At Catalyst Direct, Inc., we create long-term client relationships (averaging eight years) based on shared business objectives.  We realize that when our clients succeed, we succeed. 

Part of what makes this work is our Incentive Compensation Agreement. These are getting a lot of buzz in the industry recently, but we’ve been doing this for some time now.  Our ICAs are not predicated on response rates, impressions, or click-throughs.  Instead, they’re based on real business results. To make this happen, we:

• Align our goals with those of the marketing team we support
• Establish a risk/reward structure that gives us significant incentive to meet and exceed established goals, but costs us money if we do not
• Maintain a fair cash position so that we earn as we go (unlike a bonus that pays us at year’s end and further compromises our cash position)

 Establish the metrics.

We start by determining how much work will be required for the account and the compensation required for delivery— similar to every other client/agency working agreement.  Part of this compensation is held back in reserve and is paid based on our ability to meet the goal.

The linchpin of this is the creation of a Holdout cell.  Results are measured by comparing a Marketable Universe cell to the Holdout cell.  The Holdout cell includes a randomly selected mix of customers.  This group will receive no targeted direct marketing communications during the course of the year.

The Marketable Universe includes all other records in the database that are available for targeted communications.  We use a Holdout cell to show us what customers would naturally do on their own, without communications from us, in order to reflect the true effect of our communications.

 Shared goals, mutual success.

In essence, once we and our client have agreed on the goal (sales, visits to a location, etc.), a large part of our compensation is based on how we perform.  If we meet 50% of the objective, we get 50% of the reserve; 100% of the goal, 100% of the reserve; 150% of the goal, 150% of the reserve.

The results? We are as focused on our clients’ business results just as much as they are.  In the words of one of our clients, “I have never worked with a partner more collaborative and more engaged in all aspects of our business…the team puts together both short-term as well as long-term plans and strategies to help us continually move our efforts forward.”

Want to learn more? Post a comment, email me at Mike.Osborn@catalystdirect.com or give me a call at 585-453-8300.

I’m proud to unveil the new face of CatalystDirect.com.  It’s sleek and sexy, but then again, I’m partial…

The new look is more than just a design; it’s a story.  I don’t want to give it all away in this post so sit back, relax and enjoy — then explore and get an understanding of our viewpoint and see how we take it from conception to reality in 3 new portfolio pieces.

While you’re in here, send me a comment and let me know what you think!

An edited version of this article recently appeared in the October 27 edition of DM News. Jeff and I are very fortunate that we have been so successful at recruiting and retaining the talented people here at Catalyst. Here’s how:

Finding great talent can be a challenge, especially if you’re located in a smaller market like Rochester, New York, where Catalyst Direct is one of only a few direct marketing agencies.

But it can be done. At Catalyst, we take a proactive approach to finding great people, employing all the tried-and-true tactics including internships, job boards, job fairs, and executive recruiters.

The most effective method, however, takes advantage of Catalyst’s positive working environment and engages our employees who are more than willing to help us.

Let’s face it: the very best talent is not looking for a job. Their employer knows and appreciates how talented they are and does everything they can to keep them from looking elsewhere, just like you do with your best people.

Before you can find and recruit them, you must first create and maintain a great working environment, the kind that even people who are happy in their current position will find intriguing and attractive. If you have such an environment, prospective employees will know about it. And if they don’t, they’ll soon figure it out when they do due diligence on your firm.

We have just such an environment at Catalyst Direct. Our people are fairly compensated, have opportunities to grow and the flexibility they need to accommodate what’s going on in their personal lives. Plus, they get to work with a lot of other great people.

We rely on the staff to recruit for us by being evangelists within their professional and personal networks. Every open position is posted internally, not only to reach out to internal candidates who might want to apply, but to make everyone in the agency aware. Depending on the position, our Employee Referral Program pays employees up to $1,500 when they refer candidates whom we eventually hire.

The hard work and thought leadership of Catalyst Direct is hitting the industry press. Recently, Jeff Cleary, one of our managing partners, took part in a roundtable discussion in B to B Magazine discussing trends in direct marketing, ranging from use of BRC’s to offers, to prospect targeting and analytics.

Frank Magnera, account director on our Kodak business was also highlighted in a B to B Magazine piece about a campaign we created for the Kodak ScanMate i1120. You’ll see that the comments Jeff made in his piece are reflected in the work that Catalyst produced for the ScanMate project. It’s all about walking the walk.

It’s finally here! I can tell you from past experience that’s it’s a lot more difficult to create a website for your own company than it is to create a site for a client. But we made it. We’re still in semi-beta, because we’re doing some things differently. For starters, we built the site on a blog platform (WordPress) so we can update it easily and try out new things.

We also had to create a number of custom templates and bend them to work in this environment. We also got inventive with new plugins for listing tags and displaying custom functions and information, authors by ID or username and some other more techie details (let me know if you want/need specifics). 

All in all, it’s simple, intuitive, user-focused and comprehensive. We’re pretty happy with it. But what do you think? Give it a look and let me know.

It’s been pretty busy here at Catalyst Direct recently, but not too busy to work on our new website. Here’s a sneak peek. We’re feverishly working away and look forward to the launch, coming soon.

It’s no secret that we’re in a very competitive communications environment out there. We don’t just compete with other DM or online materials. It’s everything that people look at…television, outdoor boards, point-of-purchase materials, newspapers, magazines, Web sites, YouTube and other forms of alternative media.

An article in The New York Times last year stated that “a person living in a city 30 years ago saw up to 2,000 ad messages a day, compared with up to 5,000 today.”

As ECD at Catalyst Direct, one of my key roles is to review all the work that goes out the door. That means that I look at a lot of different pieces of work, so it helps to have a process on which to rely.

As a client, you’re faced with many of the same tasks. So where do you begin? Easy.

1. Start with the Creative Brief. Yes, that same one that our account folks require you review and sign. It’s true, people actually read it—in fact, my creative teams depend on it as their road map. Review the strategy, objectives, offer, audience, mandatories, deadline … everything about the project. Of course, someone from the agency … an account or creative person…will review this as a setup to the presentation, but it’s always good to read it first.

2. Watch, listen and take notes. As you’re looking at the work, watch, listen and take a few notes. There can be a lot to absorb.

3. Ask questions. Once we’ve presented the concept (or the final creative, depending on where we are in the process), ask questions about why we did or didn’t do something. And feel free to make any suggestions and recommendations. It’s a very collaborative process that depends on an open give and take of ideas.

4. Challenge us, poke at the work. Are we meeting the objectives? Are we solving the consumer’s needs? Start off with these higher-level questions before working your way down to whether you like the photo or the colors. While these are important elements, we all have to agree that the strategy is effectively executed, that we’re speaking to our desired audience.

5. Forget everything. Now comes the hardest, most important part. Forget everything you know about the strategy, product, offers, rationale, marketing, advertising, communication theories about how people scan the page, what you like or don’t like, and look at it as just another customer. Ask yourself “does it ring true?” If the answer is yes, you know we have a winner.

The key to creating and evaluating effective creative is making good decisions based on our knowledge of your product or service, the customer’s wants and needs, our individual experience. Then taking all those decisions and bending them, and even breaking them when necessary, in order to create something that has impact and will resonate with the consumer.

Make sense? Let me know how you like to look at our work. Is there something you do that might help us be more successful? We want to know, because you’re not only the client, you’re part of the collaborative process.

As you can see, we have a new look…but it’s not our final look. Let me take a moment to explain.

We began the process of redesigning the Catalyst Web site a few months ago (with help from Auragen). It’s a very thorough process of determining what you, our clients, and other interested parties would like to see from us and how we can best deliver that to you. I’ll leave that for David Thiel, our director, digital marketing, to explain more in a future post.

While we were in the midst of developing our new site with this extremely talented group, the discussion of the acquisition and DM 2.0 started and quickly progressed. Though our new site wasn’t near completion, we wanted to show something that represented our way of looking at your business and your consumers’ needs.

One of the first things you’ll notice is the blogs. We want to share our observations and experiences with you, and we encourage you to share yours as well. Over the next weeks you’ll see posts from a variety of Catalyst thought leaders. We hope you’ll come back often.

Now, this isn’t our finished site; you’ll see what that looks like in due course. But in the meantime, tell us what you think of DM 2.0 and what you would like to see from us. As you well know, we love a good discussion, especially when it’s about helping you and your business become more successful.

As you may know by now, Catalyst Direct recently purchased the interactive agency, Auragen Communications. Auragen began in 1995, as one of the first organizations of its kind, and built an impressive record delivering strategic brand experiences online to leading national companies such as Russell Investments and Eastman Kodak Company. Now we are integrating this knowledge and experience into Catalyst. Here’s why.

We see it every day—more and more marketing dollars are shifting to the Internet. The Direct Marketing Association’s Power of Direct Marketing report predicts that expenditures in Internet marketing and commercial e-mail will claim more than 11% of the total direct marketing spend this year.

Over the next five years direct marketing will become even more Internet-oriented as online spending grows faster than traditional direct marketing media spending. At Catalyst, we’re seeing an even faster shift. Last year, interactive projects accounted for 13% of our clients’ spend. This year it will be closer to 20%.

The fastest shift is occurring in the B2B category. And there is a very logical reason. Business decision makers are constantly looking for research and information that can help them make sound business decisions.

The Web is easier and less intrusive than other forms of interaction. Consequently we see this as an opportunity to leverage the Web within marketing campaigns to extend selling messages and create dynamic interaction with prospects and clients.

Over the past four years, virtually all of our B2B campaigns have contained a landing page, a personalized URL or a Web site as a destination point. In our efforts to drive purchase behavior, we see the Web as a fundamental component of all integrated direct marketing programs.