incentive has to be strong enough to overcome the perception of work. At least that’s what I told the Queen. What would you tell the Queen about the issues associated with Purls? Howard Fenton is a Senior Consultant at NAPL. Howie advises commercial printers, in-plants, and manufacturers on workflow management, operations, digital services, and customer research.