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"The market in the US is currently worth US$ 1.85 trillion which is over ten per cent of GDP. Other markets notably in Europe and Japan have similar ratios, so there is no reason why the UAE and indeed the wider Middle East should not follow suit," claimed Prescott.
These mammoth sales figures are also produced against a backdrop of strict legislation which protects the consumer. For example, in the US it is illegal to send marketing messages via SMS to mobile phones and in most European countries marketing organisations need to have 'opt-in' clauses or permission from the recipient before sending messages by e-mail. Throughout the Middle East there is a dearth of marketing legislation, which could be a double-edged sword. In Brazil SMS marketing to mobile phones has so far been treated as a novelty, but consumers are now getting tired of the constant barrage of messages and there are fears that there could be a consumer backlash. The same scenario could easily happen in the Middle East.
"With the absence of consumer protection, marketing organisations need to 'honour' the customer. They should follow ethical standards such as the International Chamber of Commerce's ethical codes of practice. It's much better to regulate the industry from within rather than to have imposed legislation,"
he added.
However direct marketing will mature in line with the overall marketing industry in the region and overcome certain issues which are stifling growth. The Middle East is still considered a micro market, internet access is still low in global terms, there are huge variances in income distribution and unique demographics especially regarding youth. One obvious growth area where regional marketers are currently missing out though is marketing on the internet.
"In the US and France, up to 65 percent of B2C sales are made online and in the US it accounts for one third of 'new' sales. The Middle East has some way to go to match these figures but the potential is there," concluded Prescott.
In total over 20 presentations will be made and other eagerly awaited sessions on the conference agenda will be effective database management, creating direct mail campaigns that work, building consumer trust, adding measurable brand value, leveraging Real Simple Syndication (RSS) and blogs and creating data streams from scratch.
Jennie Bishop, Conference Manager, Direct Marketing 2006 said,
"Many marketing professionals know that 50 per cent of their advertising works, the problem is, they don't know which 50 per cent. Direct marketing is measurable, so tracking your return on investment (ROI) is easier when compared with other forms of marketing. At present the industry average is for every US$ 1 spent, there is a return of US$ 11. The other advantage of direct marketing is that is has a great deal of synergy with new technology."
"Lord Maurice Saatchi, once said, 'There are digital natives and digital immigrants. Natives are under 25 years old, were born into technology and have Continuous Partial Attention (CPA), where young adults conduct a number of tasks at the same time. Digital Immigrants can't do this and have a 'thick debilitating accent' when it comes to technology. Industry analysts have found that the effectiveness of TV adverts has been reduced by 35 per cent due to this phenonenom. Direct marketing is a spiral of change and will take its fair share of marketing budgets in the future," claimed Bishop.
World-class organisations represented at Direct Marketing 2006 include, Xerox International, Air Miles, DHL, Emirates Bank, ICLP, Wunderman, Promoseven, Nestle and OgilvyOne.
Direct Marketing 2006 is organised by the Institute for International Research (IIR) and is supported by, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and the Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing (FEDMA).
Sponsors for the event include key industry specialists such as, Xerox, AIG MEMSA and Air Miles.
Posted by Anne-Birte Stensgaard, Senior News Editor
