The Direct Marketing Association has added telemarketing to the outreach channels it is using to gather proxy votes. Several voting members reported receiving calls Wednesday evening.
The calls urge recipients to sign and return proxy statements authorizing the DMA to vote on their behalves. The DMA is engaged in a proxy fight with board member Gerry Pike.
Pike, a current board member who was not renominated to the DMA’s board, is seeking to place two resolutions on the agenda of the DMA’s upcoming business meeting. One would open the nominating process for the DMA’s board of directors to its voting members. The other calls for the board chair and other officers to be elected by voting members.
The DMA’s calls represent a new medium for the proxy fight: Before Wednesday, proxies were being solicited by both sides via e-mail. Pike had sent out four requests, while the DMA had e-mailed three. A report that the DMA had also sent out a hard-copy version of its first response to Pike’s challenge was unconfirmed at deadline.
The telephone messages originated from a toll-free number which, when dialed after business hours, led to a recording which said the caller had reached the Direct Marketing Association. The recording then suggested the caller dial the DMA switchboard during regular business hours.
“They have never called me [before]. And I am on the do-not-call list,” one recipient waggishly observed.
While said recipient’s tongue was planted in said recipient’s cheek, the do-not-call list would probably not apply to these calls, which are of a non-commercial nature. Additionally, a current DMA membership, which is required for anyone submitting a proxy, could fall under the do-not-call list’s established business relationship exemption clause.
Some sources reported the calls consisted of taped messages, but at least one received a live individual who was reading from a script.
A truncated recording of one call reflected some of the text of the DMA’s most recent e-mail message. A transcript of the recording, which features a male voice, follows:
“…may have already received a proxy by mail in August. The DMA’s nominating committee proposed an impressive slate of multichannel marketers, the most diverse array of channels and markets ever represented on the DMA board.
“There is still time for you to sign a proxy to authorize the chairman or secretary to cast your vote in favor of this strong group of nominees.
“Please download a proxy form at [DMA Web address], sign it, and fax it to [contact person] at [DMA fax number], or scan it, and e-mail it to [DMA board e-mail address]. Please do so as soon as possible to ensure your voice is heard.
“Thank you for being involved in DMA. If you have any questions regarding the process, please call [DMA main switchboard number, with an extension leading to the DMA’s membership department]. Have a great day.”
The number of DMA voting members who had received the calls was not known at deadline.
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