DMA E-Mail Marketing Council: new name, focus

The Direct Marketing Association has renamed the Council for Responsible E-Mail the E-Mail Marketing Council and expanded its approach to supporting e-mail marketers.

The DMA's renamed council aims to support marketers in optimizing their performance with a lineup of research, white papers, best-practices guides and events dedicated to tackling emerging issues.

"The new name reflects DMA's recognition that the e-mail channel has matured and become an integral and integrated part of the marketing mix," said Michael Della Penna, chair of the E-mail Marketing Council and chief marketing officer of Epsilon. "The conversations have consequently advanced from 'How do I build responsible e-mail that is CAN SPAM compliant?' to 'How do I build great e-mail marketing that will continue to drive a 50 times return?'"

The Expanded Charter will broaden its outlook globally as the European market grows and the importance of relevance and native-language execution is more critical than ever.

"Given [that] some Fortune 2000 firms execute international e-mail from the U.S. and a portion of every list is international, this is an increasingly emerging and important issue and will be fully integrated into our effort," Mr. Della Penna said. "According to a recent report from Forrester Research, 'B2C Email Marketing In Europe: 2004 to 2010,' [published] October 5, 2005, the market for e-mail services in Europe is expected to more than double in the next five years to 1.25 billion euros."

It will also explore e-mail optimization techniques into segmentation and creative rendering by e-mail client, explore e-mail's role in multichannel marketing and measure the effect of e-mail on brand and purchasing across multiple channels.

Events include a webinar on April 12 called "Legislative Update for E-Mail Marketers," featuring Jerry Cerasale, senior vice president of government affairs at the DMA, and Charles Prescott, vice president of global knowledge network services at the DMA. Also, the "Authentication and Online Trust Summit 2007" will be held in Boston April 18-19.

"[The] DMA was the first organization to make authentication a guideline and condition of membership," Mr. Della Penna said. "Our involvement demonstrates our ongoing support of this critical issue and its importance in further distinguishing legitimate e-mail in the inbox."