The Big Quest10n

Can junk mail dorks do digital?

Big question these days.

My opinion is 'why not?' I never got into DM because I loved it. I got into DM simply because a country boy like me struggled to be as confident as the Esher and inner city sect. I simply wasn't cool enough for 'advertising' so i got into the less pretentious response business.

It certainly wasn't because I thought DM was where my skill set lay. What expertise I have now has been learned on the job. I'd say this goes for most of us. Most DMers are talented creative people. Most are nice people. Business demand sent us into response, we never chased it.

So why then can we not do digital?

Everyone is saying how digital is response. So we should be able to function pretty well in this arena. Copywriters in particular.

I'm sure digital people are sceptical of this. They don't want DMers getting in on the thing they built, and I'll wager they relish the prospect of the ATL nobheads getting involved even less. "This is our house" they will cry. "Leave us alone."

And, to be perfectly honest, I can't blame them.

We are jumping on the bandwagon. I used the internet to piss around on when I should have been working. I never had a great enthusiasm for it as a marketing tool. In fact, I quite liked the freedom from work that such an approach offered. It's a downright cheek that I have designs on a copywriters chair simply because that is where the money is going. But there we go.

Since my own agency has become increasingly digital and as many of my friends have started to make the jump into spodsville, I've been more exposed to this world than ever before.

And I like what I see.

Sure, I'll never know as much about the technology as the pioneers and founders. But I don't know how lasering works either - and that didn't hold me back in glorious old DM.

Like most DMers looking over the fence at our digital friends, I am confident I can learn the skills needed on the job.

But the most important thing about this whole palaver is that I feel like a junior again. I am learning again. DM is easy. I can do it in my sleep. This digital marketing thing (how long before we drop that prefix altogether?) has got me doing homework again, and asking questions.

I sincerely hope I am able to make the transaction.

I also hope DMers, if given the chance, are able to assert themselves and use this medium to show just how clever they are given the chance.

Sorry digibots. But I want to come and sit in your living room. I hope you'll make me welcome.