What do Direct Marketing Association members want from the organization? Research; government representation; networking opportunities that will grow their business; and education in direct and interactive marketing, according to president and CEO John A. Greco.
Greco reflected on his goals for the organization, his accomplishments to date (“One hundred and fifty days tomorrow – someone else counted!” he said) and the key issues the industry faces during a Direct Marketing Club of New York luncheon.
The good news is that, in the broadest picture, “the nation’s economy is on the mend after several challenging years for American business, and that includes direct and interactive marketers,” Greco said.
The economy is coming off a holiday season that saw a rise in luxury spending, and gains by Web-based retailers as retail purchases slipped. During 2004, marketers spent nearly $187 billion on direct and interactive marketing, and generated $2.2 trillion in direct orders, orders from leads and donations. If projections hold, that last figure should jump to nearly $3.2 trillion by 2009.
But Greco listed several challenges the DM industry faces. For instance, the environmental lobby is once again on the march and is targeting catalogs and direct mail. In response, the DMA has published a third edition of its Environmental Resource for Direct Marketers, and is working with the American Forest & Paper Association and the Environmental Protection Agency to increase recycling efforts.
With the swearing-in of the 109th Congress, the DMA will renew debates on several other fronts as well. Remote sales taxes, which contain the threat of more than 7,600 tax jurisdictions, and the Postal Service’s expenses, which may have to include funding veteran benefits for postal workers with military service, both loom. And both telemarketing and responsible e-mail practices will require heightened sensitivity on the part of marketers, as well as lobbying efforts by the DMA, Greco said.
Finally, Congress introduced 50 pieces of privacy-related legislation during the 2003-2004 session, with another 500 bills pending on the state level. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) should be shepherding a major privacy bill through the committee. On the other side of the hill, new Senate Commerce Committee Ted Stevens (R-AK), while a receptive ear on postal matters, is an unknown quality in terms of his outlook on privacy.
Greco balanced these concerns with reports of the DMA’s activities during the months since the October Annual Conference in New Orleans. He announced his commitment to providing the government relations team with the resources it needs. The organization’s Internet Alliance has been linked to its Government Affairs operations, joining the former’s focus on state-level issues with the latter’s federal efforts.
He also reiterated an earlier pledge to enhance the industry’s image. The organization recently promoted Patricia Kachura to senior vice president of ethics and consumer affairs, and Greco stressed that while she had “superbly represented” the DMA, that it was done to send a clear message to policy makers, consumers and the direct marketing community. The message? “That ethics and meaningful industry self-regulation must be – and are – a priority and at the heart of direct and interactive marketing’s, and the Association’s, brand,” he said.
Greco also said that he worked to break down the DMA’s institutional silos. These silos “prevented, too often, the dots from being connected,” and prompted the organization restructuring in December. He also combined the DMA’s conference department with the professional development and training department.
Finally, he announced that with the demise of the net.marketing conference, the DMA would, for the first time, feature an Interactive Pavilion.
The Direct Marketing Club of New York’s lunch was held at the Yale Club on Tuesday.
