The paper deals with those methods of marketing communications that help build an address database of customers (sales support tools), and using them (direct marketing). The contribution draws attention to recent changes in the nature of the competitive environment and new aspects in marketing strategies in a protracted period of economic stagnation and crisis. The author emphasizes the need to formulate exactly the communications goals, to properly understand the mechanisms of marketing communication tools and thoroughly examine the effects of the tools and their synergy. The paper shows some of the ways in which one can even during a sluggish economy, power-saving modes and reduced budgets in marketing communications effectively affect the thinking and behavior of target groups of customers and strengthen own market position.