DMA Highlights Key Initiatives; Encourages Interactive Dialogue

July 6, 2010 — DMA has sent a letter to its membership, updating them on key efforts spearheaded by DMA staff, and highlighting its efforts in the arenas of Advocacy, Council Activity, Education and Communications, as well as the upcoming DMA 2010 Conference & Exhibition in San Francisco. The letter also welcomes feedback, encouraging an active dialogue with Association members.

The full text of the letter follows below.

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July 6, 2010

Re: DMA Update From Board Chair Steve Dapper and Interim President/CEO Bob Allen

To Our Membership;

Greetings from DMA headquarters!

We are writing to let you know about some exciting work in New York and Washington. We will also update you on important efforts spearheaded by DMA staff on your behalf.

As you probably know, Steve was elected Chairman of the DMA Board of Directors this past May in Washington, D.C. and Bob is continuing in his role as interim President and CEO until a permanent candidate for the position is selected. Our goal is to have our new President/CEO in place by early September.

Many of you attended the extremely productive and well-attended — over 2000 attendees as a matter of fact — Digital Marketing Days in New York City recently. Marketers learned about the latest techniques to maximize ROI in an increasingly digital world. If you were there, I am sure you felt an unmistakable energy and renewed sense of optimism. Last year was one of the most challenging years in American history for the business community, and despite continuing worldwide market challenges, we think we are all beginning to realize that the direct marketing community not only survived this historic economic downturn, but that it will continue to thrive.

According to DMA’s just-released Quarterly Business Review, marketers are showing signs of confidence and have begun to spend more on marketing. Most of this increased spending is going toward digital channels.

We are working hard across all DMA departments for you, our valued members. At the end of this update is contact information for you to reach us. We really mean it. In order for us to continue to provide the highest standards of value to you, we encourage an interactive dialogue so we can revisit, reassess and redirect our energies to where they are needed. Below are just a few highlights of initiatives we are involved in on your behalf.

Advocacy

One of the recent headlines in the press was “Senate Rejects House Proposal on FTC Expansion; DMA Led Charge;” it was about Congress’ intent to give expanded rulemaking and enforcement authority to the Federal Trade Commission, the regulatory body that oversees all marketing practices across the entire US economy. There was also the proposal to further regulate commercial and nonprofit marketing through the creation of another new consumer financial protection agency. DMA managed to secure exemptions for marketers and nonprofits and keep the FTC expansion language out of the financial reform bill. No easy task -- we assure you that we will continue to keep on top of this issue.

DMA staff is currently fighting hard on other very high-priority issues as well to ensure that DMA is leading the marketing community in advocacy.

Fighting FTC Expansion in Financial Reform – DMA led a broad coalition of about 100 companies and 50 other trade associations in opposing expansion of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) rulemaking and enforcement authority through financial reform legislation. We are working to prevent the unintended consequences of giving the FTC broad enforcement authority where none is needed.

Championing Self-Regulation for Consumer Privacy – DMA has convened a broad cross-industry coalition on privacy legislation. Representatives Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL) recently unveiled a comprehensive privacy proposal that will have sweeping negative impact on both online and offline marketing activities, including requiring written consent for all transfers of data to third-parties. DMA continues to urge self-regulation as the appropriate approach to address information practices.

Fighting a Postal Rate Increase – Continuing its leadership from the 2006 postal reform debate, DMA supports congressional efforts to restore to the Postal Service a $55 billion overpayment for retiree health benefits. DMA strongly opposes any postal rate increases, and believes that the Postal Service must develop new programs and operations that are responsive to customer needs. DMA is working with a broad coalition that includes magazines and catalogs.

Leading Federal Suit Against Colorado Anti-Marketing Law – On behalf of its members and a broad coalition of other concerned organizations, DMA filed a suit in Federal Court against the State of Colorado, seeking to overturn a new reporting law that imposes “tax due” notice requirements on remote sellers who sell to Colorado residents. The law suit raises significant concerns about privacy and interstate commerce.

Please visit http://www.dmaaction.org/ to find out more.

DMA2010 in San Francisco

Where will YOU be this October? Hopefully, with us at DMA2010 — the global event covering all marketing channels – unlike any other conference out there DMA2010 is the only event to focus on the integration of direct and digital marketing covering every segment and channel. World-class business leaders will present riveting case-studies of their real-world rise to thrilling success. Senior executives from Microsoft, Yahoo, Thompson-Reuters, Twitter, Kraft, the Boston Celtics, Hewlett-Packard, and Xerox – to name a few – are on board to share their stories. Be there for stellar keynoters including Avatar creator/director, James Cameron; Jack Dorsey, co-founder, Twitter; Gary Vaynerchuk, author of New York Times best seller, “Crush It”; Bonin Bough, Global Director of Digital and Social Media, PepsiCo; Jacques Levy, Global Chairman and CEO, Sephora Worldwide; Jeff Hayzlett, Celebrity CMO and Author, “The Mirror Test”; and David Jones, Global CEO, HAVAS Worldwide, Euro RSCG Worldwide. For more details and to register, please go to http://www.dma2010.org/.

Council Activity

The councils have produced a series of webinars and in-person events that showcases the innovation of DMA members. Cutting edge events focused on Mobile Marketing, Social Media, and Customer Loyalty and are programmed by council members to provide council members with free or highly discounted access. In conjunction with DMA’s Government Affairs team, the councils sponsor a Quarterly Regulatory and Legislative Update. At DMA2010, councils will be hosting several awards dinners and luncheons which further the ability of individuals to network and develop market opportunities. As a DMA member you have access to all of this content – and as a council member you have the ability to help program and produce it -- developing your career and creating value for the company you represent. If you have suggestions for topics for a seminar or if you would like to produce a webinar with DMA please contact Neil O’Keefe, nokeefe@the-dma.org.

Education

In late 2009 DMA launched the “DMA Certified Marketing Professional Program” to allow individuals to demonstrate their direct marketing capabilities and become certified in direct marketing. DMA has revamped all its in-person education courses with new instructors, course content and material to ensure that DMA courses retain the highest quality, and relevancy in the rapidly changing world of marketing. Check out www.dmaeducation.org for more information.

Communications

DMA provides numerous opportunities for members to hear about what is going on within DMA itself; and industry wide. Here are some of the ways we help you keep in touch. If you are not receiving any of these communications and would like to be added to the list, please let us know. 3D, our daily enewsletter; Friday Marketing Briefs include B2C, B2B, Retailer and Financial editions; Point, DMA’s twice-yearly digital publication with contributions from top-level marketing/advertising luminaries; Direct From Washington, distributed weekly when Congress is in session; Politically Direct, coming to you each quarter from our Washington office; and don’t forget to check out the “Newsstand” section of our homepage to stay on top of the news you need. You can also join us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. And be on the lookout this summer for the premiere of “CinemaDMA”, online videos with marketing VIPs.

Working Together With You and For You

This is just some of the activity DMA staff is working on for you and we will continue to keep you up-to-date. As we said at the beginning of this note; we want to hear from you so we can solidify our position as the primary resource for every business wishing to maximize its dialogue, interaction, and engagement with customers and prospects, across all current and future communication channels.

Bob Allen can be reached at ballen@the-dma.org; Steve Dapper is at sdapper@the-dma.org. Have a great summer; we look forward to hearing from you!

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