Engagement—A New Information-Based Form of Advertising

Editor's note: We are pleased to share Lester Wunderman's latest vision for advertising.

We at Wunderman—years after having coined the term, and invented the practice of, direct marketing—have, as an agency, made a global commitment to a new dimension of advertising.

I call it an engagement between buyers and sellers. Let me define the term:

Engagement is having to involve one's self in something, as opposed to remaining aloof or independent of it.

Engagement is a promise that carries an obligation by all parties to do something. And not just to do something, but to continue to do it with each other. It can be in the form of an agreement, contract, or commitment.

Engagement is also a commitment to being activated or becoming operational in the present as opposed to some vague promise to do something in the future. Engagement lives in the now and is most likely to continue into the future if properly maintained and nourished.

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Lester Wunderman coined the phrase "direct marketing" in 1967. His innovations have influenced the direct response industry ever since. He is chairman emeritus and founder of Wunderman.