Demographics, Inc., Computerized Direct Mail, and the Rise of the Digital Attention Economy

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This article chronicles the origins of mechanized and computerized direct mail, mass personalized marketing, and the role of these technologies in the development of the digital attention economy. It includes an account of the first several decades of Demographics, Inc. which became one of the largest and most profitable database marketing companies in the world. Headquartered in Conway, Arkansas, Demographics developed LOFS, a market-leading proprietary data processing application for maintaining and renting lists, and personalizing direct mail for political, consumer, and business marketing campaigns.