Archive for Direct Marketing Association

Direct marketing industry ahead of recycling targets

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Friday, May 7th, 2010
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Early in April the direct marketing industry received some excellent and most welcome news that it had exceeded the recycling target set by the government and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) for 2009 and is already ahead of the goal set for 2013.

• Last year 76.5% of direct marketing material was recycled, well ahead of the 2009 target of 55% and even beating the 2013 target of 70%
• The figures mean that the amount of direct mail entering landfill sites has fallen by 79% since 2003, saving 382,698 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2009 alone
The above figures are taken from the first ever Direct Marketing Material Prevention Report on industry performance (for the year 2009) – produced for DEFRA by Royal Mail and the DMA.
Just for clarification, the term ‘direct marketing material’ is used to refer to: addressed direct mail, unaddressed door drops and inserts in free posted newspapers.
ONEPOST fully support the many and varied environmental issues. We believe that a large proportion of the success in achieving such target busting figures is attributable to industry initiatives such as Responsible Mail which incorporate requirements for more highly targeted and cleansed mailing data. Regular kerbside collections have also made recycling much easier.
What initiatives have been introduced to aid the sustainability effort since 2003?
PAS2020: this was developed by the Direct Mail industry to help senders of mail to manage the environmental impact of their activities. Specifically PAS 2020 focuses on establishing a set of environmental objectives, performance levels and indicators for different environmental aspects of a Direct Marketing campaign.
Royal Mail launched two new sustainable products in 2009: ‘Sustainable Mail’ (available via RM Retail) and ‘Responsible Mail’ (available via RM Wholesale) achieve better prices for producing direct mailings that are better targeted, produced in a sustainable way and easy to recycle. These services are fully aligned to PAS 2020.
In addition, Royal Mail has introduced the Royal Mail Mailing House scheme which gives rewards to Mailing Houses which can provide evidence of environmental management systems.
The DMA has invested over £3m in the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) since 2003: this has resulted in a 211% increase in subscriptions which stood at 4,519,000 at the end of 2009. MPS covers addressed marketing material only.
Unaddressed direct marketing material: over 390,000 consumers have now opted out of receiving unaddressed direct marketing material from Royal Mail by signing up for the Door-2-Door opt out scheme – as of April 2009.
So, what happens next?
Keeping momentum going will be the key to ultimate success and it is vital that all stakeholders in the direct marketing industry continue their efforts to maintain and improve sustainable practices. In this regard it is encouraging that DEFRA and industry partners will soon begin meetings to develop a new voluntary agreement to ensure that direct marketers continue to make great strides towards a greener future.
Most industry commentators view ‘voluntary’ or ‘self regulation’ as the best way forward … a point we would like to emphasise: by exceeding these targets, our self-regulatory activity is clearly starting to pay off.
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Nearly nine out of ten people open mail packs

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Sunday, March 7th, 2010

According to the recently published ‘Marketing Gap Report’ 2009, 85% of consumers say they open and read mail packs received.

This Gap Tracking Study has been compiled by fast.MAP in conjunction with the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and is unique in tracking not only consumer usage of and attitudes to direct marketing, but also monitors how closely marketers are keeping in touch with changes in consumer motivation and tastes.

The results of the 2009 Study provides a snapshot of the UK market and how it has changed since 2005 and also gives marketers pointers on which marketing channel to use to contact both existing and new customers.

Key findings include:

• Consumer preference for e-mail from marketing companies they have an existing relationship with has dropped by 5% since 2008, whilst preference for direct mail has gone up by 6%

• Being called on their mobile or sent a text is the least popular method of communication

• Consumers are content to receive mail about local services, trade people and local shops, as well as catalogues and customer magazines

• Although consumers are happy to be mailed about supermarkets and stores they use, and local restaurants and services, marketers have underestimated this preference by more than 7%

So, whilst this study shows that consumer confidence in direct marketing is growing, there can be no room for complacency.  And the gulf between what direct marketers assume and what consumers actually do and think must be addressed … quickly.

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Direct Mail industry is optimistic about the future

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Thursday, January 7th, 2010

According to a recent ‘Direct Mail Attitudes Survey’ (October 2009), direct mail is still regarded as a valuable business channel by the boards and senior management teams of organisations.

The research reveals that 56% of marketers believe that direct mail has influence with the top executives or board members at their companies. However, 30% of respondents believe that direct marketing is not taken seriously at the executive levels of their companies.
Direct marketing basics such as targeting and measurability are still viewed as pivotal to commercial success. As a marketer from a large retailer reports in the survey: “Direct mail still provides one of the highest returns on investment when carried out in a targeted and controlled way.”
And another marketer from the financial sector adds “DM is often overlooked as ‘expensive’. But in terms of offering measurability of campaign and marketing spend effectiveness, it is second to none as a channel for customer acquisition.”
Marketing optimism is still holding up well with just 5% stating that economic climate has had a “very bad” effect on the industry, while 7% think that it has not been affected at all.
Other key findings from the survey include:
• 45% of marketers use interactive direct marketing methods, with 33% using physical direct mail and 22% using both together
• 42% consider a 5–10% DM response rate to be acceptable to their business… 34% are satisfied with less than 5%… and 2% demand an over 30% response rate
• In practice, just 22% see a 5–10% response rate, while 52% of respondents see less than 5% response rate to their direct mail
• Most marketers (38%) use DM as a “call to action”, 24% use it for new offers or discounts and 16% use it for general brand building duties.
• 61% believe that the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) should be in charge of regulating DM, 22% favour the Government, 9% think brands should self regulate and… 2% believe that Royal Mail should take on the role.
On the whole an interesting and encouraging survey which largely supports the medium of direct mail which can be so powerful in building relationships with consumers.
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