SG360° Study Confirms Preference Among Marketers and Consumers for Targeted, Relevant Direct Mail (piworld.com)

The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat. Any direct mail creative endeavor has the potential to go from “All hail!” to “Epic fail!” Join Matthew Fey, vice president and creative director at J.Schmid & Assoc. Inc., for an honest, amusing, and sometimes painful examination of why some creative efforts yield spectacular successes and why others, well, not so much. From high-fiving wins to head-scratching losses, examine a series of catalog and direct mail case studies from a variety of brands – including apparel, food, retail and more on the consumer side, with a few business-to-business examples thrown in for good measure. What went in to the creative decisions? How were they successful? And when they weren’t, where did they go wrong? Glean valuable lessons from both success and failure to get the most out of your direct mail creative. Join Us For An ANA Exclusive Webinar ... All Hail or Epic Fail? Featuring J.Schmid's Matt Fey, Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at 12:00pm Central. Register at: https://www.ana.net/webinars/show/id/COMWW-220713

Consumers are savvy—and saturated. Between traditional holidays and standard sale seasons, they’ve seen it all… until they haven’t. Why Retailers Should Rethink the Calendar Predictability is the enemy of excitement. By staging shopping events outside the typical cadence, brands can: That’s where creative retail events come in. Unconventional promotions like Macy’s “Black Friday in July” flip expectations and generate buzz by offering shoppers a reason to engage when they least expect it. Why Retailers Should Rethink the Calendar Predictability is the enemy of excitement. By staging shopping events outside the typical cadence, brands can: Revive Off-Season Traffic: July doesn’t naturally scream “doorbuster,” but a well-timed promotion can turn summer lulls into retail highs. Create Curiosity: Unexpected sales pique interest—especially when branded cleverly. Customers are more likely to stop, scroll, or swing by when something feels fresh. Strengthen Brand Personality: A cheeky campaign like “New Year’s Clearance in August” or “Fall Preview Fest” reflects a retailer’s willingness to break molds and embrace fun.

Female shoppers are spending less than their male counterparts. During the first half of 2025, year-over-year demand for discretionary products among women fell flat, while unit sales from men were up 3%, according to Circana. Female discretionary spending grew 1% during the same period, while male spending rose 2%.   The firm noted that discretionary spending has been challenged by elevated prices across retail food and beverage, non-edible consumer packaged goods and general merchandise “Female consumers are critical to retail performance, representing more than half of annual spending, and those purchase decisions,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry analyst for Circana. “Shifts in spending behavior among female consumers reveal signs of broader consumer changes brewing.” Women seem to be opting for purchases that allow them to spruce things up, rather than a bigger ticket spend. Between January and June 2025, the majority of the pullback in spending among female shoppers impacted furniture, apparel, juvenile products and housewares.