Direct Marketing magazine's recent redesign saw a move from newsprint to glossy, coupled with a content shift toward more feature-length pieces and case study profiles.

The previous more newsy content, like short updates, events and announcements, will now be pushed to the website. "We'll start building our digital presence more than we have in the past," said editor Amy Bostock.

The monthly printed mag features several new columns with more on the way, like one about customer relationship management launching in the July edition. Premiering in August, meanwhile, is an editorial roundtable feature; the first instalment deals with location intelligence in marketing programs.

The rehaul, unveiled in the June issue, was a year in the making and followed a line of reader surveys. The mag's tagline was also changed, from "The Art and Science of Predictable Marketing" to "The Authority on Data-Driven Engagement and Operations."

"We wanted to reflect how the [direct marketing] industry is changing as well as the way companies are presenting their direct mail campaigns," Bostock said. "Things are going out in really creative ways, which people are having to do to capture and keep consumers' attention. And so we needed to practice what we were preaching."

The mag is slightly oversized at 9.5" x 13". "It's just a little bigger so that it stands out on a desk of magazines," said Bostock.

The redesign aims for a cleaner, "sexier" aesthetic. A new logo focuses on the abbreviated "DM" and features a check-mark as the top of the M, which president Steve Lloyd said encapsulates the spirit of direct marketing. "It's the 'yes' response to the offer, the basic tenet of all direct response, no matter what channel. Yes! I'll take it! Yes, opt me in! Yes, I will answer!" he wrote in an email.

Direct Marketing, launched October 1988, is mailed to more than 7,200 senior executives according to publisher Lloydmedia. Subscribers also receive two annual directories, the DM Industry Sourcebook and the List of Lists.