The Lois Geller Direct Marketing Group Story

Fifteen years ago, we set up our brand new direct marketing agency at 261 Madison Avenue in New York City in a smallspace on the 15th floor. Six months after we moved in, we were working with a huge account and needed more space, so we took an entire floor and built a terrace outside for us to “reflect” on direct marketing questions. We were in that space for about a month, when that huge client had a shake-up and all the top management were let go, and so were we.

That sad event turned out to be a blessing. After that, we won some American Express business, then Chase came to us, and Canadian Pacific Hotels…we were rolling.

Then came 9/11. Every client retrenched, cut back, got scared. Ours didn’t and they flourished. So did we.

June 2004, our President’s mom was ill in Florida. Lois Geller was bouncing back and forth. We needed her. She said she’d work virtually from Miami, Florida. We have too much fun together, so we took a vote and we all moved with her to South Florida. We held our collective breaths to see if any of our clients would leave us. They didn’t.

We’re running our agency in Hollywood, Florida now. The palms swing outside our windows looking out on our marina. Our work is even better now. We’re even more outside the box than before. Why? Who knows…our creative director says that the pelicans inspire him.

Your program, campaign, database challenge interests us. We’re direct marketing junkies. Our site offers free resources and powerful consulting... So, please do call if you want to talk about your business.

Lois Geller, President

Prior to founding her own company, Lois Geller was President of several agencies. In New York, she headed AC&R Direct, a Saatchi and Saatchi agency, and Geller Direct, a TBWA subsidiary. In Toronto, Canada, she headed up J. Walter Thompson Direct and Vickers and Benson Direct.

Lois holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston University and is an adjunct professor at New York University, where she led the Direct Marketing Lecture Series and was named Professor of the Year in 1999. She has been a Dale Carnegie instructor and taught the Catalog Marketing Course for new clients and employees at Young & Rubicam.

Lois has written 4 books about Direct Marketing. The new revised edition of Response! The Complete Guide to Profitable Direct Marketing, was published October, 2002. Previous editions of Response have been published in nine countries. Her other books include Direct Marketing Techniques: Building Your Business Using Direct Mail and Direct Response Advertising, Customers For Keeps, and Sold! Direct Marketing for the Real Estate Pro. Lois’s articles are published in a number of magazines, including Direct Marketing Magazine, Today’s Manager, and Selling Power. Her Creative Corner column was featured monthly in Target Marketing Magazine for many years and her Direct Marketing Diva column appears in Fortune On-Line.

Lois Geller is a member of the Direct Marketing Association, the Direct Marketing Club of New York, the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, the Financial Women’s Association and the Cornell Club. She won the Silver Apple Award for Lifetime Achievement in Direct Marketing in November 1999, the Echo Award in direct marketing and many RSVP Awards in Canada.

As a keynote speaker and guest lecturer, travels the world to speak about branding, direct marketing essentials, customer retention and creative strategies. She has been a guest lecturer and a popular keynote speaker at dozens of direct marketing conventions, in the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Russia. And, six years ago she launched the now popular Direct Marketing Boot Camp to teach direct marketing essentials to corporate executives.

Lois Geller Marketing Group DM Course

Sometimes we feel more like a Direct marketing School than an agency.

We teach direct marketing in our spare time. (The big idea is that when direct marketing is done right, it can’t fail. We work hard to explain the hows and whys of doing it right with live examples.)

We’ve taught Direct Marketing all over the US and Canada with side trips to Sweden, Russia and Turkey … in headquarters of different companies and organizations, at conventions and seminars and in colleges and universities. It didn’t just happen; we practiced for a long time.

Lois ran the main DM course at New York University for 10 years (Mike, our strategist, taught Creative, Strategic Planning and DM Math.) They also taught the NYU course to American Express marketing managers several times a year at their New York City headquarters across the street from the World Trade Center.

A few years ago, we developed a traveling version of the NYU course and called it DM Boot Camp. Usually it’s tailored to for the specific needs of the company requesting the training. We offer it in two day and one-day versions; the one-day is more intense.

In the Fall of 2008, we added another version called Direct Marketing Express which, if you’re interested, involves a thorough review of your DM program followed by our best practices recommendations.

Be Sure To Check Out Our Free Resources and Powerful Consulting Ideas on our bogs:

Lois Geller's Joy Of Direct Marketing Blog --- Mike McCormick's Guts Of A Burglar Blog --- Real Estate Relish