Direct Marketing Studio & Production

Direct mail marketing and production has changed rapidly over the past couple of years. Program cycles are driven by customer behavior as opposed to the calendar or quarter.
 
Program and package design require new levels of brand and media integration. Technology advancements in areas such as content management, digital, and print-on-demand production have significantly expanded our options. These advancements drive complexity in the data-driven content, how it’s leveraged to create relevance and how we track response across multiple channels. Today, direct mail is as much a direct response workhorse as it is a very targeted and tangible medium reserved for your best prospects and customers. In today’s media mix, direct mail is a high-value component that can drive response and build brand – when it’s done right.

Merkle’s team of direct mail marketing and production experts includes a tightly integrated team of studio designers, production managers and world-class partners and suppliers. We have boundless capabilities, scale and innovative ways to optimize our clients’ current programs and build entirely new communication streams to support truly integrated marketing.

The Studio works closely with the Creative team to transform conceptual ideas into tangible marketing realities. It is a concerted venture of managing assets, standardizing specifications, QC’ing all files and, above all – maintaining the integrity of the concept and your brand throughout the process. Whether that concept comes from our own Creative team or one of your agency partners – the Studio serves as the execution hub of the wheel that delivers scale, speed and quality. This “hub” model is a key to our success in developing and deploying multi-channel marketing programs for our clients.

The Production Management team is engaged from concept through execution. Working with the Creative and Strategy teams to document and analyze the program requirements, supplier options, production methods (traditional, digital, etc.) and postal strategies. They tap into a network of over 100 suppliers to establish the optimal balance of time, cost and quality.

As a program moves further into the production phase, the team of centralized execution managers synchronizes the Studio’s file releases with test proofs and beta releases, clients’ approvals and the overall program schedule. And they stand ready to change direction or suggest alternatives when challenges arise.

Supported by a diverse supplier pool that can handle virtually any direct mail production challenge, our true strength lies in the flexibility, options, savings and rigor we bring to our clients’ response marketing programs. Using an extensive and unbiased supplier sourcing, evaluation and measurement framework, our supply chain management discipline ensures our world-class clients are paired with world class suppliers. The combination of our purchasing power, our clients’ brands and our select team enables us to break through the ceilings associated with cost, time and quality in traditional procurement models.   

Merkle’s response marketing and production teams provide our clients with a careful balance between innovation that builds business and reliable execution that optimizes existing business. From creative concept to digital asset to delivery and deployment, our highly skilled team of professionals manages the entire process, enabling our clients to focus on driving effective marketing strategies.