The Direct Marketing Association (UK) Limited (DMA) Consumer Charter
What is Direct Marketing?
You are using Direct Marketing (DM) every time you purchase goods or request information in response to receiving marketing information from an organisation about the product or service.
Companies use direct marketing to contact you with information about products and services that you may be interested in, and in a way which most suits your lifestyle.
Covering everything from online marketing, interactive television and text messages, to inserts, direct mail and product demonstrations in your local supermarket - direct marketing is there to supply you with information, provide a service or enable you to buy the goods that you want in the quickest and easiest way possible, while providing you with value for money.
How can the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) help?
The DMA seeks to help you get the most out of direct marketing by raising awareness of its benefits, providing you with choices in the type of direct marketing you receive and protecting you from bad practice.
To achieve these objectives, the DMA has six key goals:- Listen and react to consumer concerns by raising awareness of our Code of Practice to maintain and improve industry standards
- Investigate all bad practice by DMA members and take appropriate action
- Provide additional information on the channels available to consumers to report bad practice
- Provide consumers with the information they need to protect their rights in relation to direct marketing
- Protect the environment and improve the industry's environmental record
- Demonstrate the benefits of direct marketing
1) Listen and react to consumer concerns by providing a Code of Practice to maintain and improve industry standards
The DMA is constantly working to improve industry standards and address issues that are affecting your experience of direct marketing.
Examples of this are:- Our partnership with Ofcom to stamp out the distress caused by silent calls.
- The environmental campaigns we run to cut down on the amount of unwanted mail you receive from companies trying to sell you products or services.
- Raising awareness of the Mailing Preference Service which, once you register can stop you receiving up to 95% of addressed direct mail.
We have carried out research to find out what you, the consumer, really think about direct marketing, what you like and dislike and what works and doesn't work. Read key findings from this research
The DMA has developed a tough and rigorous Code of Practice which covers all areas of direct marketing and which all of our 910 members must abide by. The DMA has a specific department which monitors our members to ensure they are complying with this Code. The Code of Practice is constantly being updated to take into account changes in the industry, consumer issues and technological developments.
2) Investigate all bad practice by DMA members and take appropriate action
If a member organisation breaches the Code of Practice, consumers and/or the DMA can report it to the Direct Marketing Authority, an independent body set up to monitor compliance with the Code and provide a service to anyone who wishes to complain about a DMA member organisation.
The DMA is committed to stamping out bad practice within the industry and takes complaints against its members extremely seriously.
3) Provide additional information on the channels available to consumers to report bad practice
Members not complying with the Code could ultimately be ejected from the DMA, although we aim to give a member organisation the opportunity to improve its practices and stop breaching the Code before expulsion is considered. Find out more about the Direct Marketing Authority.
If the organisation you are having problems with is not a DMA member, and your complaint relates to a misleading, offensive or inaccurate advertisement, you should contact the Advertising Standards Authority (the ASA), who administer the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (the CAP Code). The ASA can order an advertiser to cease their campaign immediately.
If the complaint relates to the possibility of fraudulent or criminal activity, then you should contact your local Trading Standards Office, the police, or other appropriate authority, for further investigation.
There are a number of other organisations which also provide protection against bad practice and offer a complaints service for the public. If you have a complaint about the content and/or promotion of a service running on a premium rate number you can contact ICSTIS, the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services. ICSTIS also enables you to check the nature of a premium rate number that has appeared on your telephone bill.
If you wish to report a breach of the Telephone Preference Service, (TPS) a service which stops you receiving unsolicited sales and marketing calls, then, if you are registered on the TPS you can contact them and they will pass on your complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office. If you are receiving unsolicited text messages or emails from UK companies you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office.
If you wish to report a breach of the Fax Preference Service (FPS), a service which stops you receiving direct marketing faxes then you can contact the Fax Preference Service who will investigate the complaint and pass their findings to the Information Commissioner's Office.
If you wish to report a breach of the Mailing Preference Service (MPS), a service which stops you receiving up to 95% of addressed direct mail then, if you are registered on the MPS you should contact them with your complaint.
If you want information on various financial issues, or would like to find out about how to complain about a financial product or service, you can contact the Financial Services Authority.
4) Provide consumers with the information they need to protect their rights in relation to direct marketing
The information below lists the key rights you have as a consumer in relation to direct marketing. For further information on the various organisations visit our useful links page.
There are a number of laws in place, to protect your rights as a consumer. Fundamental to this is the Data Protection Act 1998. You have many rights under the Data Protection Act 1998 (the Act) including the right to ask organisations what information they hold on you, stop organisations sending you marketing information if you do not wish to receive it, claim compensation from the organisation holding the data if by breaching the Act they have caused damage or distress and the right to ask the Information Commissioner to assess whether your personal information has been processed in contravention of the Act. Contact the Information Commissioner's Office.
The Information Commissioner's Office is also responsible for the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. These regulations stipulate that organisations can not send you unsolicited marketing emails and text messages unless you have agreed for them to do so, or have purchased goods and services from them. These regulations also govern the Telephone and Fax Preference Services which enable you to stop receiving unsolicited sales and marketing telephone calls and faxes. Register with the Telephone and Fax Preference Services.
The DMA's Code of Practice covers all of the above legislation and compliance with our Code also ensures that all DMA members abide by these laws.
The Mailing Preference Service (MPS) isn't a legal requirement but is a requirement under the DMA's Code of Practice and the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (the CAP code). All our members must use the MPS and are also obliged to use the MPS if they are sending you information on behalf of a different organisation whether or not they are DMA members. Register with the Mailing Preference Service.
5) Protect the environment and improve the industry's environmental record
The DMA strives to lead by example and ensure that the direct marketing industry minimises its impact on the environment. Although less than 5% of all household waste is made up of direct mail and promotions, the DMA and the direct marketing industry take their environmental responsibilities extremely seriously. In fact we have made a commitment to Government to increase the amount of direct mail being recycled. By the end of 2005 we have to recycle 30% of direct mail, by 2009 this increases to 55% and in 2013 70% of all direct mail has to be recycled. Read more about the DMA's environmental commitments.
The DMA has developed guidelines which set out the industry's environmental responsibilities in addition to the recycling targets, and covers various ways in which the direct marketing industry should be improving its environmental standards. Read these guidelines.
The majority of direct mail is produced by paper made from sustainable woodland and not endangered woodland or rainforests. The DMA is now encouraging all its members to use environmentally friendly paper in their mailing and promotional campaigns and is producing a guide to paper to show the industry how it can increase its usage of environmentally friendly products.
The DMA is now working with the Woodland Trust, the UK's leading woodland conservation charity on a campaign to further improve the industry's environmental record. In partnership with the Woodland Trust, the DMA has pledged to plant 10,000 trees by Spring 2006 in response to every action a company or local authority takes which helps the DMA meet its environmental commitments.
6) Demonstrate the benefits of direct marketing
The public spend £67 billion each year through direct marketing. This includes everything from buying holidays online, donating to charities following receipt of a fundraising pack or making the most of the offers in their local supermarket advertised in a door drop leaflet. Direct marketing covers a huge number of the communications you receive each day, many of which people respond to.
The DM Family on www.mydm.co.uk shows how a typical family uses direct marketing on a regular basis to benefit their busy lives in a variety of ways. Find out more about the DM Family.
