Arab DMA expected to expand US business
The Direct Marketing Association has partnered with Direct Marketing Services YMHLLC (DMS) to create an Arab DMA (ADMA) in Saudi Arabia.
“This opens opportunities in new markets for our US members, said Ramesh Lakshmi-Ratan, the DMA's EVP and COO. “This will help [them] develop new consumer and business markets, especially as the whole concept of DM becomes a global enterprise.” Many of the major players in the Arab region, he noted, are American companies such as Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Microsoft.
Ten percent of the DMA's membership comes from more than 40 countries outside the US. “This [initiative] will help our international members become better direct marketers through our know-how, technology and best practices,” Lakshmi-Ratan said. “Saudi Arabia, in particular, has a very high per capita income and a very fast-growing economy, so this is a phenomenal growth opportunity for [its] DM.”
The ADMA will work to develop the direct mail industry in the country. The DMS also currently has a working relationship with the Saudi Post.
