What’s in a name? The members of the newly renamed Marketing Club of New York want everyone to know.

In 1926, the One Hundred Million Club was formed in New York City to provide a talk shop for area mail advertisers — bringing together agencies, letter shops, and brands together responsible for circulations of 100 million direct mail pieces annually.  In the first half of the 20th Century, a huge proportion of the nation’s direct mail advertising flowed through New York mail service agencies.

In 1961, agency leader, the late Lester Wunderman (1910-2019), in addressing the club, used the term “direct marketing” to describe the measurability and accountability inherent in direct mail, that also translated to sales and marketing offers via print and broadcast. 

By the 1980s, the One Hundred Million Club had been renamed Direct Marketing Club of New York.

Since that time, the scientific attributes of direct marketing have come to dominate digital and mobile marketing, too — bringing “addressability” to all media, platforms, and devices, and even informing the creative brief. Data-driven storytelling rose in step with the emergence and proliferation of the chief marketing officer.

Today, the members of the Direct Marketing Club of New York, say direct marketing has evolved to mean “marketing” properly executed; that is, with relevance. And remaining true to the club’s heritage, they reassert a dedication to come together, exchange ideas, inspire innovations, and support the next generation of marketing excellence under the moniker Marketing Club of New York.

“Marketers today understand the lines have blurred between one marketing discipline and another,” says club president Alicia Wiedemann, head of client strategy of agency Summer Friday. “Successful strategic plans need to work across the various disciplines and align on the same goal. To reflect that shift, we decided to drop “direct” from our name. Keeping that focus would work against the needs of the marketers and brands that make up our membership base. While we will always align with data-driven marketing initiatives, we are at a point in time where we need to be more inclusive, bringing in new, additional voices to represent all other facets of marketing, including adtech and martech brands.” 

The name change also has met with unanimous support of the club’s current Board members. Among their comments:

The marketing community has exponentially grown over the last few decades from traditional direct marketing to include digital, mobile, etc. Changing our name embraces the ever-growing community of marketers and provides a forum which fosters a better understanding of today’s marketing issues. – Lourdes Mortel, Marketing EDGE

All marketing today is direct marketing in one way or another. To continue using an anachronistic qualifier limits how we are perceived by the people who are not yet in the room, and, I believe, how we perceive ourselves. – David Allyson, Valuegraphics

Direct marketing is a discipline, like branding, not a channel — and definitely not an option “versus digital.” Direct happens via digital and traditional channels, it’s essential to activities such as ad retargeting, and goes hand in hand with using data for relevancy and personalization in any channel. But the practice has been conflated with direct mail and infomercials, which has held the club back from attracting practitioners who view it this way. Marketing Club of New York enables us to stay true to our direct, data-driven roots while being more inclusive of professionals in complementary marketing practices. And, it puts even more emphasis on being a club that brings together marketers from the greater New York metropolitan area to learn from and support each other along their career journey. – Ginger Conlon, Genesys

Looking back to when I joined the club in the early 1990s, “direct marketing” set the club apart from the advertising side of marketing; however, as the local and global economy advances rapidly to a one-to-one engagement model, “direct” marketing is now the norm, not the exception. The change to Marketing Club of New York broadens the scope of who we’ve been and how we engage all aspects of the marketing industry, data, digital, mobile, etc. Marketing Club New York now reflects a broader vision of who we are and who we reach. – Michael Hannay, Epsilon

The art of marketing is highly fluid as the forms of media, language of the customer, and the processes of commerce continue to evolve. The objectives however have remained the same. In the early days, the choices of media, language and process were simple and distinct. Marketers found success in focus and scale, driving specialized careers and industry associations. The evolution of digital media and data, expansion of language, and variety in commerce processes, however, has changed how success is achieved. In that change, we as marketers must learn to adapt and become versatile across media. Data and technology are now foundational, and the languages of inclusion and equity the expectation. Success comes from education and collaboration across all marketers. With this goal in mind, we here at the Direct Marketing Club of New York have recognized the need to evolve ourselves. To open up to a broader community while bringing along the experiences and knowledge we can share as an organization built on data and direct marketing. This is why I am excited to be a part of our next step as we become simply the Marketing Club of New York. An organization built around the community of all marketers here in New York, working to better serve the conversation with the consumer and the brands trying to have the conversation. – Charlie Swift, Adstra

And my view is this:

The (r)evolution of marketing today and tomorrow is reflected in the heritage of direct, digital and data-inspired marketing from the last century and recent decades. Such a truth reflects the triumph of science – all smart marketing relies on insights and intelligence derived from customers and prospects. Such science informs strategies. It builds brands. It engages customers with great storytelling. It creates relevance – from which consumers and businesses derive value. That is the definition for “marketing” in the 21^st Century – and the Marketing Club of New York embraces this mantle for professional development, networking and education. Direct, digital and data always have a home here – because brands, publishers, adtech and martech rely on the accountability and measurability built into today’s marketing ecosystem from these roots. – Chet Dalzell, Digital Advertising Alliance

In adopting the new name, the club has remained true the organization’s historical, education-led purpose in its mission statement: “Marketing Club of New York is a nonprofit organization that provides education, networking and idea exchange for professionals interested in data-driven communications. We actively support current and future industry leaders through scholarships, awards, and recognition.” Thus, these commitments will continue with our name change.

The club has launched a student competition to adopt a new brand, logo and creative template, the results of which will be announced later in spring.