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Direct marketing is now faced with endemic crisis. Toxic ingredients of this crisis include rising consumer concerns about privacy and data protection, growing hostility and resistance to unwanted messaging, rising costs, falling returns, increasing concerns about environmental impact, and intensifying regulatory scrutiny and restrictions. Three core characteristics of direct marketing are responsible for these problems; (1) Data management: all responsibility for data management (collection, storage, analysis, usage, etc) lies with the seller; (2) Information fl ows are almost wholly ' top down ' from sellers to buyers in the form of selling messages; (3) Metrics: success is defi ned in sellercentric terms-costs versus benefi ts to the seller. By empowering individuals to collect, store and share rich, up-to-date personal data with suppliers, vendor relationship management (VRM) offers a way through direct marketing ' s current impasse. To realise the new win-wins made possible by VRM, the industry needs to start adjusting now.

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