DMA Names Jodie Sangster Vice President, Global Compliance

Emphasizes Commitment to Advocacy; Corporate and Social Responsibility

New York, NY, December 4, 2008 — Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today announced that Jodie Sangster, in-house legal counsel and chief privacy and compliance officer, Acxiom Asia Pacific, has joined DMA as its vice president, global compliance. She will report directly to Senny Boone, senior vice president, corporate and social responsibility and will be based in DMA’s Washington, DC office.

In this newly created role, Sangster will provide a valued member benefit, providing training and education to DMA members in the areas of compliance and self-regulation by launching and managing a comprehensive global educational platform. Working with international components of DMA, Sangster is tasked with expanding training and leadership opportunities in the area of global compliance. She will also assist members with compliance needs; review pending legislation and regulation; as well as expand and oversee DMA’s Safe Harbor Program.

“DMA has long been a leader in self-regulation, and the creation of this position is to ensure DMA continues to stay ahead of the curve by recognizing global opportunities and obtaining the best of self-regulation and compliance from other countries across the globe,” stated Ms. Boone. “Jodie brings to DMA an extensive background in legislation and compliance, as well as expertise and leadership in international marketing.”

Most recently, Sangster was in-house legal counsel and chief privacy and compliance officer for Acxiom Asia Pacific, where she was responsible for internal legal advice, services, and compliance throughout the Asia Pacific region including China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand. She also provided both internal and external legal and compliance training. Additionally, within Australia and throughout Asia Pacific, Sangster was responsible for both contract and license negotiation from the client and supplier perspective, and regulatory affairs.

Prior to her role at Acxiom Asia Pacific, Sangster served for five years as the director of legal and regulatory affairs at the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA), where she was responsible for assessing and evaluating proposed legislation affecting the marketing community, representing business interests through submissions, legislative drafting processes, and parliamentary enquiries, as well as developing and providing legal compliance training courses for member companies.

Sangster currently serves as chair of the Australian Privacy Working Group, is an ADMA Direct Marketing Code Authority Representative, an International Association of Privacy Professionals Member, as well as a US Delegation Member for the Asia Pacific Economic Community (APEC) Data Protection Steering Committee.

About Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is the leading global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the end-to-end direct marketing process. Founded in 1917, DMA today represents more than 3,400 companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 48 other nations, including half of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.

In 2008, marketers — commercial and nonprofit — will spend $176.9 billion on direct marketing, which accounts for 52.1 percent of all ad expenditures in the United States. Measured against total US sales, these advertising expenditures will generate approximately $2.057 trillion in incremental sales. In 2008, direct marketing accounted for approximately 10 percent of total US gross domestic product. Also in 2008, there were 1.6 million direct marketing employees in the US. Their collective sales efforts directly support 9.3 million other jobs, accounting for a total of 10.9 million US jobs.

The Power of Direct: Relevance. Responsibility. Results.

# # #

RSS Subscription