The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has been shortlisted for the Crisis and Issues Management Award in the 2011 PRCA Awards.
This recognition follows a robust and well managed response on behalf of the direct mail industry following substantial negative publicity generated by the Panorama episode entitled “Why hate junk mail”.
Broadcast back in July, the Panorama programme promised to investigate the true cost of ‘junk mail’ and scam mail to the public and the environment. However, as industry insiders feared, the programme presented a confused account of the complex issues surrounding both and failed to distinguish them from legitimate direct mail marketing. The programme also featured repeated factual errors, such as the cost of disposing of direct mail.
ONEPOST shared the disappointment at the confusion caused by the way the programme was structured and was supportive of the DMA stance, which was indeed robust and high profile on both national TV and radio networks.
Commenting on the nomination Chris Combemale, executive director of the DMA said:
“The DMA’s role is to protect and promote the interests of the direct mail industry. We needed to pre-empt any negative publicity that would harm consumer perception of direct mail, so acted decisively through a concerted PR campaign. The outcome could not have been better for the industry, so we’re pleased to have our crisis management skills recognised by the PRCA Awards.”
The winners of the 2011 Awards will be announced on 15 November at a ceremony at the Park Lane Hilton.
