(PRWeb UK) July 15, 2010

For the first time the DM Code sets out a series of guidelines concerning the use of data hygiene, making environmental claims in marketing materials, sourcing of sustainable paper, certification in environmental standards such as PAS 2020, adhering to a corporate environmental policy and using recycling messages on printed materials.

The DM Code of Practice is the direct marketing industry’s most far-reaching set of best practice guidelines, incorporating the CAP Codes, PhonepayPlus Code of Practice, and FSA Principles for Businesses, as well as relevant legislation.

Now on its fourth edition, the DM Code of Practice is a key component of the direct marketing industry’s self-regulatory framework, which staves off excessive regulatory clampdowns by legislators. While it has no statutory power, DMA members are required to adhere to the DM Code. To ensure compliance, the DM Code is upheld by the industry’s independent self-regulatory body, the Direct Marketing Commission.

Commenting on the publication of the latest edition of the DM Code of Practice David Metcalfe, chair of the DMA, said:

“Government and regulators in the UK and European Union exert a constant pressure on the marketing industry to deliver effective and accountable standards of consumer protection. The best way to head-off onerous statutory controls is to maintain an effective self-regulatory system. The DMA through the DM Code of Practice does an exceptional job in achieving this.”

The fourth edition of the DM Code of Practice will be enforced from 1 September 2010. This gives DMA members two months’ grace to change their systems and procedures to ensure they are in line with the requirements of the new Code.

Significant revisions have been made to the latest Code since the previous edition, which was published in 2003. Chief among these revisions are:

• the introduction of new relevant legislation made law since 2003, including:

?    Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008
?    Gambling Act 2005

?    Charities Act 2006

• the Your Choice Preference Service for unaddressed door-to-door mail
• the incorporation of the new CAP Code requirements (coming into force 1 September 2010)
• a section on environmental responsibility
• the Information Commissioner’s new powers of enforcement
• a new glossary section
• a new ‘Marketing To Children’ appendix
• an update on Financial Service Authority rules

For further information, please contact:

Rachel Aldighieri or Tristan Garrick

DMA PR
Tel : 020 7291 3314/15

Email: tristan.garrick(at)dma.org(dot)uk / rachel(at)dma.org(dot)uk

About the Direct Marketing Association

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is Europe’s largest and most influential professional body to serve the multi-billion pound direct marketing industry. Through its unique suite of services and programme of activities, the DMA promotes the business interests of its corporate members and drives the growth of the direct marketing industry as a whole.

The Association supports the professional and commercial development of its members through offering a range of business services, including: networking and knowledge-sharing events; cutting-edge industry studies and research; updates and analysis on the latest political and legal developments; business support tools; and specialised legal advice.

On a wider scale, the DMA UK works to maintain the industry’s self-regulatory framework by developing industry standards of best professional practice; engaging with government and other policymakers on legislative matters that affect the industry; and producing industry standards that guide the sustainable development of direct marketing. The DMA also provides thought leadership for industry, and raises its profile through an active PR programme and ongoing community initiatives.

All of the DMA’s activities are directed at engendering political, commercial and consumer faith in the value of direct marketing.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2010/07/prweb4265164.htm

(PRWeb UK) June 24, 2010 — According to the findings of the DMA’s inaugural Data Tracking Study, 29 per cent of the 2,027 consumers polled by online research company fast.MAP stated that they do not believe their bank can be trusted to store or use correctly the information they hold about their customers. However, nearly half of respondents expressed distrust in public service departments, and three-quarters said that political parties cannot be trusted to handle their data responsibly.

The study also reveals that consumers share the most amount of personal data when making online purchases, requesting information from a company, or requesting a free sample or money-off coupon. Additionally, just one in four of consumers have opted out of the Edited Electoral Register, but 77 per cent opt out of receiving telemarketing calls when filling out forms containing their personal details and 62 per cent opt out of receiving direct mail marketing.

Commenting on the research, the DMA’s executive director Chris Combemale says that companies need to understand under what circumstances consumers are willing to share their personal information and for what reasons.

“Thanks to identity theft and well-publicised instances of organisational data losses, consumers are understandably wary of handing over their personal details to companies unless they absolutely have to, such as when online shopping. There has to be a clear trade-off in benefits to the consumer in doing so. Companies must also respect the privilege of being handed this data, or else they face the prospect of losing customers.”

The biannual Data Tracking Study was launched to help companies identify and overcome the barriers to consumers sharing their information with brands for building relationships.

Commenting on the research, Graham Burdett, Client Service Director, Consumer Marketing Services, Equifax Ltd said: “The timing of the DMA’s first Data Tracking study couldn’t be better. With consumers increasingly concerned about security, it is crucial for companies to give consumers choice over how their personal data is used. As a business built on the integrity of our information security, Equifax has always been an advocate of best practice and we look forward to building on the learnings from this and future Data Tracking studies to help them further improve customer satisfaction.”

Paul Seabrook, director of fast.MAP, says: “It’s no surprise that people are nervous about revealing personal details since 23 per cent have experienced a security breach in the last six months which equates to about 10 million bad experiences, a frighteningly large number. People have also made it quite clear that if they give contact details in one situation this does not entitle the brand to make further contact without specific permission – especially by phone, which three quarters specifically do not want, while half don’t even want further email contact.”

The Data Tracking Study can be downloaded from www.dma.org.uk/research
For press enquires, please contact:
Rachel Aldighieri
DMA PR Manager
Tel : 020 7291 3314 / 07801 573324
Web : www.dma.org.uk

About the Direct Marketing Association

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is Europe’s largest and most influential professional body to serve the multi-billion pound direct marketing industry. Through its unique suite of services and programme of activities, the DMA promotes the business interests of its corporate members and drives the growth of the direct marketing industry as a whole.

The Association supports the professional and commercial development of its members through offering a range of business services, including: networking and knowledge-sharing events; cutting-edge industry studies and research; updates and analysis on the latest political and legal developments; business support tools; and specialised legal advice.

On a wider scale, the DMA UK works to maintain the industry’s self-regulatory framework by developing industry standards of best professional practice; engaging with government and other policymakers on legislative matters that affect the industry; and producing industry standards that guide the sustainable development of direct marketing. The DMA also provides thought leadership for industry, and raises its profile through an active PR programme and ongoing community initiatives. All of the DMA’s activities are directed at engendering political, commercial and consumer faith in the value of direct marketing.

About fast.MAP

About fast.MAP
fast.MAP (launched a decade ago as CCB fast.MAP) is an online, real-time research company with its roots in direct marketing. It produces fast, accurate, cost-effective insights for marketing clients and agencies. fast.MAP, the DMA’s exclusive Insight Partner and Research Champion of the Institute of Fundraising*, examines consumer behaviour and opinion to enhance company and agency decision-making.

fast.MAP’s marketing insights have resulted in its high profile in the national, marketing and business press. Its constantly refreshed and tested panel of 30,000 profiled UK adults accurately reflects national opinion. Geo-demographic profiling tools then deliver lifestyle information on specific groups of respondents (age, sex, region, income etc.) and link results to campaign targeting.

fast.MAP carries out quantitative and qualitative pre-testing of marketing concepts, ideas, incentives, writing and design in real-time for press, TV, radio and mail. Bespoke fast.TRACK projects can be broadcast within 48 hours of sign-off, to produce significant levels of response within days.

www.fastmap.com

About Equifax
Equifax empowers businesses and consumers with information they can trust. A global leader in information solutions, we leverage one of the largest sources of consumer and commercial data, along with advanced analytics and proprietary technology, to create customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.
With a strong heritage of innovation and leadership, Equifax continuously delivers innovative solutions with the highest integrity and reliability. Businesses – large and small – rely on us for consumer and business credit intelligence, portfolio management, fraud detection, decisioning technology, marketing tools, and much more. We empower individual consumers to manage their personal credit information, protect their identity, and maximize their financial well-being.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax Inc. operates in the U.S. and 14 other countries throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. Equifax is a member of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500® Index. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EFX.
www.equifax.com.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2010/06/prweb4186634.htm

Armed with its first ever environmental standard of best practice, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), representing more than 900 of the industry’s biggest players, is asking firms to take a critical look at everything from the quantity of material they generate to the amount of ink they use in creating it.

Launched at the beginning of this year, PAS 2020, which has been verified by the British Standards Institute, aims to provide firms with the tools to measure the environmental performance of each mailshot before it is despatched.

In the process, says Robert Keitch, the association’s chief of membership and brand, direct marketing has the opportunity not only to slash its own contribution to the country’s waste mountain – currently running at 2 per cent overall – but to earn some Brownie points among cynical consumers.

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Ray Jones, spokesperson for the Chartered Institute of Marketing, has claimed there has been a noticeable shift from firms using general advertising to investment in more targeted promotions.

He explained that companies are becoming wise to identifying their demographics through the use of technology and database management.

“They can write to them directly and focus on particular markets,” he added.

“A good database and a good relationship management system will bring you much more return on investment than advertising.”

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Philadelphia, PA – June 11, 2009 –

PDMA President, Judy Arnold, presented this year’s Direct Marketer of the Year award to Scott Schultz, president of Schultz & Williams. The criteria for the award are: industry prominence regionally or nationally; recognizable contributions to the industry; business building in the marketplace; and a reputation for integrity.

While developing a successful career in
development, marketing, and government services, Scott Schultz envisioned a non-traditional consulting firm to help nonprofit organizations meet their distinctive challenges. In 1987, Scott founded his company, Schultz & Williams, on the philosophy that development, marketing, and management must be pursued collectively in order to achieve institutional goals.

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Today, a marketing budget is a proud badge of recognition that demonstrates that an organization has purpose in its marketing.  It says that an organization knows EXACTLY what marketing it intends to perform and how that marketing is going to help its bottom line.

In order to design a marketing budget, on organization first needs two things; an executive in charge of marketing and a manager in charge of executing the marketing plan.  The former petitions the keeper of the funds for enough budget dollars to successfully help the organization, while the latter determines exactly how much resources the former should ask for.

The most successful budget style that I have encountered is the Cost Center Budget approach.  With this approach, Medical Tourism is assigned what we call a cost center.  This puts it on par with all the organization’s important strategic and operational departments such as Finance, Accounting, and Sales.  More importantly, it means that your organization can now capture ALL the medical tourism costs in one place.  This is a very important management tool that will enable senior management to assess the performance of the organization’s medical tourism operations.

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Professor Harvey Markovitz, of Pace University’s Lubin   School of Business in New York will conduct separate seminars in Linden and Georgetown on May 27th and 28th respectively at which participants will benefit from insights into low-cost marketing techniques. The visit to Guyana by Professor Markovitz is being hosted by the United States Embassy in Georgetown.

The Linden seminar is being hosted by the Embassy in collaboration with the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP) while the Georgetown forum, which will be held at the office of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) is being held in collaboration with the GCCI.

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Not that any of the companies attending had much reason to be dissatisfied, as there was an award for nearly everyone in the audience.

Any company considering direct marketing to pep up sales could do worse than consult the awards website (www.anpostdmawards.com), where all the award-winning agencies are listed. An Post estimates that two-thirds of all companies use some form of direct marketing as part of their marketing mix.

Another name for addressed direct marketing is junk mail. However, advertisers and their DM agencies can no longer afford a scattergun approach. An Post claims that seven out of 10 direct mail recipients deem the content to be “relevant” to them.

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There was agreement that using mobile as part of an integrated marketing plan made enormous sense. However, the caveat was that it might not be worth all of the time involved if it was for one standalone campaign. If a marketer planned to use mobile over the course of time, the investment was worthwhile. Even the enthusiasts were willing to admit that not all campaigns are successful, but then again, that is true of any medium; in fact, in most cases, it wasn’t the medium that was the issue. There was some debate as to whether consumers really want ads on their phones since they already pay for using them. It was one of those priceless moments as, clearly, consumers don’t typically want advertising, regardless of the medium, they just accept that it helps defray the costs of the service. Several examples of successful campaigns were provided as well as industries that are more willing to use the medium, such as retailers, fast-food restaurants, auto and travel, among others.

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