He started answering calls under contracts for such customers as direct marketer Herbalife.

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The Crowns are buying it as a beachhead from which to launch their three-year plan to build Europe's first truly regional computer direct marketer.

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Rowe has become the country's third-largest direct marketer of funds.

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"It's frustrating for a direct marketer to become a brander, because your entire DNA is based on measuring, " says Renker, who longs for the simplicity of his earlier business model.

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To boosters it is a direct-marketer's dream, as listeners pick the music and the sort of ads they want.

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CUC, of Stamford, Connecticut, is a big direct-marketer, selling discount goods, travel and financial services to its 68m fee-paying club members.

ECONOMIST: All in the same bunch

" This bit of advertising history came to mind recently when I read an article in The New York Times about a contest being hosted by OgilvyOne, a direct descendent of the famed marketer, to find the "best salesperson in the world.

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