E-Marketer Rises Above Spam

With spam a four-letter word among computer users, Eric Obeck, chief operating officer of SendTec Inc., is understandably careful when describing the online marketing campaigns that are the mainstay of his company's business. "We're way above the bar when it comes to e-marketing," Obeck said, adding that his St. Petersburg company has done campaigns for such brand-sensitive customers as IBM (NYSE: IBM) , AARP and AOL (NYSE: AOL) . "If there's anybody who can't afford to spam, it's gotta be AOL."

SendTec, whose roots go back to the mid-1990s, has survived the Internet ad marketing meltdown, Obeck said, because of its ability to maximize e-marketing without alienating end-users. It also hasn't hesitated to incorporate old media, including schlocky "Order Now!!" television ads, to push clients' products. And it's rolling out proprietary software that makes it easier for companies to communicate with potential customers via the Internet. The hook that sets SendTec's missives apart from pure spam? Customers initiate the correspondence.

SendTec's predecessor company, DirectNet Advertising, got its start in less contentious times. Chief executive and president Paul Soltoff, who was founder of the direct marketing division at advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi, moved to St. Petersburg in 1996 to start his own direct marketing business. His forte: direct response TV commercials, those one- to two-minute-long ads that urge viewers to act immediately via phone or e-mail.

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