With ‘green issues’ being the words on everyone’s lips, the tried and tested, age old marketing medium of DM has had a bit of a fight on its hands. How does this seemingly un-environmentally friendly, yet highly effective, way of communicating with customers prove that it can be ‘green’ too – especially in the shadow of its more ethical friend ‘online marketing’?
There are the obvious measures companies can take such as working with carbon neutral suppliers, using chlorine-free recycled paper and water or soy-based inks, checking proofs via Adobe PDF rather than printed copies and targeting accurately to reduce wasted output. But these are the easy bits.
DM tends to get the rough deal as its damage to the environment is much more visible than many other marketing media, with consumers seeing the issues simply as ‘junk mail’ waste clogging up landfill sites. Take TV ads for example, involving gas guzzling, long haul flights to the shoot location or advertisements in glossy magazines printed in their millions using potentially damaging inks and coatings. Both the Government and consumers are simply not taking the whole process into account before damning direct mail as the worst offender.
The DMA is in the process of producing their EnviroActive industry pledge, inviting all companies to pledge their commitment to five easy-to-follow environmental principles. These principles will encourage companies to make realistic changes which will have a positive impact on the environment. EnviroActive compliant companies will then be able to use a logo demonstrating their commitment to the initiative. Hopefully this will claw back some of the environmental integrity of these direct marketers and somewhat lessen the consumer backlash directed at this valuable and efficient medium.