Well, here we are again, Friday at last… is it wine o’clock yet? I must admit, it’s been one of the longest weeks of my life and, by all rights, I shouldn’t even want to look at another drink, let alone pour it down my fat neck. But it’s been the only thing keeping me going and now the end is in sight.
Not that my week started that well. I mean, is it just me or is every other bugger on holiday already? The schools haven’t even broken up yet but my Facebook feed is stuffed with “e-friends” posting pictures from far flung places, lounging by plush swimming pools, scoffing posh nosh and quaffing the finest wines.
Jesus, even Jonathan Spooner, the gorgeous, witty, brainy and übersexy proprietor of Spoon Creative Ltd, has joined the jet set, taking Roxy on a trip in a private plane and everything. (I know he will point out that it was only a short haul from Shoreham Airport to the Isle of Wight, but, hey, you get the drift).
As Bananarama once sang (slightly out of tune): “It’s a cruel, (cruel), cruel summer, (Leaving me) leaving me here on my own, It’s a cruel, (it’s a cruel), cruel summer, Now you’re gone.”
Mind you, Fatty and Fatter (my two bosses) did make a brief appearance on Tuesday but soon vanished without trace, muttering something about how they were going on an alternative DMA Summer Lunch, due to the fact that we had been NFI’d again.
Now, I have my own theory as to why we didn’t get an invite this year – the tenth snub in a row – and it’s nothing to do with the fact that they use it as staff party, or that it was a sell-out, or that I was a no-show at last year’s DMA Awards.
No, dear readers, I reckon that in our esteemed industry body’s eyes we are no longer “relevant” because we write about direct marketing; the very discipline the DMA killed off on May 20 by rebranding as “the Data & Marketing Association”.
Not that the rebrand has gone down well with everyone. In fact, on hearing the news, one of the industry old guard sent me a message which read: “Good god! Is it valid? In my day, direct marketing was direct response advertising across all channels (TV, radio, posters and press), door to door, direct mail and telephone. Last time I looked all these still existed and worked. And we always had data; shame really.”
Award-winning creative Andy Owen, who just so happens to be in the DMA Hall of Fame, has been even more vocal. In his latest blog, he writes: “Direct marketing is officially dead then, is it? The industry we all helped to build for the last four decades and more, has now gone to the grave? It’s not only absurd, it’s ridiculous. But, more important than that, it’s totally untrue.”
He adds: “Many great people involved in the DMA during all those great years and those from the groundbreaking BDMA before them, will be shaking their heads in disbelief. And rightly so. It’s a bloody disgrace.”
Emotional stuff Andy. In fact, it’s enough to turn a girl to drink. Are you sure it’s not wine o’clock yet?
You can now follow Foxy on Twitter and Instagram (one day she might even post something)