Next week will herald the launch of the DMA’s boldest consumer campaign to date, as part of its partnership with international environment group, Planet Ark.
The national campaign, that aims to help reduce the amount of direct mail waste, will kick off on the 7th October 2003 with national PR activity fronted by tennis champ and Planet Ark Co-founder, Pat Cash, and pop singer, Dannii Minogue. This will be followed by national consumer press and marketing trade press advertising from October to December; a two-week postcard advertising in coffee shops nationally; information leaflets in Citizen’s Advice Bureaux and website banner ads on supporting DMA member websites. The creative for the campaign has been developed by Archibald Ingall Stretton.
The consumer activity, spearheaded by Planet Ark, follows on from the signing of an agreement between the DMA and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), in August 2003, to reduce direct wastage and increase recovery rates of direct mail and promotions materials for recycling.
As well as encouraging consumers to recycle the marketing materials they receive, the campaign will promote the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) as providing a choice to those consumers who view all direct mail as “junk”. This promotion of the MPS will be balanced by emphasising the popularity of many forms of direct mail – and will help to ensure that Government, media and consumer demands for wider awareness of the MPS are met.
James Kelly, Managing Director of the DMA commented, “We have received enormous support and backing from the direct marketing industry and believe that this campaign will highlight how successful we are as an industry at self-regulation and just how much can be achieved by working together towards a common goal.”
Demonstrating the success that the Planet Ark initiative has already had in forging closer relationships with key DMA stakeholders, the Environment Minister, Elliot Morley and Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone have pledged their support to the campaign. In addition, ‘Rethink-Rubbish’ and ‘Recycle-More’ are also encouraging councils to support the campaign at a local level, with over 50 local authorities already on board.
For further information about the Producer Responsibility Scheme and the Planet Ark initiative please visit: www.dma.org.uk
For further information or a hard copy of the national press kit, please contact:
Liz Bastone, DMA PR Officer on
Tel: 020 7291 3315
Email: liz@dma.org.uk
For campaign images and Planet Ark background, please contact:
Lara Shannon on
Tel: 020 7728 1991
Email: lara@lsconsulting.co.uk
Editor’s Notes:
About the Direct Marketing Association
The DMA UK is the largest trade association in the marketing communications sector, with almost 900 corporate members. The DMA’s mission is to maximise value for members, whilst maintaining and enhancing consumer trust and confidence in the direct marketing industry.
To assist, the DMA administers a portfolio of Preference Services that allow consumers to register their contact details, free of charge, should they choose to reduce the amount of direct marketing approaches they receive via mail, telephone, fax and email.
Over £11 billion was spent on direct marketing activity in 2002, resulting in over £60 billion worth of sales. This makes direct marketing one of the top ten industries in the UK.
About Planet Ark
Planet Ark is the international environment group that was founded in 1991 by Wimbledon Champion, Pat Cash, and the global charity campaigner, Jon Dee. Planet Ark is best known for its ‘World Environment News’ service, which is sponsored by the Reuters News Agency. This is now the biggest online environmental news service in the world.
Headquartered in Australia, the Planet Ark Foundation runs campaigns that show people how to reduce their daily impact on the environment - at home, at work and in the community. Their campaigns have been fronted by well-known celebrities such as Kylie Minogue, Pierce Brosnan, Nicole Kidman, John McEnroe, Olivia Newton-John, Tom Cruise, Dannii Minogue and Dustin Hoffman.
Although Planet Ark works heavily with national media, much of their work is carried out at the local community level via partnerships with councils, community groups, businesses and retail outlets. Planet Ark does not seek money from the public – it is primarily funded by sponsorship from companies and industry bodies, with whom it works in partnership to achieve measurable environmental results.
For further information about Planet Ark, or to register to receive their free daily environment news, visit www.planetark.com
