Digital Impact Study: Online Direct Marketing to Become Key Component of Integrated Marketing Programs.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 2002

Study Reveals Fortune 1000 Marketers Increasingly View Email

Marketing as Strategic Initiative

Digital Impact, Inc., (Nasdaq:DIGI), the premier provider of online direct marketing solutions for enterprises, today released the conclusions of its "Trends in Direct Marketing Study," a comprehensive qualitative report based on interview responses from senior marketers in Fortune 1000 companies. Among this sophisticated group of marketers, findings showed that email is viewed as a highly strategic aspect of their overall marketing and communications and will be more tightly integrated with other forms of direct marketing over the next several months.

Conducted by a third party, the interviews targeted the most senior marketing executive responsible for direct mail at companies with minimum annual sales of $1 billion and in most cases exceeding $10 billion. The study revealed that most sophisticated marketers view email marketing as a strategic initiative, which, when done well, plays a critical role in building relationships with clients and prospects. The study also established that while most marketers want to integrate online and offline marketing efforts, they face many hurdles, including data management and analysis, and organizational issues. However, despite these challenges, marketers are committed to leveraging the potential of email marketing to drive revenue and deepen relationships with existing customers across channels.

"Online direct marketing continues to evolve as a strategic component of the marketing plan, because it delivers exceptional and quantifiable results in a cost effective manner," said David Kleinberg, senior vice president of marketing at Digital Impact. "This study further validates the important role of email marketing in the development of integrated marketing initiatives at Fortune 1000 companies."

Key findings of the study include:

-- Marketers view online direct marketing as strategic part of
   marketing mix

"Email marketing is a key element of our direct marketing
strategy. We are barely scratching the surface right now and want to
use email marketing more effectively."
    Relationship marketing manager for a large technology company

"Most marketers are shifting to email from direct mail...because it
gets responses faster and is easier to measure. Our strategy is to
convert offline names to email as soon as possible."
    Manager of marketing communication for a large networking company

"We place a lot of value on email because of the convenience and the
economics and the perceived value to the customer."
    Director of CRM systems for a large retail consumer
    electronics company

-- Marketers recognize the importance of integrated marketing

"We're going through a revolution in thinking that email can do more
than just bring people to our Web site...We collect email addresses in
stores to use them to alert people to what's going on in the store. We
follow-up catalogs with relevant emails...The channels are integrating
more closely."
    Vice president of direct sales for a large retailer of
    outdoor gear

"Email had been the sole province of the online marketing group, but
we realized that we need to integrate our marketing efforts and so we
moved the email group to the regular marketing group and now all the
channels can be supported from a centralized organization."
    Vice president of direct sales for a large retailer of
    outdoor gear

-- Marketers face several challenges in implementing integrated
   marketing programs, including fulfillment issues such as data
   management and analysis, and organizational issues.

"Data management is a huge problem because the amount of data involved
is enormous. The integration of data across customer touch points is
also very complex."
    Head of direct marketing for a global apparel retailer

"It's a challenge to implement direct marketing programs because of
the way we are organized as a company. Too many departments trying to
send too many things directly to the consumer.... Not the best way to
build a long term relationship with a customer."
    Director of CRM for a large pharmaceutical manufacturer
    and marketer

About Digital Impact

Digital Impact is the premier provider of online direct marketing solutions for enterprises, including market leaders such as Victoria's Secret, Eddie Bauer, Marriott, Citibank and Hewlett-Packard. Digital Impact's solutions -- Customer Marketing, full service or self-managed using IMPACT, and Customer Acquisition -- enable corporations to create and deliver highly successful email marketing programs that drive revenue, influence behavior and deepen customer relationships. Digital Impact solutions provide deep customer insight and powerful execution through a combination of hosted web applications, messaging technology infrastructure and professional services.

Digital Impact is a member of the TRUSTe Privacy Program and works only with companies that are advocates of strict consumer privacy guidelines. Digital Impact was founded in 1997 and currently has approximately 275 employees in its Silicon Valley, Santa Monica, Chicago, New York and London offices. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the ticker symbol DIGI.

Safe Harbor Statement

The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding Digital Impact's expectations, beliefs, hopes, intentions or strategies regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Further risks are detailed in Digital Impact's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and its Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Note to Editors: Digital Impact is a registered trademark of Digital Impact, Inc. All other brands or trademarks are the property of their respective owners.