DMA ALTERNATE RESPONSE MEDIA COUNCIL REVEALS NEW NAME

Alternate media to insert media and to create an industry from a loose collection of insert broker/managers, program owners, mailers and service providers

NEW YORK, September 10, 2003 -- The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) Alternate Response Media Council officially changed its name to The DMA Insert Media Council today during the group's Insert Day Conference & Exhibition at the Hilton Rye Town in Rye, NY.

"For the past four decades, the alternate response industry has been evolving to provide effective solutions to marketers' messages," said Arlene Rosen, president Alternate Response Associates and co-chair of The DMA's Insert Media Council. "Once considered alternate, insert media has entered the mainstream in direct response marketing due to its ability to build additional revenue streams for marketers by growing their customer base while keeping costs down."

Alternate response media emerged over 40 years ago when Popular Club Plan used package inserts to generate sales. Today, alternate media represents not only package inserts, but statement programs, co-ops, card packs, catalog blow-ins, sampling programs, as well as the traditional free standing inserts (FSIs), take-ones, newspaper ride-alongs, and even online media.

In 1987, The DMA formed the Card Pack Council to address the needs of the many people involved in placing cards and inserts into the hundreds of packs on the market. In 1990, The DMA's Alternate Response Media Council (ARM) was formed to concentrate on the needs of the people working with "alternative" media, compared to the more mainstream media. Today, seven billion units of alternate media are being placed into the 1,500- plus programs on the market.

Additional information on Insert Media Council events and membership can be obtained by contacting Joell Martinelli, council relations associate, at 212.768.7277, or via e-mail at jmartine@the-dma.org.

The DMA is the leading trade association for businesses interested in interactive and database marketing, with nearly 4,700 member companies from the United States and 53 other nations. Founded in 1917, its members include direct marketers from every business segment as well as the nonprofit and electronic marketing sectors. Included are catalogers, Internet retailers and service providers, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and a host of other vertical segments, including the service industries that support them. According to a DMA-commissioned study, direct and interactive marketing sales in the United States are projected to have surpassed $2 trillion in 2002, including $126 billion in catalog sales and $34 billion in sales generated by the Internet. The DMA's Web site is www.the-dma.org, and its consumer Web site is www.shopthenet.org.

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