Direct Marketing Association

On June 30, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver against the executive secretary of the Colorado Department of Revenue challenging the constitutionality of Colorado's new consumer notice and reporting law that's targeted at out-of-state retailers who don't collect Colorado sales tax.

Dueling pieces of legislation, both of which were introduced in Congress in July, address the issue of whether to close the loophole that allows online shoppers in most states to avoid paying sales tax.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) announced this morning that the six-month search for its next CEO has ended, with the appointment of Larry M. Kimmel as the global trade association's new CEO.

The Direct Marketing Association is pleased to announce that the Senate three-times rejected a House proposal to drastically expand the powers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) across all but a few sectors of the American economy. DMA led the charge in the fight to keep these FTC expansion provisions out of the Restoring American Financial Stability Act (H.R. 4173) as the final text of the bill was negotiated by a formal Conference Committee. These provisions would grant the FTC broad new rulemaking and enforcement authority, enabling the Commission to act essentially as an unelected legislature, governing industries and sectors that had nothing to do with the financial crisis.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today released its Quarterly Business Review for the first quarter of 2010. As the trends toward increased accountability and technical innovation continue their rise in popularity and ROI among the business community, the digital channels have consumed the top slots for new marketing spending. The study shows that for the first time in two years, marketers and their service providers reported across-the-board increases in revenue, marketing expenditures and profitability compared with both the fourth quarter of 2009 and the same quarter last year. Their optimism about the second quarter also grew.

How Meijer, a regional American hypermarket chain based in Walker, Mich., uses mobile marketing was the subject of a well-attended session at the Direct Marketing Association's Retail Marketing Conference 2010 in Orlando last month.

The Direct Marketing Association today released the 2010 Response Rate Trend Report, which provides key cost and performance benchmarks to help marketers gauge the efficiency of their campaigns. The updated report shows effective paid search campaigns usually lead to a multistep sales process.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today was joined by 47 other trade associations and business coalitions in sending a letter to each of the conferees on H.R. 4173, the “Restoring American Financial Stability Act” (RAFSA), urging them to keep language that would dramatically expand the powers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) out of the final bill.

Retailers are pulling out all the stops to eliminate waste and reduce costs. Major catalog marketers nationwide have hopped on the “tighten your belt” trend, with an increased demand for smaller, letter-rate catalogs. Dropping millions of large catalogs to underperforming mailing lists is passé, while green design and consumer perceptions are hot, and postage is at an all-time high. 

Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today was joined by 40 other trade associations and business coalitions in sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV), and Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), urging them to keep proposals for expansion of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) out of the Senate’s current debate over financial regulatory reform. The letter expressed strong opposition to the inclusion of provisions that would significantly expand the FTC rulemaking and enforcement authority in the “Restoring American Financial Stability Act” (RAFSA). Granting the FTC broad new authority over virtually every sector of the American economy is not a necessary or relevant response to the causes of the recent recession. RAFSA should be focused on strengthening the stability of our economy, not regulating industries that had nothing to do with the financial crisis at a time when businesses are struggling to both survive and create new jobs.