Industry news

Going green gracefully

The environment is rising up the direct marketer's agenda, and that's good news for data quality.

With initiatives such as the proposed data quality 'Green Label' and the Royal Mail's recent announcement that it plans to give wholesale customers discounts for making their campaigns greener, it's clear that 'green' is firmly on the direct marketing agenda. But which strategy is likely to have the biggest impact and help transform direct marketing into an environmentally-conscious industry?

Essentially, a green label and financial discounts could sit side-by-side. The first would act as a customer-facing tool to show consumers that a company is taking its environmental responsibilities seriously, while the second would as a financial incentive to encourage the company to do so. Both should improve data quality, help organisations think about who they are targeting, and reduce the amount of paper wasted in poorly-targeted direct mail campaigns.

There are a whole host of approaches that companies could take to making their campaigns more environmentally friendly, from the use of eco-friendly paper and other materials, such as glue and ink in their mailing campaigns, to the consistent use of suppression and profiling tools to improve targeting and reduce waste.

Despite this, there are challenges. The potential issue with the green label approach is that without a strong business case, marketers may not see the value in investing the time, effort and money needed to ensure compliance. Furthermore, the policy would need to be enforced and regulated for it to have true value. Financial incentives to improve environmental impact are likely to resonate more strongly with business, especially at the current time, when marketing budgets are being tightened.

While many organisations recognise the need to 'go green' in their direct marketing efforts, the majority, unlike the Royal Mail, have yet to put concrete measures in place. Whatever approach gains the high ground, the fact that concrete policies to reduce direct marketing's environmental impact are being put forward is welcome news. Data quality doesn't often make it onto the corporate agenda, but it is a crucial part of many initiatives that do, such as customer management and retention, growth and efficiency drives. Placing environmental targets around direct marketing will help push data quality into companies' wider corporate social responsibility initiatives. This can only be a good thing.

To find out more about how to reduce the environmental impact of your direct marketing activities, you may be interested to read about suppression.

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