The assertion was made yesterday by Bill Nussey, the chief executive of US-based email marketing specialist Silverpop, at the Advanced Email Strategies conference in London.
"If you were shooting an advertisement for a blue-chip brand, you wouldn't film it yourself using a camcorder," Nussey said in his keynote speech. "Yet many marketers are doing the equivalent of that in their email campaigns."
"There's a new breed of digital direct marketer emerging for whom email is about building relationships, not starting them. By following the old rules of email marketing, marketers not only diminish ROI, they undermine the brand."
Adding to the debate, JupiterResearch's forthcoming Vision Report was also previewed at the conference. In his speech, analyst Julian Smith highlighted the importance of relevancy and data management in email marketing.
"Lists are a key ingredient to relevancy and how we manage that data is critical to how we go forward," he said.
In February, Silverpop announced it was expanding into Europe for the first time with a new office in London. The firm opened its doors with a number of clients, including two of the top five global banks based in London, voice-over-IP web firm Skype, BSkyB and Gizmondo. Silverpop previously serviced the clients out of its Atlanta offices.
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