Direct marketing gets green

The future of direct marketing will be more environmentally friendly, if a new standard launched today (January 21st) is successful.

The measures, labelled PAS 2020, have been created by BSI British Standards, and were commissioned by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and Royal Mail, among others.

Under the standard, organisations of all sizes and disciplines which use direct marketing will be able to have the environmental performance of their campaign certified independently.

Some of the ways in which environmental performance can be improved include cleaning files to ensure optimal data efficiency as well as using green production techniques for paper campaigns.

“PAS 2020 will serve as a vital resource for the DM industry to decisively meet its environmental obligations, demonstrate its environmental credentials and to brace the industry for the introduction of strict new environmental legislation that could prove financially draining for unprepared businesses,” said Robert Keitch, DMA director of media channel development.

He added that firms should adopt the standard now, as it will be easier for them when legislation governing the issue is adopted.