British DMA taps Rosemary Smith as new chairman
The Direct Marketing Association (UK) Ltd. has named veteran British direct marketer Rosemary Smith as its new chairman for a two-year term.
Ms. Smith, who is managing director of RSA Direct, succeeds Charles Ping, head of CRM at Guardian Newspapers. Previously deputy chairman of the British DMA, Ms. Smith has a three-pronged “e” strategy for her time at the helm.
“The first one is environment,” Ms. Smith said. “We’re getting a lot of pressure here from Europe, particularly the UK, to be more environmentally friendly. It’s becoming a big issue for consumers in terms of the direct marketing they are receiving – the paper. So we have agreed targets with the government to encourage consumers to recycle.
“The second ‘e’ is engagement and by that I mean the engagement of consumers with the channels of direct marketing and for them to perceive the value and convenience that direct marketing delivers.
“The third one,” she said, “is expertise, which is both the expertise that we have in the DMA membership, which needs to be developed, and more customers and more clients need to benefit from the expertise.”
The British DMA has 900 corporate members.
Ms. Smith launched RSA Direct in 2003. She has run international list and data firms since the early 1990s, including Mardev, Direct Media International (UK) and Schober Direct Marketing/The Prospect Shop.
She is also chair of the DMA governance committee.
Ms. Smith’s replacement as DMA deputy chairman is David Metcalfe, head of wholesale banking development at Lloyds TSB Scotland. Mr. Metcalfe is former chairman of DMA Scotland.
