DMA News November 2009

Welcome to the DMA news for November 2009.

The DMA News is updated monthly to bring you up to speed on the latest developments at the Direct Marketing Association.

Please check back often so that you don't miss out!

FINANCIAL SERVICES DM SHOWS GREEN SHOOTS OF CHANGE

The findings of GreenScape, a new report launched by the DMA, reveal that the credit crunch has pushed environmental issues down the list of corporate priorities for the financial services direct marketing sector.

The report shows widespread agreement among practitioners that awareness of environmental issues was very much 'on the radar' for most financial services direct marketers, but that tackling the effects of the recession is the number one priority.

The report also shows that opinions vary considerably from company to company as to the perceived costs of modifying business practices to minimise their environmental impact, as well as to the net value to the company of making these changes.

In spite of the influence of the credit crunch on opinions, the majority of practitioners questioned agreed that their activities have a negative effect on the environment. They also agreed that making their direct marketing campaigns more environmentally sensitive will be relatively easy.

The DMA's inaugural GreenScape study is the first study of its kind to examine the environmental attitudes and initiatives of practitioners working in financial services direct marketing.

Like the rest of the direct marketing industry, the financial services sector faces considerable environmental challenges. GreenScape will track the changing corporate attitudes towards environmental issues to understand the barriers to companies changing their practices to improve their environmental performance.

This insight will be vital for those financial services direct marketers wanting to understand what their competitors perceive to be the barriers to implementing environmental initiatives, and the importance they place on overcoming these barriers.

Commenting on the findings of the first GreenScape study, Robert Keitch, the DMA's chief of Membership & Brand, said that its findings are a "positive sign that once the recession is over we can expect to see a shift among financial services direct marketers towards greater engagement with environmental initiatives."

The GreenScape report can be downloaded from www.dma.org.uk/information

STUDY SHOWS THAT TEXT SELLS

Research published in a new study into consumer perceptions of mobile marketing has revealed that the majority of consumers are interested in receiving SMS marketing messages.

The DMA Mobile Marketing Council's UK Spam Study reports that 70 per cent of consumers would be happy to receive marketing messages by SMS, and 55 per cent specified that in particular they would like to receive offers, such as discounts and vouchers, from companies they have specifically solicited.

However, 68 per cent of consumers polled also reported that they had, at some time, received spam messages via their mobile. A further 66 per cent stated that they believed clicking on a link in SMS spam would be charged to their phone bill.

The findings of the report are positive news for direct marketers who are interested in using the mobile medium, but have been deterred by the acute sensitivities associated with SMS marketing. Mobiles are routinely regarded as a private means of communication normally reserved for family, friends and colleagues only. Consumers have been clear in the past that they view receiving unsolicited marketing messages via their mobiles as far worse than by unsolicited email, direct mail or telephone calls.

The Mobile Marketing Council hopes that the study will reinforce the message to marketing that consumers do value receiving offers for their favourite brands and shops via SMS. Speaking on the report's findings, Mark Brill, chair of the Mobile Marketing Council and commissioner of the study, said that whilst unsolicited SMS spam has the potential to destroy customer trust in a brand, making the right offer at the right time to the right person means that marketers will be granted welcome access to the SMS inboxes of target customers.

The UK Spam Study can be downloaded from: www.dma.org.uk/information

That's all for now, see you next month.