Do Not Call, But Mail is OK

BALTIMORE – A new Vertis survey finds that the new National Do Not Call Registry, which will be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the states effective Oct. 1, 2003, may be good news for direct mailers. The Customer Focus survey finds that most consumers indicated that instead of telemarketing they would prefer to receive a company’s product and/or service information via direct mail (31%), newspaper inserts (24%), catalogs (18%), newspaper ads (11%) or e-mail (10%). Only six percent responded with, “None of these.” The survey also reveals that while 80% of those surveyed are aware of the register, only 30% have signed up their household to prevent unwanted solicitations. However, 68% surveyed said they would likely register in the future. Customer Focus, commiss-0ioned by marketing/ advertising solutions provider Vertis, is an annual study tracking consumer behavior across a wide variety of industry segments since 1998.