• Ad Age, Tuesday, March 13, 2007 11:45 AM

More than a dozen states are considering do-not-mail lists that will allow consumers to sign a list to be free of "junk mail" forever. None of the bills have made it beyond the hearing stage, however. The Direct Marketing Association is laying out reasons to fight the bills, ranging from unconstitutionality to the economic impact on both the $900 billion direct-mail industry and the Postal Service.

But court battles and appeals to free speech have proved to be temporary solutions at best when the public and politicians become determined to tackle a marketer (tobacco) or a method (you name it). "We've reached this perfect storm of consumer power and advertising intrusion," says Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing officer of Nielsen BuzzMetrics. Marketers will have to open their own doors and figure out ways to lure customers in.

Beyond that, marketers will have to sneak into homes, relying on branded entertainment, sponsorships and--while they're still tolerated--methods such as in-game advertising.

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