Clever comic thing

Aaargh, where has the week gone? We’re all dashing around like mad things here – not least Creative Director Emma who is gearing up to have a baby any day now. It’s true what they say about the nesting instinct – never has the office looked so TIDY.

Kudos this week to the Institute of Direct Marketing for sending me the best mailshot I’ve ever seen. They’ve used people’s names, job titles and office location to send out a personalised comic advertising the next International Direct Marketing Fair. OK, I know it's all to do with laser printing and databases - not really a magic comic at all - but nevertheless it still felt very flattering for little me to be the star of my very own cartoon strip.

Love it. But then you’d expect the IDM to be at the forefront of direct mail campaigns, wouldn’t you?

How did they know I was blonde, though? And white, come to think of it? Would love to hear from someone who’s received a mailout that’s gone a bit wrong …

Everything you ever wanted to know about email marketing but forgot to ask ...

Hello - I'm Marie, the new copywriter at IceBlue. Been here for four weeks now, and I'm starting not to feel like the new girl anyore. Wayne gave me a nickname today (it's Mary - think I've got off lightly, compared to Jodie's Jedi?), so I really feel at home now. Cheers, Wayne.

Mel and I have been on a two-day course at the Institute of Direct Marketing in Teddington this week, on 'Effective Email Marketing'. It was pretty darn intense, and the other delegates worked for very high-profile brands (Virgin Atlantic, Adidas, Nectar Cards, Royal SunAlliance, Sony ... ) but I hope we held our own. Instead of being intimidated, we felt lucky that we work for a small team, having a big input into the whole idea/design/writing/sending/testing/reporting process involved in email marketing. Some of the people there outsourced all that stuff to creative agencies, whereas we can control and tweak our every stage, learning as we go.

The legal aspects were a big help (don't want to get listed as spammers!), and we're also dreaming up some imaginative ideas for future email campaigns - both for our clients and our IceBlue marketing. I liked the short section on creative copy best, but I'll write more about that in my own little blog.

See you soon. Have a happy weekend, all! Marie :)