New e-mail body to target ‘spam’
A new e-mail trade association, EMMA – E-Mail Marketing Association, has been formed to fight spam.
The founding members include 24/7, Doubleclick, All Response Media, Claritas Interactive, Consodata (owner of Yoptin), Digital Impact, E2 Communications Europe, eDesigns.co.UK, Emailbureau (owner of MyOffers.co.UK and OK-Mail), eMailcom, E-Mail Vision, Frontwire and Mailtrack.
EMMA plans to become a regulatory body whose codes of practice will be followed by advertisers, agencies and Internet service suppliers. An EMMA kitemark will be introduced so that consumers can know if an online commercial e-mail user is following best practice rules.
The new body says its charter, still to be finalised, will work in a similar way to the Code of Advertising Practice, which enforces guidance on offline advertising and promotions.
EMMA hopes its charter will clear up consumer confusion over opt-in and opt-out e-mail; clarify privacy and data protection requirements; and make recommendations about the content and format of commercial e-mail. Other areas to be covered include the valid use of viral marketing techniques and secure data processing.
Martin Kiersnowski, EMMA spokesman and chief operations officer of Emailbureau, says: “The starting point for responsible e-mail marketing is eradicating unsolicited bulk e-mailing – or spam. We will make appropriate recommendations to ensure the healthy growth of what is commonly recognised as the most powerful new force in marketing.”
