Telemarketing Rings The Bell
The Age
Tuesday June 22, 1999
The sharp increase in the use of call centres has seen overall spending on direct marketing increase by than 25 per cent in a year to more than $9billion.
The latest survey by the Commercial Economic Advisory Service of Australia (CEASA) found spending on telemarketing had increased by 64per cent and on service call centres by 50per cent.
Mainstream media advertising has not grown so robustly. Statistics released by CEASA last month showed advertising in television, cinema, print and other conventional media was up just 7.5per cent at $8billion.
The managing director of CEASA, Mr Bernard Holt, said the rate of growth was surprising, but the spending on the various kinds of direct marketing was similar to that in the United States.
The survey by CEASA showed spending on direct mail had increased by 18per cent, on the setting up and maintaining of Internet sites by 15per cent and on catalogues by 5per cent. Mail order, classified directories, exhibitions and shopping dockets- all included as direct marketing items - also attracted increasing investment.
Mr Holt said the biggest contributor by far to the sharp growth in call centres was the financial sector, including banks and credit card and insurance companies.
The president of the Australian Association of National Advertisers, Mr David Solomon, said the figures did not indicate that advertisers were choosing direct marketing over mainstream promotion. He said the figures took in many kinds of company expenditure including service call centres.
``(Mainstream) advertising is, creatively, not in terrific shape but talking to customers is still an absolutely vital part of marketing," he said.
CEASA's Mr Holt said the increase in all the direct marketing sectors made it clear the industry was ``clearly a mainstream activity". He forecast that there would be further growth in spending on telemarketing and the Internet.
© 1999 The Age