Direct marketing initiative launched to boost sales along Mexico-US border

A major direct marketing initiative has been launched to encourage Mexicans living near the US border to shop in US stores across Texas in the run-up to Christmas.

PMDG Marketing Communications plans to use carefully selected address data to send out mailings to 40,000 homes in Saltillo, Coahuila and Monterrey in Nuevo Leon, which will comprise bargain bags with prominent branding and discount coupons, reports Business Wire.

The campaign, named De Shopping En Texas, is a response to figures from the National Retail Federation that forecast a holiday spend of nearly $4.5 billion less than the Christmas period in 2008.

AB Barrera, of PMDG Marketing Communications, told the website: "Retailers are looking for more non-traditional ways to reach a specific targeted group; this program allows them to reach out to targeted upper middle-class consumers in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and Saltillo, Coahuila."

The expert added that Mexico-based consumers represent 50 per cent of the consumer base for some Texas retailers.

In other news, residents of Tehama County in California have complained inaccurate use of address data has resulted in money from the Department of Motor Vehicles being sent to Shasta County instead, reports the Courthouse News Service.