LENSER :: Newsletter

This Month at Lenser
May 2006

PRESIDENT'S CORNER
By John Lenser, President
A sea change is coming for direct marketers! In the next two to five years we will be experiencing more changes and challenges in our marketplace than have occurred over the past 30 years.

Mailers are at a crossroads — the days of sending out millions of catalogs and several million non-targeted emails are at a turning point. In order to leverage consumer spending and generate high lifetime value, catalogers must integrate all channels effectively with well-timed contacts between channels. More importantly, relevancy, with integrated use of marketing databases, will be key.

When it comes to integrating all your channels effectively, how will these changes affect your company? How will you rethink your business? How will you integrate and manage these business strategies? Mailers who shift gears to deal with this new phenomenon will be poised for unquestionable growth.

Should your company need sophisticated circulation or strategic consulting on how to best integrate all of your channels, please feel free to contact me to learn how LENSER can help you with tomorrow’s growth.

FEATURE ARTICLE
Not All Channels Are Created Equal
By Jude Hoffner and Todd Miller, Senior Circulation and Marketing Managers
It has been nearly a decade since the terms “e-commerce,” “internet pure-play,” and “multichannel retailer” were coined. Within this relatively short time, the landscape of direct marketing has been forever changed.

CASE STUDY
Yes, You Still Need to Capture Source Codes!
By Alexandra Singer, Circulation and Marketing Manager
The value of source code capture is continually debated. In a multichannel world, where web and retail often make up the majority of orders, it can be exceedingly difficult to collect source codes or key-codes and matchbacks are therefore crucial. Many mailers have given up on source codes completely. But the benefits of capturing accurate source codes, even if you’re doing matchbacks, are legion. Learn more

CIRCULATION TIP
By Matt Morton, Circulation and Marketing Manager
Suppression rules can be a tricky subject. Mailers should not blindly suppress any category of addresses without first testing the response to particular offers. Learn more

multichannel TIP
By Michelle Farabaugh, Partner
Optimizing your multichannel customer behavior is key to obtaining the highest customer value and company profits. Customers purchasing from two channels are worth three times more than a single-channel customer. Initiating eight strategies will encourage multichannel behavior while driving overall increased company sales. Learn more

CLIENT HIGHLIGHT—HIGH COUNTRY GARDENS
It would seem to be a huge challenge for a small catalog to become one of the premier xeriscape providers in the country, but that is exactly what David and Ava Salman have created in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Read more

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
Geoff Wolf, who makes his home in Durango, Colorado, joined LENSER as a partner in 2002, after many years in retail and direct marketing. To learn more about Geoff’s rich history, please visit his full article.

NEWS BRIEF

Whatever your concerns, MCM Live's Multichannel Integration seminar will provide the insight and knowledge you need to increase your profits and transform your multichannel business model. Michelle Farabaugh, LENSER Partner, is a featured presenter at the next Multichannel Merchant Live! seminar that takes place in New York on June 1 and 2. Come hear Michelle’s in-depth presentation on “Maximizing Lifetime Value: The Promise of Multichannel Marketing.” Read more
The LENSER Summit plays a vital role in the ongoing education and professional development of our clients, and this year's event will be even bigger and better. We have lined up a wide array of speakers and session material. Read more
This month we welcome E-Ponds, Fitter International, Audio Advisor and For Counsel to our family of clients.
Thay Sisouvanh joins LENSER as an account executive in our List Services department. Read more
Did you attend the ACCM in Chicago this month? If you missed getting a handout for any of the sessions taught by LENSER, please click here
LENSER’s Annual Dinner held in conjunction with the ACCM 2006 was a smashing success. Over 140 clients and industry colleagues joined us for great conversation and a fabulous dinner at The Rhapsody next to Chicago’s Symphony Hall. Click here to view a few “happy snaps” at the dinner.
Congratulations to LENSER client eBags for winning the Gold Award for Consumer Specialty Products (Web Channel) in the 2006 Multichannel Merchant Awards. We offer our sincere congratulations to all of the finalists and all of the winners!

FEATURE ARTICLE
Not All Channels Are Created Equal
By Jude Hoffner and Todd Miller, Senior Circulation and Marketing Managers

It has been nearly a decade since the terms “e-commerce,” “internet pure-play,” and “multichannel retailer” were coined. Within this relatively short time, the landscape of direct marketing has been forever changed. Catalogers, almost all of whom now deserve the moniker “multichannel retailer”, have seen a corresponding paradigm shift with respect to analysis and metrics. Some companies have even witnessed a complete inversion of the predictive power of traditional RFM+ (the plus representing one other important variable, e.g. product, gender, credit score) segmentation. In some cases, “being where one’s customers are” may, in fact, mean being where your customers want you to be.

How should catalog companies, especially those operating in niche merchandise categories, allocate marketing resources towards the internet? Conversely, how should web-only retailers approach investing marketing resources towards direct mail campaigns?

To date, most experts have quoted the age-old Direct Marketing 101 mantra, “The more contact, the better.” Catalogers must foster relationships with their customers via email in order to maximize sales and profits, and online marketers will lower their cost of customer acquisition and improve lifetime value when they venture offline via tried-and-true direct mail methods.

Is it safe, though, to assume that any contact with a customer, whether it is via email or direct mail, will be welcomed with a positive ROI? In this article, we aim to demystify the notion that the more a company contacts its customers, irrespective of channel, the better. The recent experiences of two traditionally catalog-only direct marketing firms whose web presence has been created by force of circumstance, as well as two former “internet pure-plays” who have created an offline presence by leveraging their online buyer files, suggest assumptions may need to be questioned.

Internet Pure-Plays
The analytical paradigm shift we examined in the following case studies required a different approach to measuring response. We conducted an A/B contact test whereby a percentage of records from every individual customer segment selected for the mail file were held out, i.e. removed from the final mail tape. We then analyzed the total responsiveness of the customer file by matching all orders received during the campaign in question back to both the mailed and un-mailed names.

Calculating the difference in response between the two groups provided a true read of catalog-driven sales above and beyond what would have been realized had those customers not received a catalog at all. In this article, we refer to this as the incremental response.

As it turns out, when we analyze results this way for pure-plays, those time-tested RFM trends are not so predictive.

Our first case study involved an internet pure-play selling posters, photographs, fine art, and custom framing. We know that the more frequently a customer buys, the more loyal he or she is. That loyalty translates into higher response rates and usually justifies increased contacts through all viable channels. Does this hold true, though, for a company whose customers came to file exclusively through the internet?

In the test, we looked at incremental response attributable to the catalog among 1) customers who had placed one order in their lifespan and among 2) customers who had placed two or more orders. The contact strategy of the control groups included both regular email offers (average frequency of two per week) and several 48-page full-color catalogs, while test panels received only the email offers.

The chart below shows incremental response to the catalog by frequency, indexed against all buyers who received the catalog. One-time buyers clearly indexed higher and the negative index suggests that the catalog actually suppressed response from customers who had bought more than once. This is the opposite of what we would expect according to conventional direct marketing wisdom.

Case Study #1: Internet Pure Play

In our second case study, we looked at how recency impacts incremental response for an internet pure-play selling handbags and accessories for business, sport and travel. Here, we would expect response rates to trend downward as the customer segment ages. In a similarly fashioned test to the one performed above, the contact strategy of the control groups included both emails and catalogs, and certain test panels received only email offers.

The overall trend in the chart below indicates that the older the buyer, the more responsive he or she is to the catalog—a nearly complete reversal of the RFM mantra. Indeed, the chart below shows that response from the most recent buyers was suppressed by the catalog contact, just as we saw in our normally more responsive two-time or more buyers above.

Case Study #2: Internet Pure Play

It is worth repeating that these common trends are occurring in two distinctly different product offerings; there is nothing inherently similar about the merchandise offered by the companies in the two case studies. The underlying similarity is the channel of origin of the buyers receiving the catalog—the internet—and the technique we used to evaluate response rates.

Traditional Catalogers
Companies with origins as mail-order-only operations have been skeptical of the value of customers acquired via the internet for many years. Our third case study involved just such a company, one that markets outdoor optics equipment. In the late 1990s, the company began to observe a significant channel shift—away from phone orders referencing a catalog source code and towards the internet. This phenomenon corresponded with a trend towards a lower average order in those placed by existing customers.

So, over a twelve-month period, the firm segmented its entire buyer file by Last Order Channel Used—Internet vs. Catalog. All other variables—last order date, lifetime number of purchases, average order value, and merchandise category—were held constant, in terms of the segment selection process. The chart below shows what the company feared to be true—that buyers coming to file via the internet were about 21% less responsive and that buyers coming to file via traditional mail order and phone channels were about 17% more responsive than the average response of buyers in total.

Case Study #3: Traditional Cataloger

In addition to the overall under performance of internet buyers relative to their catalog channel counterparts, it should also be noted that the internet customers:

had lower average order values
were increasingly less responsive as they aged on the file
had lower lifetime values

Intuitively, many traditional catalogers expected to see such results. What they did not expect to see was the exact opposite phenomenon from what we observed in the pure-play case studies. In the aforementioned contact strategy tests, results suggest that mailing catalogs can suppress response. In the tests performed by predominantly mail order firms, it appears that emails can suppress response.

Our fourth and final case study involved a traditional cataloger, one that sells horseback riding accessories. A series of email contact strategy tests were run where buyers who had previously opted-in to receive email promotions were split into two groups: those who received both catalogs and email promotions, and those who received catalogs but were suppressed from the email blasts. The goal was to determine what incremental response was being generated per customer via email efforts.

As we observed in the earlier case studies, the assumption was that there would, in fact, be positive incremental sales. The test, however, yielded extremely surprising results. Instead of increasing the total dollars per customer, the emails appeared to suppress total demand.

Case Study #4: Traditional Cataloger

Of the 10% decrease in demand, 80% came from a depression in the average order size; response rates remained largely unaffected. Needless to say, the company was shocked by the data. Email promotions, it was concluded, triggered immediate sales, but because they displayed a far narrower product offering than print catalogs, the opportunity for customers to add on additional products was eliminated. Phone orders, on the other hand, are received by skilled customer service representatives, most of whom own and actively ride horses, so upsells are common and easy to earn.

It is important to note that while these results call into question the value of email promotions for this particular company, they do not represent the value of the web as a channel. There is a big difference between an email and a fully functional e-commerce website. Email is an order driver which directs demand into all channels: websites call centers, and, if applicable, retail stores. A website, though, is an order channel, and receives orders driven from all order drivers: print catalogs, emails, online advertising, and retail store advertising.

So, what is going on?

Is it that certain customer contact truisms are simply not true anymore? Perhaps more importantly, how can multichannel marketers apply the knowledge and experience they have gained with customers in one channel to other channels?

We have several theories as to why the myth-breaking cases described above are occurring. Emails and online shopping sites are often just a series of items that do not complement one another. On the other hand, print catalogs are carefully planned and have a logical flow. Consider how much time goes into the merchandising, assortment planning, pagination and creative layout of a catalog in comparison to an email campaign or even a fully-functioning e-commerce website. For most companies operating in both channels, there is still quite a difference.

The Internet pure-plays described in Case Studies #1 and #2 offer thousands of SKUs and dozens of well-known, easy to locate (via Google and/or Yahoo! Search) brands to its customers via their web sites. The primary mechanism for staying in contact with existing customers, up until the introduction of a print catalog, was a weekly (sometimes twice weekly!) email offering free shipping or price discounts on products with high inventory turn rates. The non-promotional piece each firm mailed—ranging from a 48-page slim jim-sized catalog to a 56-page full-sized book—contained just a couple hundred SKUs at most. These catalogs may have been fine as prospecting vehicles, but they were probably doomed to fail as customer re-order drivers due to their inherent lack of continuity with the original order channel. The buyer files in question were built and maintained online through somewhat impulsive buys derived from an onslaught of email promotions. Perhaps asking these customers to downshift into a deliberate, planned transaction—the kind that their catalogs tended to inspire—was asking too much.

On the other hand, the traditional catalogers described in Case Studies #3 and #4 do not have the promotional flexibility (i.e. on sale or clearance merchandise, free shipping, order threshold discounts, limited time offers) in their print advertisements that they do in email campaigns. Direct mail pieces typically have creative lead times and promotion life spans that are measured in terms of weeks; email promotions, however, are measured in terms of days. Customers understand the inherent disposability of email offers, and when these campaigns are disconnected—mechanically, aesthetically, or promotionally—from one’s typical shopping experience (i.e. ordering with a catalog in hand, over the telephone, with a live, sophisticated, technically-trained sales representative), it can suppress a catalog’s ability to generate response.

Loyalty may be as much to the channel as it is to the brand. Why would a customer participating in Case Study #1 or #2 who has ordered five times in the past year exclusively via email promotions suddenly order from a catalog that was neither promotional nor personalized? Why would a customer participating in Case Study #3 or #4 who only orders over the phone through her favorite customer service representative who knows all seven of her horse’s names suddenly respond to an email for wormer, a product which she just bought a six month’s supply of last week? In order to convince a customer to switch channels, the offer needs to be clever, compelling, and timely—in a nutshell, it needs to be relevant.

Analysis of catalog customers shows that they tend to be more loyal than the average internet customer. Why? Their purchases are premeditated, and they will go to greater lengths to order and re-order. It is not a coincidence that internet customers who happen to view and shop from an e-catalog respond at higher rates and spend more per order. The deliberation encouraged in the catalog space allows for a genuine relationship between the customer and the company to be built. True internet customers originate from paid and organic search, affiliates, and shopping portals. They are surfing or searching for a specific product, and do not ultimately care which company they purchase from. Their primary considerations are product cost and shipping costs, product availability, and speed of delivery—in other words, instant gratification at the lowest possible price. The competition online for selling an easily searched, highly commoditized item is fierce—making it increasingly difficult to build customer relationships with solid foundations.

Seasonality may also be impacting these results. The incremental response can be affected by many variables, and the increased seasonal demand inherent in a retailer’s offering is certainly significant. The incremental value of a particular marketing channel may be diminished during a season when a company’s most loyal customers are likely to buy anyway and, most importantly, when those customers are likely to buy through their channel of choice.

Marketing managers need not agonize over the executive edict to create multichannel buyers. The data suggest that making relevant offers is of paramount importance, irrespective of the channel in which they were received. As we saw in the case studies, fewer overall contacts with a focus on a single channel may be sound advice. It is hard to believe, though, that improved overall results, in time, will not be achieved with a contact strategy that fully integrates all possible online (emails, e-newsletters) and offline (catalogs, post cards, direct mail solo offers) contacts. Our advice is as follows: segment your customers by channel of origin, create holdout panels, measure the incremental response and sales with routine matchbacks, and then draw your own conclusions.

CASE STUDY
Yes, You Still Need to Capture Source Codes!
By Alexandra Singer, Circulation and Marketing Manager

The value of source code capture is continually debated. In a multichannel world, where web and retail often make up the majority of orders, it can be exceedingly difficult to collect source codes or keycodes and matchbacks are therefore crucial. Many mailers have given up on source codes completely. But the benefits of capturing accurate source codes, even if you’re doing matchbacks, are legion:

A response-by-keycode report from your order entry system provides a first pass response analysis. If done well, it can provide an early read on your prospecting (which lists are working, which ones aren't) that will aid you in planning your next campaign. Often you’re planning your next campaign before the matchback has been completed for the previous one. Source codes give you some valuable early knowledge of response rates, on the fly and in time to make changes to subsequent mailings’ circulation plans.

Source codes can be used to validate matchback data. Matchbacks aren't perfect—for one thing, name and address matching is a tricky business. What if someone has moved and they got the catalog at their old address but ordered at their new address? You'll show that order as unknown unless they entered a source code or you ran NCOA during your matchback; something few mailers do as it adds extra expense and isn't strictly necessary.

Second, if you’ve mailed your top buyers in every drop of a campaign, a matchback will allocate the order to the catalog date that’s closest to the order date, whether or not that particular book generated the order. In particular, holiday campaigns tend to get back loaded with response in the last drop because consumers do a lot of their ordering post-Thanksgiving. But with source codes, you’ll know if an earlier book influenced that purchase, and avoid back loading your circulation and changing in-home dates to match what you perceive as a late holiday order curve.

In the first chart below you’ll see that if LENSER client High Country Gardens had used matchback data to make mail date decisions, they would have loaded up circulation at the tail end of the season because the final drop performed so well. Note in the second chart, however, where the vertical green lines represent drop dates and the red line represents HCG’s order curve, that Spring campaign orders ramp up after drop 3 and peak after drop 4, not drop 5 as one would surmise from the matchback data.

Third, source codes give you a way to calculate your pass-along percentage—simply track the number of keycodes given (known, not unknown sources, as those most likely represent true unknowns, from web, retail, and other channels/sources) that don’t match to a name and address on your mail tape, compare to the number of keycodes provided that do match to the mail tape, and voila!

Source code capture helps you ascertain the lifetime of a particular catalog—a customer may hold on to a book for months and finally order long after you’ve done your matchback. This is especially true for high average order offers (buyers need time to consider a high dollar purchase) and B2B offers (purchases must be approved and POs often must be generated).

Source code capture is tricky—web buyers rarely enter codes unless they're connected to a promo, in which case you risk the code getting distributed on the internet and abused. Additionally, web buyers will enter source codes at a much lower rate than phone buyers, so you run the risk of interpreting response to a particular list without adequate data from web orders (be aware that certain lists may contain buyers with a higher propensity to buy on the web), a dangerous omission. These factors make matchbacks important, too.

As for the call center, there is a risk of overuse of one code if you push CSRs too hard to capture source codes—they'll start using their own "default" code that isn't truly a default/unknown code to avoid being punished for customers not providing a valid catalog source code. Encourage precision and provide a true unknown code for those customers who cannot come up with a valid code. Then decide when you’re doing your matchback if you’re going to run all records through the match process or just the default/unknown codes. I would recommend the former to mitigate any errors in entering codes.

Because many consumers order (whether by phone or web) from work but receive their catalog at home, thereby ordering without giving a source code, finder files are a useful method of accurately capturing or applying source codes. A finder file is a copy of all prospect records mailed, which gets stored on a mailer’s system but is kept separate from housefile records and (obviously) is not mailed again. Each prospect record (name, address, and source code) is then accessible to the CSR by keying in the name and address or a finder number which is printed on the back of the catalog.

The chart below represents High Country Gardens’ response index for a given mailing pre- and post-matchback. From this data we can conclude that with source codes only, prospect response is slightly overstated and house response is understated (due to the fact that house names are getting mailed in more drops than prospects, so their response tends to get spread around more). If HCG had planned their next campaign by using source code data only, some marginal prospect lists would have made the cut for the next campaign when they probably shouldn’t have, based on matchback data.

The upshot of all this is that both source code capture and matchbacks are valuable tools in evaluating response—rely on them, blend them together, add a pinch of intuition, and you’re on with planning your next campaign!

CIRCULATION TIP
How to Test Suppression Files
By Matt Morton, Circulation and Marketing Manager

Besides the “deceased individual” suppression files and the DMA pander file (consisting of those who write the Direct Marketing Association indicating they do not want unsolicited mail), service bureaus frequently offer suppression files that include prison addresses, multi-family dwelling units, exact age files, bankruptcy files, college campuses, nursing homes, and commercial centers.

However, you should not blindly suppress any category of addresses without first testing the response to your particular offer. For instance, some mailers find prisoners to be excellent customers! Similarly, you should test-mail military/government addresses (APO and FPO) to determine if they are responsive to your offer—don't assume they won't work. We’ve even gone so far as to test the deceased names, since the catalog is still going into an address that responded initially.

Another issue is weather-related suppression. While Hurricane Katrina clearly was cause for suppressing certain zip codes in Louisiana and Mississippi, many mailers could actually benefit by testing into areas that may be in dire need of their offer!

Make sure you review each category your service bureau provides before suppressing potential customers.

CREATIVE TIP
Inching into More Successful Email Blasts
By Carol Worthington-Levy, Creative Partner

The top 1.5 inches of your email blasts are the most critical to the success of your effort! While it may be tempting to tease the customer in a longer message or with a very “designed” and complicated HTML email, remember this:

1. The ONLY purpose of your email is to pull the recipient into your site—or most appropriately, a special landing page. They will not generally be buying directly from the email.

2. Most people review their email either by the subject line, or by using a short window that shows the top section—a window that is only about 1.5 inches high.

This means that in the critical top section you must have:

A subject line that makes your email irresistible to open
A “from” that they will recognize immediately in a positive way
Your reason for sending the email in one succinct statement
Your offer (not to be mistaken with what you are offering as a product to purchase)
At least two opportunities to click, to get them into your landing page

3. Note that the price is not one of the necessary things for that top section, nor is a full explanation of the product or its purpose. Choose the MOST important unique selling proposition of your product or service.

4. Note also that your email must be written not as “here is what we have to sell you”, but rather in more benefit-driven language—”what’s in it for you”—such as, “Looking for a printer that won’t let you down, even when you’re on the toughest deadline? Click here to learn more about the HP z123.”

By the way, all four of those items, and much more, should be tested rigorously. More on that in a future tip!

multichannel TIP
By Michelle Farabaugh, Partner

Optimizing your multichannel customer behavior is key to obtaining the highest customer value and company profits. Customers purchasing from two channels are worth three times more than a single-channel customer. Those purchasing from three channels (catalog, internet and stores) can yield five to six times the value, as experienced by JC Penney and Eddie Bauer. Initiating these eight strategies will encourage multichannel behavior while driving overall increased company sales.

Promote a broader internet assortment of product in the catalog. (Catalog & Internet)
Solicit catalog requests on the website. (Internet & Catalog)
Promote 800 number for orders in the internet header. (Internet & Catalog)
Inkjet store events and closest store on the back of the catalog. (Catalog & Store)
Mail deeper into store trade areas. (Catalog & Store)
Prominently feature the store locator on the internet header or footer. (Internet & Store)
Accept catalog and internet returns at the store. (Internet & Catalog & Store)
Allow store pick-up of internet orders. (Internet & Store)

If you are following some of these suggestions, congratulations! You are on your way to becoming a true multichannel merchant!

CLIENT HIGHLIGHT—HIGH COUNTRY GARDENS
Santa Fe Greenhouses, Inc. was founded in 1983 by David Salman and his father William as Santa Fe’s premier garden center. David, a dedicated horticulturalist with a degree in Horticultural Sciences from Colorado State, was committed to serving the West with plants especially suited to the arid climate of the high desert. He traveled throughout the world, even to South Africa, in search of plants that could adapt to xeriscape gardening techniques (minimal watering). The assortment David has developed is the premier collection of its kind in the United States. In 1993, to expand their market outside New Mexico, David started the High Country Gardens catalog. “He wanted to do it right,” says Ava, David’s wife who was brought in to help market the catalog in 1996, citing her husband’s decision to produce a full-scale, four-color catalog, unlike many of their competitors in the mail order gardening industry.

While David focused on growing plants, Ava served as marketing director and was dedicated to learning as much as possible about direct marketing, attending a variety of catalog conferences and seminars. At the annual Catalog Age Conference in Boston, she attended John Lenser’s presentation on advanced circulation techniques. Inspired by John’s success with multi-buyer ranking, Ava worked with her Abacus representative to implement what she learned, and found her response rates vastly improved. “I now call what I was doing “LENSER-lite,” she laughs. After a while, she says, her circulation efforts needed polishing and she called LENSER in 2001 to produce circulation strategies for their Spring 2002 mailing. “Even though I had already been doing some of what LENSER recommended, we experienced a 15% increase over the success of our Spring 2001 book,” says Salman. Since then, High Country Gardens has literally doubled its sales, due in part to LENSER’s recommendation to test mailing catalogs outside of the western U.S., successfully bringing the company’s unique plants to consumers all across the country.

Geoff Wolf, consulting partner at LENSER, visits High Country Gardens regularly to review strategic issues facing the company as well as the results of their most recent mailings. “I appreciate John’s and Geoff’s in-depth knowledge. They have brought a nice group of gardening clients into LENSER. We regularly exchange our mailing list with these other horticulture clients to create multi-buyers that benefit all of us.” In addition to strategic consulting and circulation management, LENSER provides High Country Gardens with list services, serving both as High Country Gardens’ list broker and list manager.

Ava says High Country Gardens’ future includes continued expansion. “We grow all of what we sell, so expansion includes a lot of capital investment. We’re moving toward an even more professional management structure. I look forward to attracting the right people to help us. And I know LENSER will be there to help us every step of the way.” Despite increasing management responsibilities, David still insists on spending lots of time “getting his hands dirty” in the company’s demonstration garden. When visiting Santa Fe, be sure and stop by to see this xeriscape garden with its hundreds of rare and unique plants.

For more on High Country Gardens, please visit their website at www.highcountrygardens.com.

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
Geoff Wolf, who makes his home in Durango, Colorado, joined LENSER as a partner in 2002, after many years in retail and direct marketing, as well as in the food service business. “I received my business training while in senior management in the “tougher than nails” restaurant trade. My brand training occurred during my four years with Kraft and my bruises multiplied while opening my own retail store, A Unicorn's Garden.” In 1991, Geoff and his wife Lynn were looking for a way to grow their retail store into a larger business. “Our concept was simple—little girls and horses. Little girls grow up to be big girls, and they never lose their love for horses. When I realized that no one was addressing this market, we mortgaged our first child and Back In The Saddle was born.” It was during this time that Geoff was introduced to the direct marketing industry and began to understand the financial impact of running a small catalog business.

In the late 1990s while still operating Back In The Saddle, Geoff was introduced to John Lenser. “At Back In The Saddle, we worked with John in executing our business plan, which called for steady growth and proving the value of our market position so we could realize our exit strategy.” During this time, John helped Back In The Saddle succeed through a 5-year plan and Back In The Saddle was acquired by The Potpourri Group.

Over the years, John stayed in contact with Geoff, and notes, “I knew LENSER would continue to grow due to the complexities of direct marketing. During this time, when I was considering adding another partner, Geoff came to the top of my list because of his experience with owning and running his own company.” John adds further, “Geoff has an enormous grasp of numbers while having great business sense which translates well to consulting.” Entrepreneurship is a big part of Geoff’s personality. “I enjoy consulting as it combines the two things I am most passionate about in business: working with people and entrepreneurial challenges. This goes both for growing LENSER and helping our clients.”

Outside of life as a LENSER partner, music is Geoff’s main passion. “I’ve been playing music (mostly guitar) since I was nine years old. Over the years I’ve performed, managed bands, promoted concerts, and managed music venues. My other pastimes are reading and exercise (I swim, mountain bike, hike, golf, and fish).” How does he do all this and work 24/7, you may ask? Says Geoff, “I haven’t watched TV since 1973!” Of course, family is of paramount importance to Geoff. “My wife and my two daughters are truly my favorite pastime.”

For more information on Geoff, click here.

NEWS BRIEF

Whatever your concerns, MCM Live's Multichannel Integration seminar will provide the insight and knowledge you need to increase your profits and transform your multichannel business model. Michelle Farabaugh is a featured presenter at the next Multichannel Merchant Live! seminar that takes place in New York on June 1st and 2nd. She will give an in-depth presentation on “Maximizing Lifetime Value: The Promise of Multichannel Marketing.” Register and attend this worthwhile event to learn how best to integrate your business approach across all channels. By employing the best practices within each discipline, you can multiply the gains throughout the customer's experience.

The LENSER Summit plays a vital role in the ongoing education and professional development of our clients, and this year's event will be even bigger and better. We have lined up a wide array speakers and session material. Set your calendar for October 17th through 19th. We have obtained fantastic room rates at the Four Points Sheraton, where the Summit will take place, at only $98 a night! Reservations can be made by calling the hotel at 415.479.8800 and identifying yourself as a member of the LENSER group. Rooms are limited, so call in advance and make your reservations early. For more details, please contact Michele Salmon at 415.446.2500, ext 211, or email her at michele.salmon@lenser.com.

This month we welcome E-Ponds, Fitter International, Audio Advisor and For Counsel to our family of clients.

As we continue to grow, we continue to add new and experienced staff to the LENSER team. Thay Sisouvanh joins LENSER as an account executive in our list management division. Please see her bio for additional information.

Did you attend the ACCM in Chicago this month? It was the 23rd Annual Conference for Catalogers and now Internet & Multichannel Merchants and was very well-attended. LENSER partners and staff taught three sessions: Two Circulation Intensive Sessions – Circulation and Merge Strategies in a multichannel World; John Lenser and Michelle Houston and Creating an Annual Mail Plan that Meets Financial Goals; and one addressing Not All Channels Are Created Equal: Strategies for Marketing Via Catalog to Web Buyers by Todd Miller, Jude Hoffner and Michelle Farabaugh. If you missed getting a handout for any of these three sessions, please email us as information@lenser.com and we will send it right out to you.

LENSER’s Annual Dinner held in conjunction with the ACCM 2006 was a smashing success. Over 140 clients and industry colleagues joined us for great conversation and a fabulous dinner at The Rhapsody next to Chicago’s Symphony Hall. Click here to view a few “happy snaps” at the dinner.
Congratulations to LENSER client eBags for winning the Gold Award for Consumer Specialty Products (Web Channel) in the 2006 Multichannel Merchant Awards. You can check out their site at www.ebags.com and find yourself a fabulous new travel bag just in time for summer vacation! We offer our sincere congratulations to all of the finalists and all of the winners!

This Month at Lenser May 2006

This Month at Lenser
May 2006