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Article Excerpt

As competition in most industries increases, many companies plan to spend more money developing new products in the next few years. These costs hurt their earnings, but could lead to higher sales for years to come. Most companies also plan to spend more advertising and marketing their products. If done right, a successful advertising campaign can have just as big an impact on sales as a new product. However, traditional forms of advertising like TV commercials and billboards are losing their effectiveness as more people use the Internet for information and entertainment. Consequently, advertisers are turning to direct marketing firms to help them zero in on desired groups. As one of the largest direct marketing companies in the United States, Harte-Hanks stands to profit from this trend. The stock has tripled in the past decade, compared with just a 100% gain for the S&P 500. Although the stock has leveled off lately, we feel it’s headed for more gains in the next few…