Junk Mail – love it or hate it

Every since the public voted junk mail as one of the top ten things that drove them mad our industry has been on the back foot. The negative debate arising from BBC’s Brassed off Britain programme a couple of years ago belatedly highlighted the need to demonstrate a much more positive image of what we do.

But do we embrace the term ‘junk mail’ or is it forever associated with unwanted, poorly targeted and badly executed door mat litter. This was one of the issues that came up at yesterday’s DMA North board meeting which I now sit on. The reality is that direct mail in all it’s forms is part of the advertising landscape. We all use it and benefit from it whether it’s booking a break on lastminute.com in response to an email from them to saving money on our car insurance as a result of a mailing from Direct Line.

If consumers describe what we produce as ‘junk mail’ then perhaps that’s what we shouldalso call it. By embracing the term and turning the negatives into positives we might start to get people to understand that direct marketing is part of our lives and restricting it makes no more sense than banning billboard posters or TV advertising.