At the beginning of June, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) announced two major appointments. It promoted its director of consumer services, compliance & accreditation, Mike Lordan, to the newly created role of chief of operations, and Robert Keitch was promoted from director of marketing channel development & environmental affairs to the other newly created post of chief of membership & brand.
The announcement was the culmination of an 18 month review of the purpose, structure and function of the entire organisation. During that time the global economy has entered a recession, the pressures on marketers have intensified and the pace of change social, technological and legal has not abated.
Those now leading the DMA argue that they were right to have spent that time on protracted introspection.
They claim the organisation now emerging is ideally placed to lead the industry through the difficult times ahead. While some B2B members are buoyed with enthusiasm at these developments, others are profoundly sceptical. All, however, are keen to find out what will emerge, and crucially, what it will mean for their business.
The problem
Keitch explains that the DMA embarked on the review for two reasons. Partly it was because we’d not had one for a while eight years, he says.
But also there was a growing feeling that we weren’t delivering what our members wanted.
So the DMA brought in PA Consulting, a high-profile global consulting firm that has advised organisations such as Norwich Union and the Home Office. It began the review, sensibly enough, by going out to those members as well as some ex-members and asking them what they wanted from the DMA. Keitch says, We found they felt we’d become too inwardly focussed. We seemed more concerned with protecting our own brand than with taking risks and leading the industry forward.
Iain Lovatt, executive chairman of Blue Sheep a B2B marketing agency that counts PC World, Alterian and RS Components among its clients agrees that this is exactly where the problem lies.
He explains, I joined the DMA 20 years ago because I wanted industry leadership. Back then it provided it, but recently it has become a membership organisation, and has been too busy reflecting the industry to successfully lead it. This has meant that on the important battles of the day such as the electoral roll, opt-in opt-out and the environment it has lost.
He continues, The DMA was also failing to provide clear leadership on the shift to digital. It had become an unwieldy body trying to satisfy too many people all the time. I’ve sat on DMA board meetings of 30 people. Quite simply, it was time for a change.
The changes
Eighteen months later, Keitch outlines the changes that have emerged: We have a new strategic focus. This is evident in our new structure. Mike Lordan will manage the day-to-day operations of the DMA, and focus on improving member services. I will be the voice of the industry, driving us beyond best practice, looking at what’s new, what’s difficult, what’s challenging. Ultimately I’m here to arm our members with the tools they need to be successful.
Beyond that restructure there is, as yet, little detail. Observers who had been hoping that, after 18 months and the investment of a presumably significant sum of money in PA Consulting, there would be a more substantial outcome than promotions for two people. Surely this focus on its own structure is yet more evidence of the DMA’s inward-looking tendency?
Keitch is adamant that this is not the case. This is not just tinkering around with structures, he says. This is re-building the organisation from the floor up. These are early days and we have to begin with our own structure. In the coming months you will see a blizzard of initiatives coming out of the DMA. I’ve got at least six new products that I want to launch by the end of 2009. This time next year people in the industry won’t recognise the DMA.
The importance of B2B
Not everyone is convinced. Vic Godding, the former chair of the DMA’s B2B Council, says, None of this will mean much for my business. B2B has never been top of the pile for the DMA and I can’t see that this will change it. I’ve pushed and pushed for the DMA to take it seriously, but still the organisation persists with committees that are more interested in their disciplines, such as email. They don’t realise that B2B is important across all of them.
For his part Keitch insists that B2B does matter to the DMA. I want B2B to have a much bigger voice, he says. It’s a very important part of the industry and should get more representation in the DMA. So, we’ll be supporting the B2B Alliance with a dedicated resource. We want to get more B2B members, especially among client organisations.
Godding, however, remains critical. This review has caused a great deal of disruption for the DMA’s staff and members. He adds, The DMA has spent a year and a half poncing around with consultants and they’ve taken their eyes off the ball at a crucial time for the industry. My guess is that as a whole we’re all about 35 per cent down, so why is the DMA still talking about environmental issues? It’s no good being a green business if you haven’t got a business any more.
Split leadership
Others are more supportive. John Price, MD of B2B telemarketers Price Direct, believes he is the longest serving member of the DMA, having joined its forerunner in 1976. He comments: We’ve now got two people who are experts in their fields leading the organisation. Mike Lordon has done a good job running the TPS, so knows how to deal with the difficult day-to-day operational issues, and Robert Keitch is a great speaker and innovative thinker.
However, Lovatt is concerned by the structure itself. While I’m optimistic that the DMA will start to show more leadership with white papers and the like, I had been hoping to see a strong, forward-thinking leader emerge. I’m not sure that with two leaders this can happen. It is early days though and I very much hope that the new structure will work out.
Getting the message out
Indeed, most in the industry are waiting and watching closely to see how it all pans out. The new structure was only announced a matter of weeks ago, and we are yet to see the full outcome of the work that PA Consulting and the DMA have put in over the past 18 months.
It is a cliché that marketers tend to be poor at marketing themselves, but in recent years this has been true of the DMA. It has been poor at making the industry’s case to the wider world and it has been poor at making its own case to the industry. Richard Perry, COO of B2B marketing agency GyroHSR, believes this needs to change.
He says, The DMA is to be applauded for taking the initiative to review its structure in order to cater to the changing needs of its members. This is certainly a step in the right direction, but it is all about the delivery. In order to be truly effective and generate more support, the DMA needs to clearly communicate the benefits this restructure and its other initiatives will have for members, and how it will enable them to better serve their clients.
Keitch is well aware of this. We need to get our message out there, he says. He even has an innovative new idea for how to reach them with that message: For the first time in its history the DMA is going to be doing some direct marketing. That at least has to be a step in the right direction.
