Anyone noticed how many newspapers have closed up shop or drastically changed their business model in the last 24 months? Look it up. It's a scary number and it points to the disturbing fact that print media is on its death bed. This has major implications for the retail world as many retailers and independent merchants rely on paper circulars or direct mail to get their message across. The explosion of smart phone apps and social media has also added to the demise of print media. Information can be delivered much faster and at much less cost over the internet.

Bob Phibbs, business consultant and author, agrees that direct mail is dead. "With people standing over their trash as they sort the mail, it's very hard to stand out," he says about direct mail. "It's cost prohibitive and it's mass communication in an era of personalized interaction." That is important to note because customer behavior is always changing and only recently have we seen seismic shifts in buying habits sparked by the recent economic crisis.

I have noticed a reduction in the amount of direct mail pieces in my mailbox but I am entirely surprised by the quality of the pieces themselves. Bob makes a good point but some of the pieces do truly stand out from the pile (albeit a smaller pile). Why would retailers and vendors invest more moneyin direct mail when most consider the vehicle dead? (Bob's not whistling Dixie when he says, 'It's cost prohibitive.')

On the other hand, did you happen to notice how thick your Saturday or Sunday paper was over the holidays? I'm not exaggerating when I say my five-year-old daughter had trouble with the flyer bundle last December. In one week alone, I received four different Walmart flyers and three different Toys R Us flyers. Local and independent merchants seem to be putting out flyers more often as well.

I asked Marc Gordon, a marketing expert, for his thoughts about direct mail and he covered some valid points: "Direct mail is unique in the fact that it can be absorbed by the reader on a much more intimate level than most other types of marketing. It has the potential to be taken into the home, examined, read, studied and thought about, possibly repeatedly by more than one member of the household."

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